Tag: Consumer products and services

Walmart offers to pay $3.1 billion to settle opioid lawsuits

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Walmart proposed a $3.1 billion legal settlement on Tuesday over the toll of powerful prescription opioids sold at its pharmacies, becoming the latest major drug industry player to promise major support to state, local and tribal governments still grappling with a crisis in overdose deaths.

The retail giant’s announcement follows similar proposals on Nov. 2 from the two largest U.S. pharmacy chains, CVS Health and Walgreen Co., which each said they would pay about $5 billion.

Most of the drugmakers that produced the most opioids and the biggest drug distribution companies have already reached settlements. With the largest pharmacies now settling, it represents a shift in the opioid litigation saga. For years, the question was whether companies would be held accountable for an overdose crisis that a flood of prescription drugs helped spark.

With the crisis still raging, the focus now is on how the settlement dollars — now totaling more than $50 billion — will be used and whether they will help curtail record numbers of overdose deaths, even as prescription drugs have become a relatively small portion of the epidemic.

Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart said in a statement that it “strongly disputes” allegations in lawsuits from state and local governments that its pharmacies improperly filled prescriptions for the powerful prescription painkillers. The company does not admit liability with the settlement, which would represent about 2% of its quarterly revenue.

“Walmart believes the settlement framework is in the best interest of all parties and will provide significant aid to communities across the country in the fight against the opioid crisis, with aid reaching state and local governments faster than any other nationwide opioid settlement to date,” the company said in a statement.

Lawyers representing local governments said the company would pay most of the settlement over the next year if it is finalized.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a release that the company would have to comply with oversight measures, prevent fraudulent prescriptions and flag suspicious ones.

Some government lawyers suggested Walmart has acted more responsibly than other pharmacies when it came to opioids.

“Although Walmart filled significantly fewer prescriptions for opioids then CVS or Walgreens, since 2018 Walmart has been the most proactive in trying to monitor and control prescription opioid diversion attempted through its pharmacies,” Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said in a statement.

The deals are the product of negotiations with a group of state attorneys general, but they are not final. The CVS and Walgreens deals would have to be accepted first by a critical mass of state and local governments before they are completed.

Walmart’s plan would have to be approved by 43 states by Dec. 15, and local governments could sign on by March 31, 2023. Each state’s allocation depends partly on how many local governments agree.

“Companies like Walmart need to step up and help by ensuring Pennsylvanians get the treatment and recovery resources they need,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who last week was elected governor of his state, said in a statement. “This deal with Walmart adds to the important progress we’ve already achieved through our settlements with the opioid manufacturers and distributors – and we’re not done yet.”

The share of Walmart’s proposed settlement going to Native American tribes is $78 million, to be divided among all the federally recognized tribes, said Robins Kaplan, a law firm representing tribes.

After governments used funds from tobacco settlements in the 1990s for purposes unrelated to public health, the opioid settlements have been crafted to ensure most of the money goes to fighting the crisis. State and local governments are devising spending plans now.

Opioids of all kinds have been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. over the past two decades.

In the 2000s, most fatal opioid overdoses involved prescription drugs such as OxyContin and generic oxycodone. After governments, doctors and companies took steps to make them harder to obtain, people addicted to the drugs increasingly turned to heroin, which proved more deadly.

In recent years, opioid deaths have soared to record levels, around 80,000 a year. Most of those deaths involve illicitly produced version of the powerful lab-made drug fentanyl, which is appearing throughout the U.S. supply of illegal drugs.

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November 15, 2022
Buffett’s firm cuts stakes U.S. Bank, BYD; adds chip maker

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OMAHA, Neb. — Warren Buffett’s company slashed its stake in U.S. Bank’s parent company and also sold shares in Chinese electric car maker BYD in the third quarter, according to regulatory filings Monday.

The moves were among several others including a more than $4.1 billion investment in Taiwan Semiconductor that Berkshire Hathaway disclosed in the filings with the SEC and the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The filings detailed all the stock moves made by Buffett’s company in the third quarter.

Many investors follow Berkshire’s moves closely because of Buffett’s remarkably successful track record over the decades.

Berkshire revealed a new 60 million share stake in Taiwan Semiconductor and two smaller new investments in Jefferies Financial Group and Louisiana Pacific Corp.in Monday’s filing.

Berkshire also picked up nearly 4 million more Chevron shares worth more than $700 million to give it 165.4 million shares and continue betting on oil producers. One of Buffett’s biggest investments this year has been buying up roughly $12 billion of Occidental Petroleum shares, including adding nearly 36 million shares in the third quarter.

Buffett’s company trimmed its Activision Blizzard, General Motors and Kroger holdings during the quarter. It also eliminated an investment in Store Capital Corp.

Berkshire said Friday that it now owns 3.5% of Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp, down from nearly 10% at the start of the year. The 52.5 million shares Berkshire now holds were worth roughly $2.4 billion Monday.

It also reduced its investment in the Bank of New York Mellon by 10 million shares during the quarter.

But financial stocks remain a core part of Berkshire’s portfolio. The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate’s stake of more than 1 billion shares of Bank of America is one of its biggest investments.

Berkshire’s filings with regulators don’t specify if the decisions were made by Buffett or were the responsibility of the company’s two other portfolio managers, but Buffett generally handles investments over $1 billion. Berkshire officials don’t routinely comment on these stock filings, and they haven’t said why they are selling BYD and U.S. Bancorp stocks.

Berkshire said it now owns a little over 182 million BYD shares, down from 225 million when it started selling off the stock in August. Previously, Buffett hadn’t touched the investment he paid $232 million for in 2008. The stake had soared in value to nearly $7.7 billion by the end of last year.

Buffett’s company now holds 16.6% of the Hong Kong-issued shares of BYD.

Besides its equity investments, Berkshire owns more than 90 companies outright, including Geico insurance, BNSF railroad, several major utilities and an assortment of well-known brands such as Duracell, Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom.

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November 14, 2022
Flying home for the holidays will cost you more this year

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People still looking to book trips home to visit family or take a vacation during the holidays need to act fast and prepare for sticker shock.

Airline executives say that based on bookings, they expect huge demand for flights over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Travel experts say the best deals for airfares and hotels are already gone.

On social media, plenty of travelers think they are being gouged. It’s an understandable sentiment when government data shows that airfares in October were up 43% from a year earlier, and U.S. airlines reported a combined profit of more than $2.4 billion in the third quarter.

Part of the reason for high fares is that airlines are still operating fewer flights than in 2019 even though passenger numbers are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.

“Fewer flights and more people looking to head home or take vacation for the holidays means two things: Prices will be higher, and we will see flights sell out for both holidays,” says Holly Berg, chief economist for travel-data provider Hopper.

Yulia Parr knows exactly what Berg is talking about. The Annandale, Virginia, woman struggled to find a reasonably priced flight home for her young son, who is spending Thanksgiving with his grandmother in Texas while Parr visits her husband, who is on active military duty in California. She finally found a $250 one-way ticket on Southwest, but it’s not until the Tuesday after the holiday.

Parr figures she waited too long to book a flight.

“My husband’s kids are flying home for Christmas,” she said. “Those tickets were bought long ago, so they’re not too bad.”

