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Tag: labor

  • After Three and a Half Weeks, New School Strike Ends With Tentative Agreement

    After Three and a Half Weeks, New School Strike Ends With Tentative Agreement

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    Nearly 1,800 part-time faculty members who have been on strike since November 16 will return to work at the New School following the announcement on Saturday night that negotiators had reached a tentative collective-bargaining agreement.

    “This is a strong, fair five-year contract that increases compensation significantly, protects health-care benefits, and ensures that part-time faculty are paid for additional work done outside the classroom to support our students,” a joint statement by the New York City university and the union says.

    The leadership of the union, ACT-UAW Local 7902, will unanimously recommend that its members vote to ratify the deal, with a vote expected to take place in the next few days. “In the meantime, the union has ended the strike, and all university classes and events will resume, as scheduled, effective immediately,” according to the statement.

    On Thursday the university issued a statement saying it had taken “the extraordinary step to agree to all of the union’s compensation demands, with the addition of an administrative-services fee to compensate part-time faculty for their work outside the classroom.” The New School had announced on Wednesday it would stop paying and making retirement and health-care contributions to the striking workers.

    The university has not yet said publicly how it will pay for the raises. The New School’s president, Dwight A. McBride, said in an interview on Sunday that the agreement would require financial sacrifices. “Today, we celebrate and are thrilled that the strike is over and that we are back to work, but I would be remiss if I didn’t say the contract is a significant financial stress for the university” over the next five years, he said. Although projections are still being calculated, he estimated the New School could face “somewhere in the order of around $20 million a year that we’ll have to make up.” He said it would be “a challenge and a stretch, but one that is important in this moment in terms of recognizing the work of our part-time faculty.”

    Asked whether tuition increases were likely, McBride said that “all options” for cutting costs and increasing revenue would have to be on the table.

    In a statement late Saturday, the union said the contract included “substantial raises,” with the largest going to faculty members currently being paid at the lowest rates.

    Lee-Sean Huang, who teaches part time at the New School’s Parsons School of Design, said in an interview on Sunday that his pay, for a 45-hour seminar he taught this fall, would increase from $127 to $136 per contact hour — a 7-percent increase. “I’m feeling really good about it,” he said of the tentative agreement, although he said the raises would not make up for the 18-percent hit the union said its members had suffered in real earnings due to inflation since their last pay raise, in 2018.

    The contract also would strengthen job security and offer paid family leave and a professional-development fund, the union said. And it apparently would resolve what had become the major sticking point in the negotiations late last week, by addressing concerns that some people might lose health-care coverage and others could see their rates soar.

    The tentative contract, the union said, includes “expanded health-care eligibility to faculty teaching one course, no hikes to our out-of-pocket health-insurance costs, and caps to annual premium increases.”

    Part-time workers make up more than 80 percent of the teaching faculty at the private liberal-arts university. As the strike dragged into its fourth week, with classes canceled and grades up in the air, a group of angry parents threatened to file a class-action lawsuit against the New School and to withhold tuition payments.

    Total costs for full-time new undergraduates who live on campus amounted to about $79,000 last academic year, up 7 percent from the previous year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The cost, which included some $52,000 in tuition and fees, was significantly less for students with scholarships.

    ‘Back to Our Mission’

    Many full-time faculty members had pledged to support their part-time colleagues by refusing to cross picket lines. The university told them last week that they’d have to start submitting weekly forms showing that they were fulfilling their teaching, research, and service responsibilities. Meanwhile, it indicated, in a post on Twitter, that it was considering hiring replacements for the striking workers if the walkout wasn’t resolved by the end of the year.

    “This is an excellent contract that demonstrates the deep respect we have for all the contributions of our part-time faculty at the New School, as well as one that sets new standards for part-time faculty nationwide,” the university’s statement on Thursday said. “We want nothing more than to get back to our mission of teaching, learning, and creating.”

