-
Caterpillar Workers in France Take Bosses Hostage
Tweet Share on Facebook March 31, 2009 Comment (111)Workers in a French Caterpillar factory are holding four executives in their offices--the third time this month that French workers have used the tactic to jumpstart negotiations. Employees at Caterpillar's Grenoble plant are protesting the company's layoff plans. Caterpillar says the workers hostage-taking is "not helping." Indeed.
From CNN:
The workers were angry that Caterpillar had proposed cutting more than 700 jobs and would not negotiate, said Nicolas Benoit, a spokesman for the workers' union.
They did not want to harm the Caterpillar executives, Benoit told CNN.
-
Making Work Pay Tax Credit: What You Need to Know
Tweet Share on Facebook March 31, 2009 Comment (11)Starting in April, workers will be getting small additions to their paychecks, thanks to the stimulus package "Making Work Pay" tax credit. The fatter paychecks will continue through 2010--totalling up to $400 a year for working individuals, and $800 a year for married joint filers.
Here are a few things to know:
Look out if you have two jobs: If both of your employers pay you the full tax credit, you may owe money when tax season rolls around next year. To avoid the situation, make sure your employer is witholding the proper amount. (In fact, the IRS says there's a good chance you're not withholding enough if you have multiple jobs; a working spouse; income that isn't subject to withholding, such as capital gains or rental income; or you owe other taxes like self-employment tax.)
-
Jake DeSantis: A Defense of AIG Bonuses
Tweet Share on Facebook March 25, 2009 Comment (210)Jake DeSantis, an executive VP in AIG's financial products unit, is getting out. We know this because the NYTimes has his resignation letter, penned to CEO Edward Liddy.
It's a comprehensive rebuke of the AIG-admonishers in Congress and of Liddy himself, who was "not strong enough to withstand the shifting political winds," and committed a "breach of trust" in allegedly asking for the bonus money to be returned only shortly before his Congressional appearance last week, DeSantis says.
Here's excerpt that gives a good insight into how the AIG employees are feeling. Note that DeSantis was not among the group that dealt in the ultimately poisonous credit default swaps:
As most of us have done nothing wrong, guilt is not a motivation to surrender our earnings. We have worked 12 long months under these contracts and now deserve to be paid as promised. None of us should be cheated of our payments any more than a plumber should be cheated after he has fixed the pipes but a careless electrician causes a fire that burns down the house.
-
Desperate Measures May Lead to Post-Recession Regret
Tweet Share on Facebook March 23, 2009 Comment (95)I recently chatted with an economist about divorce. Specifically, he was concerned about the things that people do during recessions that they are bound to regret in the recovery--everything from selling a home at a major loss when there may have been a way to keep it, to leaving a relationship because of financial stresses related to the downturn. The conversation came to mind this morning when I read that the recession is prompting a growing number of women to enter the adult entertainment industry.
Even industry executives are reportedly concerned about the women making decisions out of desperation. An excerpt from the AP story:
Makers of adult films cautioned that women shouldn't rush into the decision to make adult movies without considering the effect on their lives. "Once you decide to be an adult actress, it impacts your relationship with everyone," said Steven Hirsch, co-chairman of adult film giant Vivid Entertainment Group. "Once you make an adult film, it never goes away."
-
Bernanke: Why Executive Compensation Matters
Tweet Share on Facebook March 20, 2009 Comment (3)Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said today he wants bank compensation practices more closely monitored to prevent "mismatches between the rewards and risks borne by institutions or their managers." It's about more than quelling public and congressional anger, then.
From the AP:
Banking regulators have observed that "poorly designed compensation policies can create perverse incentives that can ultimately jeopardize the health of the banking organization," Bernanke told a meeting of smaller "community" banks in Phoenix, Ariz.
-
Dogs at the Office: Secret to Work-Life Balance?
Tweet Share on Facebook March 20, 2009 Comment (6)Remember when stories about working life weren't all about preventing layoffs, layoff anxiety, the layoff aftermath, surviving a layoff, alternatives to layoffs, and the unemployment rate after massive layoffs? It's Friday, so how about a temporary reprieve from the steady diet with a story on office dogs. Plus, this one has pictures.
At Burgess Advertising and Marketing in Portland, Maine, employees have the freedom to cart their canines to work. Four dogs--Charlie, Moxie, Tar and Dodge--regularly spend the day at work with their owners, reports the Maine Switch magazine. There are real benefits to the practice--one dog owner says it's given her "a lot more flexibility with my time. ... I don’t feel rushed to get home at a certain time.”
-
Jobless Claims and the Madness of Numbers
Tweet Share on Facebook March 19, 2009 Comment (1)Jobless claims--the weekly measure of first-time applications for unemployment benefits--dropped by 12,000 last week to 646,000. The drop is good, but there are other numbers that would seem troubling: nearly 5.5 million people continued to collect unemployment in the week ended March 7--a record high topping previous weeks of record highs.
Also, the four-week moving average of continuing claims hit a record high of nearly 5.3 million.
But remember that the scope of our labor force is huge--about 154 million, or double what it was in the late 1960s--and no one would argue that our job market isn't lousy. That means you can probably expect to set absolute number records when it comes to data such as jobless claims.
-
Brazilian Wandering Spider Trapped By Grocery Store Employee
Tweet Share on Facebook March 18, 2009 Comment (5)A Tulsa, Okla., grocery store employee examining imported bananas reportedly encountered the world's deadliest spider Sunday--a Brazilian Wandering Spider--and then she trapped it.
And you thought your job was dangerous? (I can see it now: Grocery stores--the new setting for Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch.")
Check out this National Geographic segment for an upclose look at the deadly spiders:
-
Top Chefs Struggle As Restaurant "Euphoria" Fades
Tweet Share on Facebook March 18, 2009 Comment (2)Turns out this country may have been in a bit of a restaurant bubble, and highly talented chefs are lining up for openings. A restaurant soon to open on Manhattan's Upper West Side posted an assistant position at $25,000 with no benefits and 300 people applied (9 had PhDs), according to the NYTimes.
Two years ago, Forbes Traveler said of the Las Vegas dining scene: "Top resorts are working feverishly to provide upscale restaurants for their increasingly upscale clientele." Today, the Las Vegas economy is in bad shape, thanks to spending-averse consumers and a lousy housing market. MGM Mirage reported a $1.1 billion loss in the fourth quarter.
The National Restaurant Association projects total industry sales will slip an inflation-adjusted 1 percent in 2009. Not surprisingly, "the top trend restaurateurs see for 2009 is an expanded focus on value," according to the association.
-
Andrew Ross Sorkin Plays the Contrarian on AIG Bonuses
Tweet Share on Facebook March 17, 2009 Comment (9)President Obama is using his precious (precious) time to lambast AIG's executive bonuses. Sen. Chuck Grassley is suggesting the executives resign or commit suicide, er, metaphorically. Everyone keeps raging about how everyone is raging ... and then NYTimes reporter and MSNBC regular Andrew Ross Sorkin bravely goes where no one else seems to have considered going. In today's Dealbook column, Sorkin writes: "Maybe we have to swallow hard and pay up, partly for our own good."
Sorkin's points: The government needs to preserve "the sanctity of contracts." Setting a different precedent now would worry the business community--and who knows what the effect would be.
advertisement
Follow U.S. News Money
Like Us On Facebook
advertisement
Subscribe
U.S. News Weekly
An insider's guide to politics and policy, available on the iPad or as a PDF download.