Prices for air travel and lodging usually rise heading into the holidays, and it happened earlier this year. That is leading some travelers in Europe to book shorter trips, according to Axel Hefer, CEO of Germany-based hotel-search company Trivago.

“Hotel prices are up absolutely everywhere,” he said. “If you have the same budget or even a lower budget through inflation, and you still want to travel, you just cut out a day.”

Hotels are struggling with labor shortages, another cause of higher prices. Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings, which owns travel-search sites including Priceline and Kayak, says one hotelier told him he can’t fill all his rooms because he doesn’t have enough staff.

Rates for car rentals aren’t as crazy as they were during much of 2021, when some popular locations ran out of vehicles. Still, the availability of vehicles is tight because the cost of new cars has prevented rental companies from fully rebuilding fleets that they culled early in the pandemic.

U.S. consumers are facing the highest inflation in 40 years, and there is growing concern about a potential recession. That isn’t showing up in travel numbers, however.

The number of travelers going through airport checkpoints has recovered to nearly 95% of 2019 traffic, according to Transportation Security Administration figures for October. Travel industry officials say holiday travel might top pre-pandemic levels.

Airlines haven’t always done a good job handling the big crowds, even though they have been hiring workers to replace those who left after COVID-19 hit. The rates of canceled and delayed flights rose above pre-pandemic levels this summer, causing airlines to slow down plans to add more flights.

U.S. airlines operated only 84% as many U.S. flights as they did in October 2019, and plan about the same percentage in December, according to travel-data firm Cirium. On average, airlines are using bigger planes with more seats this year, which partly offsets the reduction in flights.

“We are definitely seeing a lot of strength for the holidays,” Andrew Nocella, United Airlines’ chief commercial officer, said on the company’s earnings call in October. “We’re approaching the Thanksgiving timeframe, and our bookings are incredibly strong.”

Airline executives and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg blamed each other for widespread flight problems over the summer. Airline CEOs say that after hiring more pilots and other workers, they are prepared for the holiday mob.

Travel experts offer tips for saving money and avoiding getting stranded by a canceled flight, although the advice hasn’t changed much from previous years.

Be flexible about dates and even destinations, although that’s not possible when visiting grandma’s house. In a recent search, the cheapest flights from Los Angeles to New York around Christmas were on Christmas Eve and returning New Year’s Eve.

Look into discount airlines and alternate airports, but know that smaller airlines have fewer options for rebooking passengers after a flight is canceled.

Fly early in the day to lower your risk of a delay or cancellation. “If something goes wrong, it tends to progress throughout the day — it gets to be a domino effect,” says Chuck Thackston, general manager of Airlines Reporting Corp., an intermediary between airlines and travel agents.

There are plenty of theories on the best day of the week to book travel. Thackston says it’s Sunday because airlines know that’s when many price-conscious consumers are shopping, and carriers tailor offerings for them.

For the most part, airlines have dodged the accusations of price-gouging that have swirled around oil companies — which drew another rebuke this week from President Joe Biden — and other industries.

Accountable US, an advocacy group critical of corporations, linked airline delays and cancellations this summer to job cuts during the pandemic and poor treatment of workers. “But generally, we would say the airline industry is not currently at the same level as big food, oil or retail in terms of gross profiteering,” says Jeremy Funk, a spokesman for the group.

Brett Snyder, who runs a travel agency and writes the “Cranky Flier” blog about air travel, says prices are high simply because flights are down from 2019 while demand is booming.

“How is it gouging?” Snyder asks. “They don’t want to go (take off) with empty seats, but they also don’t want to sell everything for a dollar. It’s basic economics.”

Travelers are sacrificing to hold down the cost of their trips.

Sheena Hale and her daughter, Krysta Pyle, woke up at 3 a.m. and left their northwestern Indiana home an hour later to make a 6:25 a.m. flight in Chicago last week.

“We are exhausted,” Hale said after the plane landed in Dallas, where Krysta was taking part in a cheer competition. “We started early because the early flights were much cheaper. Flights are way too expensive.”

They’re not going anywhere for Christmas.

“We don’t have to travel. We’re staying home with family,” Hale said.

———

David Koenig can be reached at www.twitter.com/airlinewriter

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November 13, 2022
Antitrust battle over iPhone app store goes to appeals court

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SAN FRANCISCO — Apple is heading into a courtroom faceoff against the company behind the popular Fortnite video game, reviving a high-stakes antitrust battle over whether the digital fortress shielding the iPhone’s app store illegally enriches the world’s most valuable company while stifling competition.

Oral arguments Monday before three judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals are the latest volley in legal battle revolving around an app store that provides a wide range of products to more than 1 billion iPhones and serves as a pillar in Apple’s $2.4 trillion empire.

It’s a dispute likely to remain unresolved for a long time. After hearing Monday’s arguments in San Francisco, the appeals court isn’t expected to rule for another six months to a year. The issue is so important to both companies that the losing side is likely to take the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, a process that could extend into 2024 or 2025.

The tussle dates back to August 2020 when Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, filed an antitrust lawsuit in an attempt to obliterate the walls that have given Apple exclusive control over the iPhone app store since its inception 14 year ago.

That ironclad control over the app store has enabled Apple to impose commissions that give it a 15% to 30% cut of purchases made for digital services sold by other companies. By some estimates, those commissions pay Apple $15 billion to $20 billion annually — revenue that the Cupertino, California, company says helps cover the cost of the technology for the iPhone and a store that now contains nearly 2 million mostly free apps.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Gonzalez Rogers sided almost entirely with Apple in a 185-page ruling issued 13 months ago. That followed a closely watched trial that included testimony from Apple CEO Tim Cook and Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, as well as other top executives.

Although she declared Apple’s exclusive control over iPhone apps wasn’t a monopoly, Gonzalez Rogers opened one loophole that Apple wants to close. The judge ordered Apple to allow apps to provide links to payment alternatives outside the app store, a requirement that has been put off until the appeals court rules.

Monday’s arguments are expected to open with Epic lawyer Thomas Goldstein trying to persuade the trio of judges — Sidney R. Thomas, Milan D. Smith Jr. and Michael J. McShane — why Gonzalez Rogers should have looked at the iPhone app store and the payment system as distinctly separate markets instead of bundling them together.

A lawyer for the Justice Department will also get a chance to explain why the agency believes Gonzalez Rogers interpreted the federal antitrust law too narrowly, jeopardizing future enforcement actions against potentially anti-competitive behavior in the technology industry. Although the department technically isn’t taking sides, its arguments are expected to help Epic make its case that the appeals court should overturn the lower court decision.

Another lawyer for the California Attorney General’s office will present arguments defending the law that Gonzalez Rogers cited in ordering Apple to provide links to alternative ways to pay outside its app store.

Apple lawyer Mark Perry will get the chance to make the final arguments, giving him an opportunity to tailor a presentation aimed at answering some of the questions that the judges may ask the lawyers preceding him.

Much of what Perry says is likely to echo the successful case that Apple presented in the lower court.