    In the plan it outlined on Thursday, the New School said it was also providing a supplemental bonus of $2,100 for each member of the adjuncts’ union who taught during the pandemic. The university said it had also agreed to improvements in health insurance, retirement, and tuition benefits. And it said it was adding a new way for part-time faculty members to challenge disciplinary decisions stemming from internal sexual-harassment investigations.

    The union contends that it’s unfair for a single person, paid by the university, to make binding decisions in such cases without instructors’ having the opportunity to appeal to a neutral arbitrator. The details of the university’s new plan weren’t spelled out in its statement.

    There’s a lot of healing that’s going to have to happen in our community on all sides.

    The strike had gotten increasingly ugly last week, with reports of violent and racist threats’ being made on social media against university staff members and their families. The New School’s faculty, student, and staff senates issued a joint statement condemning the threats against “at-will employees who were just doing their jobs.” The union also condemned the threats, and the university released a statement saying it “shares the outrage and concern” and had notified law-enforcement and campus-safety officials.

    McBride, the president, said the social-media threats had been “soul-crushing” to the university leaders and staff members targeted. “No one should feel unsafe coming to their workplace,” he said. “On a personal note,” he said, “there’s a lot of healing that’s going to have to happen in our community on all sides — leadership, students, faculty — for us to effectively move together as a community.”

    Students who supported the striking workers staged a protest at the campus’s University Center after the New School said it would stop paying the strikers on Wednesday. The students had pledged to remain there until the university resumed paying the instructors and a fair contract was signed.

    Meanwhile, progress was reported in resolving strikes that have brought much of the teaching and research to a standstill across the University of California system in recent weeks. Members of UAW Local 5810, the union representing postdocs and academic researchers, announced on Saturday that their members had voted overwhelmingly to ratify five-year contracts that include significant pay raises.

    At the same time, negotiators have agreed to bring in a private mediator to try to resolve a continuing dispute involving thousands of graduate students who have been on strike since November 14. That strike has paralyzed the 10-campus system and thrown the end of the semester, including final exams and grading, into chaos.

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    Katherine Mangan

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  • Chrysler Parent Stellantis to Stop Operations at Jeep Cherokee Factory

    Chrysler Parent Stellantis to Stop Operations at Jeep Cherokee Factory

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    Chrysler Parent Stellantis to Stop Operations at Jeep Cherokee Factory

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  • Airport Workers Protest Unfair Working Conditions And Push For Legislative Action

    Airport Workers Protest Unfair Working Conditions And Push For Legislative Action

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    Thousands of airport workers across the country protested unfair wages and labor practices on Thursday and demanded that Congress take action to protect them.

    Airport services workers, including baggage handlers, cabin cleaners, janitors, security guards and wheelchair attendants rallied in 15 cities across the U.S. to demand better working conditions and living wages, according to the Service Employees International Union. Workers in three major hubs ― Chicago, Boston and Newark ― went on strike.

    The latest action comes nearly nine months after airport workers staged major protests nationwide over their working conditions.

    “We’re calling on Congress to get major airlines to make sure that they invest in frontline workers all across this country,” SEIU president Mary Kay Henry said in a video for the union’s Twitter.

    The wages of airport service workers have been near the poverty level for decades, according to SEIU. Verna Montalvo, a cabin cleaner at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, said during a Thursday news conference on Capitol Hill that people work overtime just to make ends meet, but even then, the pay is still “not enough.”

    “Airport workers like me and working people all across the economy are fed up. Without us, no one could travel safely to visit their families over the holidays,” Montalvo said in a separate statement shared by SEIU. “Seeing smiles on passengers’ faces gives me a huge sense of pride, but it comes at a huge cost when I can’t support my own family on poverty wages.”

    Airport service workers have been asking corporations for living wages, affordable health care, sick days and other protections since the beginning of the pandemic, SEIU said in a statement.

    Workers urged Congress to hold corporations accountable through the Good Jobs For Good Airports Act, which would require all major airports that receive federal funding to set minimum wage and benefit standards.