During his testimony in lower court, Cook argued that forcing Apple to allow alternative payment systems would weaken the security and privacy controls prized by consumers who buy iPhones instead of devices running on Google’s Android software. That scenario would create “a toxic kind of mess,” Cook warned on the witness stand.

Even as he railed against Apple’s ironclad grip on the app store, Sweeney acknowledged he owns an iPhone himself, partly because of its security and privacy features.

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November 13, 2022
Smaller food cos. get set for a high-priced holiday season

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NEW YORK — Holiday celebrants in Hilo, Hawaii, might notice something different about the traditional Yule Log cake from the Short ’N Sweet bakery this year.

Maria Short typically makes her popular $35 bûche de Noël with two logs combined to look like a branch. This year, thanks to soaring prices for eggs and butter and other items, she’s downsizing to one straight Yule log.

“It’s the same price, but smaller,” she said. “That cuts down on size and labor.”

Higher prices are hitting everyone this holiday, but food vendors are seeing some of the biggest increases. Small businesses that count on food-centric holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas are bracing for a difficult season.

At the wholesale level, egg prices are more than triple what they were a year ago, milk prices are up 34% and butter is up 70%, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Businesses are also paying more for everything from packages to labor.

Many owners are raising prices to offset the higher costs. But raising prices too much risks driving away the crucial holiday shopper. So, businesses are adapting: adjusting the way they make products, changing gift basket components and adding free gifts instead of giving discounts, among other steps.

Maria Short says that even for Hawaii, where the cost of living is among the highest of any U.S. state, the price increases are “drastic.”

For example, she says, the Short N Sweet Bakery is paying $123 for a case of eggs that cost $42 in October last year. A case of butter that was $91 in October ago; it’s $138 this year.

Among the ways Short is cutting costs, she’ll use a generic box decorated with stickers instead of using a customized box for her desserts. And she ordered a cookie printer rather than having bakers hand-pipe frosting, to save on labor costs.

Sarah Pounders, who co-owns Nashville-based Made in TN, a retailer of locally made food and gifts, says the local vendors who make the items she sells are facing higher prices. The cost of butter needed to make cookies is five times the price from a year ago and cardboard packaging is double.

Made in TN has raised some prices and is selling other items for less profit. Customers are already paying more for things like gas, clothing and cars, as well as services like eating out and travel, so they’re not as quick to spend as they might have been in prior years. They’re noticing the price increases, she said.

“If bread is up 50 cents you will still buy bread,” Pounders said. “But if it’s an impulse buy or luxury specialty item — if chocolate-covered cookies are up $1 — you might think twice.”

Price increases aren’t an option for her popular gift basket business. Corporations often have a $50 cap and events at hotels like weddings can have a $20 sweet spot. So, Pounders has made adjustments. In some cases, she has replaced a $20 bag of coffee, which is up $3, with less expensive hot chocolate. Or she puts one less chocolate bar in the basket.

She’s also buying more items that could sell throughout the year and less seasonal inventory like peppermint bark and hot chocolate on a stick.

“Every year is a guess, and the economy makes it even more volatile,” she said.

Eric Ludy, co-founder of Cheese Brothers, an online purveyor of Wisconsin cheese and gift baskets, faces a tricky task this holiday season as he tries to offset higher costs for packaging, labor — and cheese. Half of his business comes in the weeks between Black Friday and Christmas.

Cheese Brothers has nominally raised prices for their cheese – a block of cheddar will cost customers $7.50 instead of $7, for example. Ludy says he’ll also rely less on discounts this year and more on gifts and other giveaways.

A bit of a gamble that Ludy is taking is upping the spending limit for free shipping to $70 from $59.

“People buy enough to get free shipping, it’s a huge motivator,” he said. He hopes raising the shipping price could push the average order up to $70. But it could also stop people from clicking the “Buy” button.

“We might start to see people push back and not buy as much,” he said. “It’s a delicate balance.”

Americans eat an estimated 40 million turkeys during the holidays, according to industry group The National Turkey Federation. But turkey purveyors are facing a double whammy this Thanksgiving: higher prices plus an avian flu epidemic that is shaping up to be one of the worst in history.

Kevin Smith, owner of Beast and Cleaver, a butcher shop in Seattle, Washington, gets his turkeys from small, local farms. He says he’s paying $6 a pound for turkey this year, up from $3.80 to $4.20 last year. In addition, he only plans to sell 150 turkeys this year, down from 250 last year, due to shortages caused by the avian flu.

Still, Smith doesn’t plan to charge more for turkey than he did last year: $9 a pound. He says he has a “solid base of customers” willing to pay for more local, sustainable turkeys, but there’s a limit.

“We don’t want people to have to pay $12 a pound for turkey,” he said.

He’s raising the price of other items, like ground sausage and pates, to offset the higher costs of poultry. And while the rush of panic-buying during the pandemic has subsided, he’s still expecting a good holiday season.

“We’re still very busy,” he said. “It’s just a more stable busy.”

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November 13, 2022
Cocoa farmers fear climate change lowering crop production

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KOREAGUI, Ivory Coast — For more than 40 years, Jean Baptiste Saleyo has farmed cocoa on several acres of his family’s land in Ivory Coast, a West African nation that produces almost half the world’s supply of the raw ingredient used in chocolate bars.

But this year Saleyo says the rains have become unpredictable, and he fears his crop could be yet another victim of climate change.

“When it should have rained, it didn’t, it didn’t rain,” Saleyo said as he inspected the ripeness of one of his cocoa pods. “It’s raining now, but its already too late.”

Cocoa farming employs nearly 600,000 farmers here in Ivory Coast, ultimately supporting nearly a quarter of the country’s population — about 6 million people, according to the Coffee-Cocoa Council.

And it makes up about 15% of Ivory Coast’s national GDP, according to official figures.

National production remains on track because the amount of land being cultivated is on the rise. But experts say small-scale farmers are hurting this year. For the cocoa tree to fruit well, rains need to come at the right times in the growing cycle. Coming at the wrong times risks crop disease.

Some who are used to producing 500 kilograms are looking at only 200 kilograms this year, said Jean Yao Brou, secretary-general of the Anouanze cooperative, which helps farmers bring their crops to markets.

“Our producers have big worries with the production,” he said.

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November 12, 2022
Norwegian battery firm plans $2.6 billion plant in Georgia

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ATLANTA — A Norwegian company will build a giant electric battery factory just southwest of Atlanta, company and state officials announced Friday, investing up to $2.6 billion over multiple phases.

Freyr Battery said it would build an initial plant that would produce batteries that could hold 34 gigawatt hours of electricity each year. Among battery plants currently operating, that would be the second-largest worldwide, behind a factory owned by Panasonic and Tesla in Nevada.

Freyr CEO Tom Jensen told attendees at the announcement in the Atlanta suburb of Newnan that the company’s vision of using renewable energy to make batteries could play an important role in reducing carbon emissions from electricity generation and transportation. The company’s initial plan is targeted toward storing electricity produced by renewable sources and releasing it later, but Jensen said sales to vehicle makers could also be included.

Jensen said battery production is a “massive growth opportunity,” predicting 70% of decarbonization efforts will somehow include batteries.

“We want to build something that matters, something that we can be proud of something that will matter for our children,” Jensen said. “Because at the end of the day, the world needs to rapidly decarbonize the society.”

The company said it plans an initial investment of $1.7 billion, and would hire 720 people at a site it has purchased in an industrial park near Newnan, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) southwest of Atlanta. Phases through 2029 involving $700 million of additional investment could include more production lines, material processing and other activities.

Employees are projected to make an average of $60,284 a year, said Molly Giddens of the Coweta County Development Authority.

Freyr, named for the Norse god of peace and fertility, rain, and sunshine, is also building a large factory in northern Norway and is planning a battery cell production facility in Vaasa, Finland.

The company aims to make batteries, an electricity-intensive process, using renewable energy. In Georgia, that could mean buying electricity from a dedicated solar facility with battery storage run by a third party, the company said.

Freyr said it looked at 130 sites in 25 states before selecting Georgia, citing the availability of engineers trained by Georgia Tech and other schools, job training, and proximity to Atlanta’s big airport, Savannah’s port, railroads and highways.

The company said it sees opportunities in the United States in part because of incentives for renewable energy passed by Congress earlier this year. Freyr said it intends to seek federal grants or loans.

In addition, the company said it is getting “strong” financial incentives from state and local officials in Georgia. The state plans to pay for worker training, and Freyr will eligible for up to $4.5 million in state income tax credits over five years, as long as workers make at least $31,300 a year. Coweta County will give property tax breaks for 20 years, Giddens said, not disclosing a projected value. She said the company would also get a “quality jobs creation grant.”

It’s the second huge battery factory announced in Georgia. Korean firm SK Innovation has built a $2.6 billion plant in Commerce, northeast of Atlanta, with plans to hire 2,600 workers eventually.

The state has targeted the electric vehicle industry. Hyundai Motor Group has announced plans to invest $5.5 billion in a plant near Savannah and hire 8,100 workers, also planning to make batteries there. Electric truck maker Rivian has plans to build a plant east of Atlanta, investing $5 billion and employing 7,500 workers.

———

Follow Jeff Amy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jeffamy.

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November 11, 2022
Adidas lowers earnings outlook after breakup with Yeezy

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Shoe and sports apparel maker Adidas has lowered its earnings forecast for the full year to account for losses from ending its partnership with rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, in response to Ye’s antisemitic remarks

FRANKFURT, Germany — Shoe and sportswear maker Adidas on Wednesday lowered its earnings forecast for the full year to account for losses from ending its partnership with rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, in response to the artist’s antisemitic remarks.

Adidas cut its sales outlook for the year as part of its third-quarter earnings statement, to a low single digit increase from a mid-single digit increase, and net profit from continuing operations to 250 million euros ($252 million) instead of 500 million euros.

The company, based in Herzogenaurach, Germany, had previously said ending the partnership with Ye’s Yeezy brand would cost it 250 million euros. The Yeezy brand accounted for up to 15% of Adidas’ net income, according to Morningstar analyst David Swartz. Adidas has ended production of all Yeezy products and ceased royalty payments.

For weeks, Ye made antisemitic comments in interviews and social media, including a Twitter post earlier this month that he would soon go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” an apparent reference to the U.S. defense readiness condition scale known as DEFCON. He was suspended from both Twitter and Instagram.

The company had already cut its year forecasts on Oct. 20, five days before it announced it was ending the relationship with Yeezy. The earlier outlook revision cited slowing activity in China, where severe restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19 have held back the economy, and clearance of elevated inventory levels.

Net income for the third quarter from continuing operations was 66 million euros, down from 479 million euros in the same quarter a year ago. The decrease largely reflected 300 million in one-time costs, most of it from winding down the company’s business in Russia.

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November 9, 2022
EU’s Call of Duty: Probe Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal

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BRUSSELS — The European Union has launched an investigation into Microsoft’s planned takeover of video game giant Activision Blizzard, fearing the $69 billion deal would distort fair competition to popular titles like Call of Duty.

Microsoft, maker of the Xbox gaming system, first announced the agreement to buy the California-based game publisher in January, but it still awaits scrutiny by antitrust regulators in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere. If it goes through, the all-cash deal would be the largest in the history of the tech industry.

Members of the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm, said in a statement Tuesday that “the point is to ensure that the gaming ecosystem remains vibrant to the benefit of users in a sector that is evolving at a fast pace.”

“We must ensure that opportunities remain for future and existing distributors of PC and console video games, as well as for rival suppliers of PC operating systems,” the commissioners said. They have until March 23, 2023, to decide whether to approve the deal.

At the heart of the dispute is who gets to control future releases of Activision Blizzard’s most popular games, especially the first-person military shooter franchise Call of Duty. Activision this week said its latest installment, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, has already made more than $1 billion in sales since its Oct. 28 launch.

Microsoft’s console rival Sony, maker of the PlayStation, has brought its concerns about losing access to what it describes as a “must-have” game title to regulators around the world. In response, Microsoft has promised to keep Call of Duty on the PlayStation “for at least several more years” beyond its current contract with Sony. It also has said it might bring it to Nintendo’s Switch console, where the game isn’t currently available.

In a preliminary probe, the EU found potential antitrust issues with the distribution of video games and halting access to Microsoft’s rivals. The bloc said it has concerns that the proposed acquisition could hurt competitors to Microsoft’s Windows operating system, because computers without Windows might not be able to get Xbox’s game-streaming subscription service and growing collection of titles.

Microsoft said it will keep working with the European Commission on next steps “and to address any valid marketplace concerns.”

“Sony, as the industry leader, says it is worried about Call of Duty, but we’ve said we are committed to making the same game available on the same day on both Xbox and PlayStation,” Microsoft said in a statement Tuesday. “We want people to have more access to games, not less.”

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in an email to employees Tuesday that global competition in the video game industry makes it “understandable that regulators are trying to better understand the games business.” But he said the “process is moving along as we expected” and foresees the deal closing by June.

“We will continue to cooperate with the European Commission where, in the countries they represent, we have many employees,” Kotick wrote.

He highlighted Brazil’s recent approval, saying the country’s competition authority understood “we operate in a highly dynamic and competitive industry, and that the merger will not harm competition in any way.”

Saudi Arabia also has signed off on the deal, but it still awaits important decisions from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and authorities in the U.K. and EU.

Tuesday’s decision was another example of how the EU has led the way on regulating Big Tech companies, opening antitrust investigations, enacting strict regulations on data privacy and pushing through landmark rules that threaten online platforms with billions in fines unless they respect fair market conditions and crack down on harmful content like hate speech and disinformation.

It’s possible regulators could impose conditions on the gaming deal that force Microsoft to keep access open to Call of Duty for longer and ensure that its rivals aren’t getting a lesser version.

Among those listening to Sony’s concerns are antitrust regulators in the United Kingdom. Last month, they escalated their investigation into whether Microsoft could make Call of Duty and other titles exclusive to its Xbox platform or “otherwise degrade its rivals’ access” by delaying releases or imposing licensing price increases.

“These titles require thousands of game developers and several years to complete, and there are very few other games of similar caliber or popularity,” according to a September report from the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority.