    The legislation was introduced in June by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jesús García (D-Ill.).

    “Airport workers risked their own health and the safety of their families to keep America moving during the pandemic. The least we can do is ensure they have good wages, decent benefits, and safe working conditions,” García said in a statement at the time.

    Markey and other members of Congress joined workers and allies at their press conference.

    “If the federal government is giving $11 billion to the airports of our country, they have to share it with the workers at the airport,” Markey said. “They must get the benefits from the federal money which we put in. That’s what we’re going to fight for and that’s what we’re going to make the law of the United States of America.”

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  • Exclusive: San Francisco city attorney looking into loss of Twitter janitors’ jobs

    Exclusive: San Francisco city attorney looking into loss of Twitter janitors’ jobs

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    San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said Tuesday that he will look into the loss of Twitter janitors’ jobs, which appears to be in violation of San Francisco law.

    Members of the SEIU Local 87 went on strike Monday as their contract was set to expire Dec. 9. The contractor that employed them is set to be replaced by another contractor that Twitter would not disclose to the union, according to Olga Miranda, president of the union local. Twitter then moved up the janitors’ last day on the job to Monday, she said.

    According to San Francisco law, when a company changes contractors for security or janitorial services, the contractor is supposed to rehire workers for at least 90 days after the transition.

    When contacted by MarketWatch on Tuesday, Chiu said: “Elon Musk has a long history of flouting labor laws. While I’m not surprised this happened, I feel for those workers as well as all Twitter employees and contractors who have been laid off. We will be looking into this further.”

    Miranda said 48 janitors in total are affected, 30 of whom were waiting to go back to work because many Twitter employees had been working from home and not as many janitors were needed.

    San Francisco-based Twitter, whose communications team was reportedly almost entirely laid off at the beginning of November after Musk bought the company, has not returned a request for comment. Musk has cut about half of the company’s pre-acquisition workforce of 7,500 since he took over.

    Also Tuesday, Ted Goldberg, a senior editor at KQED, San Francisco’s public radio station, tweeted that the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection is launching an investigation into news reported by Forbes that Twitter has set up bedrooms for employees at its headquarters.

    “We need to make sure the building is being used as intended,” a representative of the department told KQED News.

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  • ‘Gaslighters have two signature moves’: Are you being gaslighted at work? Here’s how to recognize the signs.

    ‘Gaslighters have two signature moves’: Are you being gaslighted at work? Here’s how to recognize the signs.

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    Are you less happy at work since you befriended that new recruit? Have they told you stories about how colleagues have constantly undermined them? Or do you have a boss who excludes you from key meetings — and then asks why you did not attend a meeting even though you are pretty sure you were not invited to begin with? If so, you may be working with a gaslighter.

    Gaslighters, as the name suggests, cast themselves in a positive light — friend or confidante who is here to help — but actually operate much more effectively in the shadows. Merriam-Webster named “gaslighting” the word of the year. Searches for the word on merriam-webster.com surged 1,740% in 2022 over the prior year year, despite there not being an event that the publisher — known for its dictionaries — could point to as a cause of the spike.

    It defines gaslighting as “psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one’s emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator.”

    Perhaps the reasons were more personal — or professional — than political. My social media feed is now full of thought pieces on how to spot one of these saboteurs. The comments sections read like the show notes of a True Crime podcast — gruesome yet hard to turn away from. 

    The term was coined in a 1938 play, “Gas Light,” a psychological thriller set in Victorian London and written by Patrick Hamilton.

    The term was further popularized after George Cukor’s 1944 film, “Gaslight,” based on the play, in which Gregory (Charles Boyer) tries to convince his wife Paula (Ingrid Bergman) that she has lost her reason. While he turns on the lights in the attic while searching for hidden jewels, the gaslight flickers in the rest of the house. He tells Paula that she is merely imagining the dimming of the lights.