———

O’Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

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November 8, 2022
Game time: California to decide dual sports betting measures

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LOS ANGELES — The gaming industry and Native American tribes bet big on dueling propositions to legalize sports gambling in California, pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into the most expensive ballot question campaigns in U.S. history.

But voters casting ballots in the midterm elections that conclude Tuesday may not want a piece of that action.

Californians have been inundated with a blast of advertisements as backers seek to legalize sports gambling by allowing it at tribal casinos and racetracks or through mobile and online wagering.

With a multibillion-dollar market at stake, proponents raised nearly $600 million — more than 250% higher than the record amount spent in 2020 by Uber, Lyft and other app-based ride-hailing and delivery services to prevent drivers from becoming employees eligible for benefits and job protection.

Still, preelection polls showed both ballot measures faced an uphill fight to win a majority. Should both be approved, a provision in the California Constitution calls for the one with the most votes to prevail.

More than 30 other states allow sports betting, but gambling in California is currently limited to Native American casinos, horse tracks, card rooms and the state lottery.

Proponents of the two initiatives propose different ways to offer sports gambling and each touts other benefits they say that will come to the state if their measure is approved.

Proposition 26 would allow casinos and the state’s four horse tracks to offer sports betting in person. The initiative bankrolled by a coalition of tribes would also allow roulette and dice games at casinos.

A 10% tax would help pay for enforcement of gambling laws and programs to help gambling addicts.

Proposition 27 would would allow online and mobile sports betting for adults. Large gaming companies would have to partner with a tribe involved in gambling or tribes could enter the market on their own.

That measure is backed by DraftKings, BetMGM, FanDuel — the latter is the official odds provider for The Associated Press — as well as other national sports betting operators and a few tribes.

The initiative is being promoted for the funding it promises to funnel through tax revenues to help the homeless, the mentally ill and and poorer tribes that haven’t been enriched by casinos.

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office found that both initiatives would increase state revenues but it’s unclear by how much. Proposition 26 could bring in tens of millions of dollars while Proposition 27 could bring in hundreds of millions, the office said.

However, that revenue could be offset if people spend their money on sports gambling instead of shopping or buying lottery tickets.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom hasn’t taken a position on either proposal but has said Proposition 27 “is not a homeless initiative.”

The California Republican Party opposes both proposals. State Democrats oppose Proposition 27, but are neutral on Proposition 26. Major League Baseball is backing Proposition 27.

The No on Prop 26 campaign, funded largely by card rooms that stand to lose out, says the measure would give a handful of wealthy and powerful tribes “a virtual monopoly on all gaming in California.”

The No on 27 committee says the proposal is based on deceptive promises and says the gaming companies behind it “didn’t write it for the homeless, they wrote it for themselves.”

———

Follow AP’s coverage of the elections at: https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections

Check out https://apnews.com/hub/explaining-the-elections to learn more about the issues and factors at play in the 2022 midterm elections.

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November 8, 2022
Renault, China’s Geely announced powertrain joint venture

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Renault SA and China’s Geely say they plan to launch a joint venture to produce gasoline-powered and hybrid powertrains, adding to a series of partnerships between global automakers to share soaring technology costs

BEIJING — Renault SA and China’s Geely announced plans Tuesday for a jointly owned venture to produce gasoline-powered and hybrid powertrains, adding to a series of partnerships between global automakers to share soaring technology costs.

The venture will have 17 plants with annual production capacity of 5 million powertrains, five research and development centers on three continents and some 19,000 employees, the companies said. They gave no financial terms but said each partner will own half of the venture.

It will supply brands owned by or linked to Renault and Geely including Nissan, Mitsubishi, Volvo Cars, Renault, Dacia, Geely Auto, Lynk & Co. and Proton, the companies said. They said it might later supply third-party brands.

Global automakers have been forming partnerships over the past decade to share the multibillion-dollar development costs of electric vehicles and more efficient gasoline engines.

The Renault-Geely agreement will “enable the creation of a global leader in hybrid technologies to provide highly efficient advanced solutions for automakers around the world,” Eric Li, chairman of Geely Holding Group, said in a statement.

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November 7, 2022
California settles with firm in Volkswagen emissions scandal

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California on Monday settled a lawsuit against a German company stemming from the emissions scandal that tarred Volkswagen in 2015 and Fiat Chrysler two years later.

German auto supplier Bosch will pay $25 million to settle allegations by the state and California Air Resources Board under a court complaint and settlement agreement, both filed Monday. A judge will need to sign off on the settlement.

Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler installed “defeat devices” in nearly 100,000 diesel passenger vehicles sold in California, the state said previously. The devices made it seem like the vehicles were meeting emissions requirements as they were undergoing testing, but on the road they actually polluted at many times the legal limit.

The settlement stems from some Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler diesel vehicles sold in the U.S. from model year 2016 and earlier.

The complaint filed Monday said Bosch knew or should have known that the automakers were violating environmental and consumer protection laws, and that Bosch broke consumer protection laws through its marketing of Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler vehicles and its own diesel components.

“Bosch violated consumer trust when it gave Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler the technology they needed to skirt state and federal emissions tests,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in announcing the settlement.

The Air Resources Board’s executive officer, Steven Cliff, said the company’s technology “was at the heart of the automobile emissions cheating scandals at Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler and that has led directly to increased emissions and unhealthful air, especially in neighborhoods suffering from persistent air pollution.”

Bosch said in a statement that it “neither acknowledges the validity of the claims … nor does it concede any liability.” But it said its “robust compliance systems, as well as its full cooperation” aided the settlement. It also said that since 2015, the company’s “already existing extensive compliance policies and procedures have been substantially enhanced.”

Aside from the $25 million, the settlement requires Bosch to make changes in its policies and procedures and to tell state officials if it discovers that a manufacturer will use or has used cheating technology.

California previously settled with Volkswagen for nearly $1.5 billion in environmental mitigation payments, investments in zero-emissions technology and other damages. The company also was required to buy back at least 85% of affected vehicles or make emissions modifications on those vehicles.

Fiat Chrysler paid more than $78 million and similarly was required to bring at least 85% of the affected vehicles into compliance.

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November 7, 2022
California settles with firm in Volkswagen emissions scandal

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California on Monday settled a lawsuit against a German company stemming from the emissions scandal that tarred Volkswagen in 2015 and Fiat Chrysler two years later.

German auto supplier Bosch will pay $25 million to settle allegations by the state and California Air Resources Board under a court complaint and settlement agreement, both filed Monday. A judge will need to sign off on the settlement.

Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler installed “defeat devices” in nearly 100,000 diesel passenger vehicles sold in California, the state said previously. The devices made it seem like the vehicles were meeting emissions requirements as they were undergoing testing, but on the road they actually polluted at many times the legal limit.

The settlement stems from some Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler diesel vehicles sold in the U.S. from model year 2016 and earlier.

The complaint filed Monday said Bosch knew or should have known that the automakers were violating environmental and consumer protection laws, and that Bosch broke consumer protection laws through its marketing of Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler vehicles and its own diesel components.

“Bosch violated consumer trust when it gave Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler the technology they needed to skirt state and federal emissions tests,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in announcing the settlement.