    The workplace is fertile ground for such behavior, given what’s at stake: money, power, status, promotion, rivalry and the intrigue that often comes with office politics. 

    I’m in the business of helping people work out their conflicts at work. None of this surprises me. In fact, I dedicated a whole chapter in my book, “Jerks at Work,” to gaslighters. 

    “‘For gaslighters, slow and steady wins the race, and the best ones make friends with their victims first.’”

    What has surprised me is how wide-ranging the definition of “gaslighting” has become. Everything from “not respecting personal boundaries” to “talking so much shit about me I couldn’t get hired for two years” seems to fall under the umbrella. 

    What I’ve learned from my doom scrolling is that the word “gaslighter” — probably the worst name to bestow on a colleague or boss — seems to refer to anyone who’s done a whole bunch of bad things to us at work, especially things that involve humiliation. 

    So what really is a gaslighter, and why is it important to distinguish one from, say, a demeaning boss with a chip on their shoulder and a penchant for public shaming?

    If we stick to the clinical definition, gaslighters have two signature moves: They lie with the intent of creating a false reality, and they cut off their victims socially. 

    They position themselves as both savior and underminer, creating a negative and fearful atmosphere, spreading gossip and taking credit for other people’s work. They are often jealous and resentful, and aim to undercut others in order to further their own position.

    You may also be an unwitting pawn in the gaslighting of another colleague. The gaslighter might try to convince you that Johnny is trying to steal your leadership role on a project, and encourage you to freeze him out in the cafeteria at lunch time, or simply be extra wary about sharing important information.

    For gaslighters, slow and steady wins the race, and the best ones make friends with their victims first. For this reason, it could also be considered a form of workplace harassment.

    They often flatter them, make them feel special. Others create a fear of speaking up in their victims by making their position at work seem more precarious than it is. And the lies are complex, coming at you in layers. It takes a long time to realize your status as a victim of gaslighting, and social isolation is a necessary part of this process. 

    “‘It takes a long time to realize your status as a victim of gaslighting, and social isolation is a necessary part of this process.’”

    But there’s a difference between an annoying coworker or micromanaging boss, and a gaslighter, who lies and conspires to undermine your position. “The gaslighter doesn’t want you to improve or succeed — they’re out to sabotage you,” according to the careers website Monster.com. “They will accuse you of being confused or mistaken, or that you took something they said the wrong way because you are insecure. They might even manipulate paper trails to “prove” they are right.”

    Examples cited by Monster.com: “You know you turned in a project, but the gaslighter insists you never gave it to them. You can tell someone has been in your space, moving things around, or even on your computer, but you don’t have proof. You are the only one not included in a team email or meeting invite, or intentionally kept out of the loop. Then when you don’t respond or show up, you are reprimanded.”

    Knowing this, what can you do to prevent yourself from becoming a target? First, recognize that gaslighters don’t wear their strategy on their sleeve. Flattery, making you feel like you’re a part of a special club, or questioning your expertise are not things that raise gaslighting alarm bells. 

    Rather than looking out for mean behavior by a boss or coworker, look out for signs of social isolation. A boss who wants to cut you off from coworkers and other leaders should raise red flags, even if the reason is that “you’re better than them.” 

    Second, recognize that lie detection is a precarious — and from a scientific perspective, almost impossible — business. Don’t try to become a lie detector, instead take notes, so you can put your “gaslighter” on notice that you are wise to their tactics. You can also use the notes as evidence if you decide to later raise the situation with Human Resources. 

    Here are some ways to beat the gaslighter: Send emails with “a summary of today’s meeting” so you can document the origin of ideas and make sure they don’t steal credit from you. Furthermore, document things that happened in person, and share it with your would-be gaslighter. And speak up at meetings. Don’t allow yourself to be browbeaten into submission. 

    The more you document, the more difficult it will be to be victimized. But a word of warning: Don’t try to confront gaslighters — instead, go to your social network to build your reality back up. Trying to beat these folks at their own game is a losing strategy. But these small things, done early in a working relationship, can work wonders. 