The Air Resources Board’s executive officer, Steven Cliff, said the company’s technology “was at the heart of the automobile emissions cheating scandals at Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler and that has led directly to increased emissions and unhealthful air, especially in neighborhoods suffering from persistent air pollution.”

Bosch said in a statement that it “neither acknowledges the validity of the claims … nor does it concede any liability.” But it said its “robust compliance systems, as well as its full cooperation” aided the settlement. It also said that since 2015, the company’s “already existing extensive compliance policies and procedures have been substantially enhanced.”

Aside from the $25 million, the settlement requires Bosch to make changes in its policies and procedures and to tell state officials if it discovers that a manufacturer will use or has used cheating technology.

California previously settled with Volkswagen for nearly $1.5 billion in environmental mitigation payments, investments in zero-emissions technology and other damages. The company also was required to buy back at least 85% of affected vehicles or make emissions modifications on those vehicles.

Fiat Chrysler paid more than $78 million and similarly was required to bring at least 85% of the affected vehicles into compliance.

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November 7, 2022
EXPLAINER: Bikes, batteries and blazes spark concern in NYC

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NEW YORK — A weekend fire that injured over three dozen people — and forced firefighters to use ropes to pluck people from a 20th-story window — is drawing attention to a rising concern in New York City: battery fires that can arise in the electric bikes and scooters that have proliferated here.

City officials are considering new laws after the fire department counted nearly 200 blazes and six fire deaths this year tied to problems with lithium-ion batteries in such “micromobility” devices.

WHAT ARE THESE BATTERIES? ARE THEY THE SAME TECH USED IN PHONES AND CARS?

Lithium-ion batteries are a Nobel Prize-winning innovation that entered the market in the early 1990s. Hailed as rechargeable, lightweight, powerful, durable and safe, the batteries have been envisioned as a key to greening the world’s energy supply by storing energy, including from the sun, wind and other renewable sources.

The technology has woven its way into many people’s everyday lives, powering phones, laptop computers, vehicles and more.

WHY CAN THEY CATCH FIRE?

The batteries’ electrolyte — a solution that lets electrical current flow — is flammable, explains Massachusetts Institute of Technology materials chemistry professor Dr. Donald Sadoway. The substance was chosen for its ability to handle the voltage involved, but fires can happen if the batteries are overcharged, overheated, defective or damaged, for instance.

Over the years, problems have periodically triggered fires involving laptops, cellphones, hoverboards, electric vehicles, airplanes and battery power storage installations. A U.N. aviation agency said in 2016 that lithium-ion batteries shouldn’t be shipped on passenger planes.

Battery industry group leader James Greenberger notes that other energy sources aren’t trouble-free, and he says there’s nothing inherently unsafe about the batteries. But he said the industry is concerned about the fires lately in New York and worries that they could scare off consumers.

“This shouldn’t be happening and we need to figure out what’s going on,” said Greenberger, the executive director of NAATBatt — the North American trade association for advanced battery technology developers, manufacturers and users.

WHY ARE E-BIKES AND SCOOTERS GETTING SCRUTINY IN NEW YORK?

The city has seen “an exponential increase” in fires related to faulty lithium-ion batteries in recent years, Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn said. He said there have been more deaths and injuries already this year than in the past three years combined.

“It’s a big issue,” he said at a news conference Monday, describing fires that occur without warning, grow rapidly and are tough to extinguish.

The batteries “fail almost in an explosive way — it’s like a blowtorch,” he said.

Saturday’s fire in a Manhattan apartment was sparked by a malfunctioning e-bike battery that residents were attempting to charge and left unattended while they fell asleep, he said. They were trapped when the battery, plugged in by the front door, caught fire, Flynn said.

Electric bikes and scooters have become popular, non-gasoline-burning ways to make deliveries, commute and zip around a city that has promoted cycling in recent decades. For the “deliveristas” who carry restaurant takeout orders, the bikes are crucial tools of the trade.

“What these workers have learned over the years, and they know it well, is that, like any equipment, it requires the maintenance required,” said Hildalyn Colón Hernández, a spokesperson for worker advocacy group Los Deliveristas Unidos. She said many workers have used their batteries for years without a hitch.

WHAT’S CAUSING THE PROBLEM?

There are different opinions. Greenberger, the industry group director, suggests there’s too little quality control on some of the largely imported batteries. Sadoway, the scientist, believes “we don’t have the appropriate protective measures” on e-bikes and scooters themselves to monitor the batteries for problems.

Colón Hernández, the delivery worker advocate, thinks there need to be tougher standards around the batteries, such as regulations for businesses that sell or service them.

WHAT IS NEW YORK CITY DOING ABOUT THIS?

The Fire Department has repeatedly issued warnings and safety tips over the past year. Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh asked the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission in August to consider new regulations. Mayor Eric Adams pointed again to the CPSC on Monday.

“The responsibility of navigating safe and unsafe batteries on the market should not fall to hard-working New Yorkers,” the mayor, a Democrat, said in a statement.

Some city lawmakers want to take their own steps.

A City Council committee has set a Nov. 14 hearing on various proposals. Some would require public education campaigns or safety reports. Another would prohibit the sale of some secondhand lithium-ion batteries, or e-bike or scooter batteries without certain seals of approval.

Meanwhile, fire officials continue to urge everyone not to leave batteries to charge unattended, to check that they’re not damaged or near a heat source, and to make sure the batteries, chargers, cords and devices are all from the same manufacturer and used as instructed.

“We understand the benefits that these batteries pose to our communities, and we want to encourage use of them, but safe use,” Flynn said. “So understand that it does pose a danger, and just use them safely.”

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November 7, 2022
Supplier to hire 630 near Hyundai’s EV plant in Georgia

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STATESBORO, Ga. — An auto parts manufacturer plans to hire 630 workers at a new factory in southeast Georgia to supply Hyundai Motor Group’s first U.S. electric vehicle plant that’s under construction nearby, state officials said Monday.

Joon Georgia will invest $317 million to produce parts in Bulloch County, Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said in a news release. The supplier will open shop roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of the southeast Georgia site where Hyundai executives broke ground on the new EV plant two weeks ago.

The company is “the first of many” expected to come to Georgia to supply the $5.5 billion Hyundai plant in Bryan County, Kemp said in a statement. The automaker plans to open its Georgia plant in 2025, producing up to 300,000 electric vehicles per year.

Joon Georgia is a subsidiary of Ajin USA, which supplies parts to other Hyundai plants. It already operates a facility in Cusseta, Alabama, near the Georgia line that makes parts for Hyundai’s plant in Montgomery, Alabama, as well as for Kia’s auto plant in West Point, Georgia.

The Joon Georgia factory near the Hyundai EV plant is expected to open near Statesboro in mid-2024, Kemp’s office said.

“Joon Georgia’s announcement today is a landmark moment as we drive Georgia’s automotive industry into the future,” said Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, in a statement.

State and local officials in Georgia lured Hyundai with tax breaks and incentives worth $1.8 billion, making it the state’s largest economic development deal.