    Tessa West is a New York University social psychology professor with a particular interest in workplace behavior, and author of “Jerks at Work: Toxic Coworkers and What to Do About Them.“

    Related stories:

    ‘We’re like rats in a cage’: Sick and tired of their jobs, American workers strive to regain their agency, their time — and their sanity‘

    People are seeking a genuine connection with their colleagues’ — one that goes beyond ‘Hollywood Squares’ Zoom meetings. Not all workers are happy with remote work.‘

    The backlash to quiet quitting smacks of another attempt by the ruling class to get workers back under their thumbs:’ Am I wrong?

    We want to hear from readers who have stories to share about the effects of increasing costs and a changing economy. If you’d like to share your experience, write to readerstories@marketwatch.com. Please include your name and the best way to reach you. A reporter may be in touch.

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  • Apple Makes Plans to Move Production Out of China

    Apple Makes Plans to Move Production Out of China

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    In recent weeks, Apple Inc. has accelerated plans to shift some of its production outside China, long the dominant country in the supply chain that built the world’s most valuable company, say people involved in the discussions. It is telling suppliers to plan more actively for assembling Apple products elsewhere in Asia, particularly India and Vietnam, they say, and looking to reduce dependence on Taiwanese assemblers led by Foxconn Technology Group. 

    Turmoil at a place called iPhone City helped propel Apple’s shift. At the giant city-within-a-city in Zhengzhou, China, as many as 300,000 workers work at a factory run by Foxconn to make iPhones and other Apple products. At one point, it alone made about 85% of the Pro lineup of iPhones, according to market-research firm Counterpoint Research. 

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  • How the Largest Higher-Ed Strike in U.S. History Blew Up Finals

    How the Largest Higher-Ed Strike in U.S. History Blew Up Finals

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    Inside a campus coffee shop at the University of California at Los Angeles, students were hunched over laptops on white plastic tables, armed with cups of coffee. The students didn’t react to the cries and chants happening outside, largely drowned out by chatter and music streaming through AirPods. Finals were coming up, and students were starting to cram.

    Steps away from the cafe, a group of 50 UCLA workers and faculty members walked in circles and carried picket signs around the university’s iconic inverted stone fountain. Around 1 p.m., they resumed their chants — calls for higher wages and better benefits.

    A three-week-long strike by graduate students, postdocs, and researchers has profoundly disrupted life at one of the nation’s most prominent university systems. Now finals are here, and with no teaching assistants on the job, there’s widespread confusion among students and professors on how to proceed.

    Students and professors say the campus feels emptier than usual. Since Thanksgiving, some have left entirely and not returned, due to modified and canceled classes and exams. Those who have stayed stuck around for a reason: Their classes are forging ahead.

    With the end of the term approaching, faculty members say they’re struggling to fulfill obligations to their undergraduate students. Undergraduate students are concerned with how the strike will impact their grades — and wondering whether they’ll even get grades in the end. All are worried about how long the strike will last.

    The UC system reached a tentative agreement with postdocs and academic researchers this week, agreeing to wage increases that the union says reflect the cost of living in one of the most expensive states in the country. But graduate students are still negotiating, and postdocs and researchers are continuing to strike with them.

    The university has repeatedly emphasized that it expects faculty members to meet teaching and research responsibilities and ensure the continuity of instruction for students. A Wednesday letter from the UC system’s provost suggested alternate ways that faculty can show support for the strike. Colleges often respond to striking instructors by criticizing how work stoppages harm undergraduates’ learning.

    People across the UC system have different perspectives on the strike and whom to blame for the ensuing chaos. But just about everyone feels conflicted in one way or another.

    Peyton Quijano, a third-year biology major at UC-Santa Cruz, says she’s caught between wanting to support her TAs and being frustrated by yet another disruption to her studies. She says she understands why the strike has to happen. She’s also paying for her education and wants to get the most out of it.