Wilson and other Georgia officials have insisted it’s a worthwhile investment. In addition to Hyundai hiring 8,100 workers, suppliers are expected to create thousands of additional jobs in the state.

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November 7, 2022
Q&A: A look at $1.9B Powerball jackpot, how it grew so large

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DES MOINES, Iowa — Monday night’s estimated $1.9 billion Powerball jackpot is nearly $400 million larger than the previous record jackpot and will keep growing until someone finally wins the prize.

The jackpot started at $20 million back on Aug. 6 and over three winless months has grown to be 95 times as large. Put another way, it’s a crazy amount of money.

WHY SO LONG WITHOUT A WINNER?

Those who spend $2 on a Powerball ticket might wonder if something is wrong when 40 drawings pass without a jackpot winner, but this is how the game is designed. With odds of 1 in 292 million, that means it’s unlikely anyone will win the prize until a growing jackpot attracts more players. And more ticket sales mean the lottery can raise more money for public programs, which is the point of the state lotteries. Still, it has been an awful long time without a jackpot, and if there isn’t a winner Monday night, a new record will have been reached: 41 draws without anyone matching all six numbers.

PLENTY OF PEOPLE MUST BE PLAYING NOW, RIGHT?

Yes and no. Many, many more people are buying tickets now that the jackpot has reached nearly $2 billion. That’s clear from the fact that when the jackpot started at $20 million in the summer, players bought only enough tickets to cover less than 10% of the 292.2 million possible number combinations. For Saturday night’s drawing, that had climbed to 62%, so millions and millions of people are playing. But that percentage is still less than the 88.6% coverage reached for the previous record jackpot in 2016. And if 38% of the possible number combinations aren’t covered, there is a good chance there won’t be a winner.

WILL THE EVENTUAL WINNER REALLY GET $1.9 BILLION?

Pity the poor Powerball winner, as the lucky ticketholder will see nothing close to $1.9 billion. It’s only a question of how much less.

First, that $1.9 billion prize is for winners who choose payment through an annuity, which sends out a check annually for 29 years, with a 5% increase each year. But almost no winners take the annuity, instead opting for cash. For Monday night’s drawing, the cash prize would be $929.1 million, or less than half the annuity prize.

Federal taxes would take an additional bite, lessening the payout by more than one-third, and many states tax lottery winnings would as well.

The difference between the annuity and cash prizes has grown larger recently because inflation has resulted in higher interest rates, which means money invested in the annuity can grow.

DO I HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF WINNING IF I BUY MORE TICKETS?

Yes, but your odds of winning aren’t significantly improved. Think of it this way: If you buy one ticket, you have a 1 in 292.2 million chance of winning the jackpot. If you spend $10 for five number combinations, your chances are better, but at 5 in 292.2 million you still almost undoubtedly are not going to hit the jackpot. The same is true if you spend $100. Lottery officials say the average player buys two or three tickets, meaning they’re putting money down on a dream with very little chance it will pay off in a rich reality.

WHERE IS POWERBALL PLAYED?

Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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November 7, 2022
Drought tests resilience of Spain’s olive groves and farmers

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QUESADA, Spain — An extremely hot, dry summer that shrank reservoirs and sparked forest fires is now threatening the heartiest of Spain‘s staple crops: the olives that make the European country the world’s leading producer and exporter of the tiny green fruits that are pressed into golden oil.

Industry experts and authorities predict Spain’s fall olive harvest will be nearly half the size of last year’s, another casualty of global weather shifts caused by climate change.

“I am 57 years old and I have never seen a year like this one,” farmer Juan Antonio Delgado said as he walked past his rows of olive trees in the southeast town of Quesada. “My intention is to hang on as long as I can, but when the costs rise above what I make from production we will all be out of a job.”

High temperatures in May killed many of the blossoms on the olive trees in Spanish orchards. The ones that survived produced fruits that were small and thin because of not enough water. A little less moisture can actually yield better olive oil, but the recent drought is proving too much for them.

This year has been the third-driest in Spain since records were started in 1964. The Mediterranean country also had its hottest summer on record.

Spain’s 350,000 olive farmers typically harvest their crops in early October, ahead of their full ripeness, in order to produce the olive oil. But with his olives still too puny to pick, Delgado left most of the fruit on his trees, hoping for rain. So far, no luck.

If the wished-for rain doesn’t arrive soon, the country will produce nearly half as many olives as it did last year, according to Spain’s agriculture minister.

“Our forecast for this harvest season is notoriously low,” Agriculture Minister Luis Planas told The Associated Press. “The ministry predicts that it won’t even reach 800,000 tonnes (882,000 U.S. tons),” compared with 1.47 million tonnes (1.62 million U.S. tons) in 2021.

Olive trees cover 2.7 million hectares (6.8 million acres) of Spain’s soil, with a full 37% of them found in Jaén province, which is known for its “sea of olives” and where Delgado farms.

On average, Spain grows more than three times as many olives as Italy and Greece, which also are seeing smaller yields.

Olive oil production in the European Union as a whole is forecast to fall drastically compared with last year, according to the Committee of Professional Agricultural Organizations and the General Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives,

The European farming organizations, known by the acronyms COPA and COGECA, warned in September that the yield could drop by 35% due to drought and high temperatures. The two groups called the situation in Spain “particularly worrying.”

The smaller harvest is driving up prices, according to Italian olive oil producer Filippo Berio. The company said the price of European olives for extra virgin oil has soared from 500 euros per tonne ($495) to 4,985 euros ($4,938) per tonne.

Along with warmer than usual weather, the drought is affecting Spanish olives in other ways. Farming method consultant Antonio Bernal is witnessing the return of long-forgotten diseases during his visits to Quesada. He believes that milder winters are helping fungi to proliferate.

Bernal also fears that the most widespread variety of olive cultivated in Jaén won’t be able to adapt to such a quickly changing climate.

“The solution is to stop climate change: Olive groves cannot adapt at a pace to assume such a fast change,” Bernal said.

Besides the olive branch being the universal symbol of peace, the olive is a symbol of the Mediterranean. Plato was said to have dispensed his wisdom under an olive tree and the olive’s widespread cultivation in Spain goes back to the Romans.

When it got too dry for orange and lemon trees, olive trees were counted on to continue thriving. The short, gnarly trees cling to dry, rocky ground and seem not to mind when the sun comes pounding down. Under torrid midday conditions, microscopic pores on their leaves close to reduce water loss.

“For Jaén, the olive has been our culture, our way of subsisting and feeding our families,” said olive farmer Manuel García.

Yet even the hearty olive has limits. These days, the fruit represents the challenges communities face in a hotter, dryer world.

Researcher Virginia Hernández is an olive expert based at the Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology in Seville, Spain. She is studying how to adapt irrigation practices to drought, specifically the point at which “sub-optimum” quantities of water can be used to promote sustainability.

With less rain likely to become a norm, using water sparingly is critical, Hernández said. She thinks a more intelligent use of high-tech irrigation systems combined with more drought-resistant varieties of trees could save the industry as the planet warms.

According to climate experts, the Mediterranean is expected to be one of the fastest warming regions of the world in the coming years. The trick is convincing farmers that reducing their output some today might save their livelihoods tomorrow, the kind of adaptability at which olives are particularly adept, Hernández said.