    “I just didn’t think the strike was going to go on this long,” Quijano said.

    At UCLA, life hasn’t stopped. It’s just slowed way down.

    Grading has been backed up, particularly for large lecture classes. Some students have had finals canceled or made optional. Other courses are operating as usual — save for the echoes of strike chants seeping into classrooms.

    A spokesperson for UCLA didn’t respond to a question about how many classes had been canceled or affected by the strike.

    Students who have returned to campus are there because their instruction is continuing — either modified or business as usual. By midafternoon on Thursday, nearly every desk was full inside UCLA’s main library.

    Dylan Winward, a first-year student at UCLA, said one of his finals was made optional only five days before his exam was set to take place.

    Over the last three weeks, Winward and his friends had been completing lectures and assignments from The Hill, a student hub for dorms, dining, and student services on UCLA’s campus. Winward and many of his friends said on Thursday that they were returning to the main campus for the first time since the strike began.

    Although students said they sympathize with the TAs and others who are on strike, some are also concerned about grades. “I’ll be really upset if I put in all this work for finals and get nothing back,” said first-year student Sydney Roberts.

    It feels a lot like when we were taking classes during the pandemic.

    Jacob Castaneda, a third-year political science student who transferred to UCLA this semester, said his course load hasn’t been impacted. His final exams and essays are proceeding as usual. For his three lecture classes, each of which typically have TA-led discussions, his professors have committed to getting grades in on time.

    For Mauve Spillard, a fourth-year comparative literature student, one of her professors who usually works with a TA has said grades will be turned in late.

    Trent Brown, a first-year American literature undergraduate student, hasn’t had any classes or finals canceled since the strike began. But Brown is worried that delayed grading could affect students trying to apply for honors or other programs.

    At UC-Santa Cruz, Quijano said her classes were canceled or moved online during the first two weeks of the strike; by late last week, some were back to in-person. She said her professors respect the cause of the striking workers, but they said they need to continue lessons for students to be able to complete the course.

    But Quijano is struggling to get answers to her questions about the material without the help of TAs, and her labs have been canceled. Instead of conducting her own experiments, she has to write a paper based on a photo of the results she would have gotten.

    “It feels a lot like when we were taking classes during the pandemic,” she said.

    Much like during the pandemic, faculty members have had to make contingency plans.

    Anna J. Markowitz, an assistant professor of education at UCLA, spent the weekend before the strike recording videos of lectures for her undergraduate Introduction to Quantitative Methods class. The next day, she stopped teaching.

    Markowitz’s classes enroll 40 students, and she works with two graduate students. One of them runs the coding lab portion of Markowitz’s undergraduate course and grades all student assignments — work that has now been left ungraded. Markowitz said she will not submit grades or hold a formal final during the strike. For students who want to test their knowledge, she will release an optional exam, but it will not be graded.

    I couldn’t look my students in the face and not fully support their right to strike.

    As a graduate student at Georgetown University more than a decade ago, Markowitz said she earned the same wage as her graduate students make now: $25,000 for a three-quarter academic year. They are paid for part-time work capped at 20 hours a week, she said, but many graduate students work more.

    “Knowing what my students make and knowing how bad I’ve been feeling about that for a long time, I couldn’t look my students in the face and not fully support their right to strike,” Markowitz said of her decision to not cross the picket line.

    Markowitz is among 1,000 faculty who have pledged not to teach or submit grades until the strike ends. For some professors, it’s an act of solidarity. Others say that without the help of teaching assistants, it would be impossible to complete grading for classes with hundreds of students — no matter their personal positions on the strike.

    David Shorter, a professor of world arts and cultures at UCLA, stopped teaching in solidarity with the graduate-student employees. He’s still holding listening sessions for his students, many of whom aren’t receiving clear directives from their professors or the university about how to exist amid the strike, he said.

    Shorter is teaching three classes this quarter and doesn’t know how he’ll grade 300 papers before the end of the term, even if the deadline to submit grades is extended to January. He’d usually have the help of six TAs.