“The truth is that the olive is the paradigmatic species when it comes to resisting a lack of water,” she said. “I can’t think of another that can hold up like the olive. … It knows how to suffer.”

———

Joseph Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain. Photojournalist Bernat Armangue and videojournalist Iain Sullivan contributed from Quesada.

———

Follow AP’s coverage of the climate and environment: https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

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November 6, 2022
Philadelphia Home Depot workers vote to reject unionization

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PHILADELPHIA — Home Depot workers in Philadelphia rejected the first store-wide labor union at the world’s largest home improvement retailer Saturday night, a loss for a fledgling movement to organize at major U.S. companies.

Workers voted 165 to 51 against forming Home Depot Workers United, which would have represented 274 employees at the store, according to the National Labor Relations Board, which oversaw the voting. The company and union organizations have five days to file objections.

The defeat for the organizers could discourage activist workers who have successfully formed the first unions at big chains, including Amazon, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s and Apple, but have since suffered setbacks in getting collective bargaining off the ground or organizing more unions.

The Atlanta-based company employs about 500,000 people at its 2,316 stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Vincent Quiles, the Home Depot employee leading the unionization effort, told WHYY-FM that the attempt to organize workers had been a “tall order.”

“It wouldn’t be an easy fight to have,” Quiles said. “But you do these things because you believe them to be right.”

Quiles previously said discontent with compensation, working conditions, understaffing and lack of training are among the grievances that spurred the effort to organize.

After the failed union vote, Home Depot spokesperson Margaret Smith told WHYY, “We’re happy that the associates at this store voted to continue working directly with the company. That connection is important to our culture, and we will continue listening to our associates and making The Home Depot a great place to work and grow.”

Quiles has filed a complaint of unfair labor practices with the NRLB, alleging managers engaged in inappropriate surveillance and interrogation tactics against union supporters. Quiles has said managers followed him around the stores and tried to disrupt any conversations he tried to have with co-workers, even if it wasn’t about the union.

Instead, Quiles said he relied on TikTok videos, group text messaging and e-mailing to campaign for the union.

Home Depot has denied the complaint’s allegations.

Fierce legal fights have characterized organization efforts at other companies.

Amazon has filed more than two dozen objections in an attempt to undo the Amazon Labor Union’s surprise election victory at a Staten Island warehouse last spring, the group’s only successful attempt so far to form a union. The ALU, meanwhile, has filed more than two dozen charges with the NLRB accusing Amazon of unfair labor practices.

Starbucks is negotiating contracts at a handful of the more than 250 stores where workers have voted to unionize, but the company has asked the NLRB to temporarily halt other elections because of alleged misconduct.

The labor relations board has filed a complaint against Chipotle alleging the restaurant chain unlawfully closed a store in Augusta, Maine, and fired its workers for union activity.

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November 6, 2022
Philadelphia Home Depot workers vote to reject unionization

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PHILADELPHIA — Home Depot workers in Philadelphia rejected the first store-wide labor union at the world’s largest home improvement retailer Saturday night, a loss for a fledgling movement to organize at major U.S. companies.

Workers voted 165 to 51 against forming a union representing 274 employees at the store, WHYY-FM reported.

The National Labor Relations Board oversaw the voting. A board spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press for information about the vote.

The defeat for the organizers, who sought to join Home Depot Workers United, could discourage activist workers who have successfully formed the first unions at big chains, including Amazon, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s and Apple, but have since suffered setbacks in getting collective bargaining off the ground or organizing more unions.

The Atlanta-based company employs about 500,000 people at its 2,316 stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Vincent Quiles, the Home Depot employee leading the unionization effort, told WHYY that the attempt to organize workers had been a “tall order.”

“I knew when I filed this petition we’d be taking on a $300 billion company,” Quiles said after the vote. “It wouldn’t be an easy fight to have. But you do these things because you believe them to be right.”

Quiles previously said worker discontent with working conditions, understaffing and lack of training are among the grievances that spurred the effort to organize. He also said workers are upset they have not shared more in the record profits Home Depot saw during the coronavirus pandemic.

Home Depot firmly opposes unionization, saying it has an open door policy allowing employees to bring concerns directly to managers.

After the failed union vote, Home Depot spokesperson Margaret Smith told WHYY, “We’re happy that the associates at this store voted to continue working directly with the company. That connection is important to our culture, and we will continue listening to our associates and making The Home Depot a great place to work and grow.”

Quiles filed a complaint of unfair labor practices with the NRLB, alleging managers engaged in inappropriate surveillance and interrogation tactics against union supporters. Quiles said managers followed him around the stores and tried to disrupt any conversations he tried to have with co-workers, even if it wasn’t about the union.

Instead, Quiles said he relied on TikTok videos, group text messaging and e-mailing to campaign for the union. Although more than 100 workers signed the petition demanding the election, Quiles said he was never able to persuade any co-workers to join him in speaking out publicly.

Home Depot is cooperating with the investigation into the complaint and “is confident we haven’t committed the alleged violations,” company spokeswoman Sara Gorman said.

Fierce legal fights have characterized organization efforts at other companies.

Amazon has filed more than two dozen objections in an attempt to undo the Amazon Labor Union’s surprise election victory at a Staten Island warehouse last spring, the group’s only successful attempt so far to form a union. The ALU, meanwhile, has filed more than two dozen charges with the National Labor Relations Board accusing Amazon of unfair labor practices that damaged its ability to organize.

Starbucks is negotiating contracts at a handful of the more than 250 stores where workers have voted to unionize, but the company has asked the NLRB to temporarily halt other elections because of alleged misconduct.

The labor relations board has filed a complaint against Chipotle alleging the restaurant chain unlawfully closed a store in Augusta, Maine, and fired its workers for union activity.

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November 6, 2022
Mexican company to build $200M, 295-worker bakery in Georgia

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VALDOSTA, Ga. — A Mexican bakery will be turning out more bread in south Georgia, announcing a larger bakery to go with a smaller one that it’s already building.

Mexico City-based Grupo Bimbo said Friday that it will spend $200 million on a new bakery in Valdosta and hire 295 workers.

The company originally announced a $25 million bakery projected to hire 76 workers in 2021. That bakery is under construction and will start operating in December, said Andrea Schruijer, executive director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority.

The project announced Friday will begin work in December in the same industrial park and is expected to open in December 2025.

The first bakery will make sandwich buns for restaurants across the Southeast. It’s unclear what the bakery announced Friday will make.

Schruijer told the Valdosta Daily Times that workers’ wages will start between $19 and $25 an hour.

The company will get an undisclosed amount of job training assistance from the state. Schruijer said local officials approved a 12-year graduated property tax break. She said she was unable to give a specific value for how much the city and county were forgoing in taxes.

Grupo Bimbo will also qualify for a Georgia tax credit allowing it to annually deduct $3,500 per job from state income taxes, up to $5.2 million over five years, as long as workers make at least $31,300 a year. If Grupo Bimbo doesn’t owe that much income tax, it will be able to recover the rest of the credit from state income tax payments made by workers.

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November 4, 2022