    He stopped teaching his classes, one of which is an 80-person lecture, when the strike began. Nearly 25 percent of his students haven’t even returned to campus since Thanksgiving. And a lot of courses for the next term, he said, don’t even have TAs assigned yet.

    While Shorter’s classrooms sat empty, a 300-person life sciences lecture at UCLA was nearly full on Thursday. Students were wrapped up in last-day-of-class chatter as the professor continued to make announcements about review sessions, about practice-exam questions, about their final — yes, there would be a final.

    The professor went around the room as students were tasked with answering a practice question. Murmuring picked up among the students. They graphed their guesses and checked their responses with one another. The strike hadn’t changed much for these students, beyond canceling their TA-led discussion sections.

    The Academic Senate at UCLA has released guidance suggesting that professors could shorten final exams or make them multiple choice, to ease the grading burden.

    There have been a handful of incidents where strikers have interrupted midterm exams, said Winward, the first-year student; he reported on them for the campus newspaper, the Daily Bruin. He said some students are concerned about such disruptions happening again during finals week.

    The University of California system views its graduate students like most colleges do: Their employment is “strictly part time,” and campus policy prevents them from working more than 20 hours per week. Meeting some of the students’ demands, university officials say, would cause an “unprecedented” and “unpredictable” financial impact.

    The university has proposed paying TAs between $25,000 and $31,000 per year, and graduate-student researchers between $28,000 and $47,000 per year, for part-time work — which officials say would make UC graduate students the highest compensated among public institutions in the Association of American Universities. The union has called for a minimum salary of $54,000.

    Another sticking point is housing costs. University officials have stressed that UC-owned housing for graduate students is already 20 to 25 percent below market rates. Tying raises to housing costs, as the union has called for, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars annually, according to the university.

    We’re eager to get back to work. We just want to make sure we are living and working in dignified conditions.

    UC officials said they had reached agreements with other employee unions in the past year, demonstrating their “flexibility and a genuine willingness to compromise.” The university has proposed working with a private mediator to resolve differences, which the union doesn’t support.

    Meanwhile, on most campuses, the deadline to submit final grades this fall has been extended — but only by a few days. And there’s little consistency across campuses.

    Faculty members are also struggling to figure out what legal rights they have to participate in a sympathy strike.

    A Wednesday letter from Michael T. Brown, the UC-system provost, stated that if faculty members choose not to hold classes or submit grades during the strike, the “university in turn may withhold their compensation.” If faculty members participate in a “partial strike,” where they don’t submit grades but continue to do research, they could also risk disciplinary action.

    The letter said that faculty have the responsibility to maintain course and curricular requirements, including “the timely awarding and submission of grades.” The Council of UC Faculty Associations called the letter “misleading.”

    For some faculty members, the university is making a frustrating, if not impossible, ask — especially after the pandemic left them feeling burned out and exhausted.

    “Most of us are confused, if not stressed, because we just spent three years being very agile for our employers due to COVID,” Shorter said. “And now the expectation is that we would spend our holiday breaks or winter breaks grading hundreds of papers for a situation we did not create.”

    The faculty associations’ council also released a Google form for professors to fill out if they expect not to be able to submit final grades without the help of TAs. As of Friday, the group said the total number of expected missing grades was 23,000.

    Bernard Remollino, a graduate-student researcher and teaching assistant at UCLA, said what’s happening across UC campuses now sends a critical message: The university works because of its academic student workers. The question of when their work will proceed is up to the UC system, he said.

    “We’re eager to get back to work,” Remollino said. “We just want to make sure we are living and working in dignified conditions. And that’s it.”

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    Grace Mayer and Carolyn Kuimelis

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  • Biden Signs Legislation To Avert Crisis Of Treating Rail Workers Like Humans

    Biden Signs Legislation To Avert Crisis Of Treating Rail Workers Like Humans

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    WASHINGTON—Praising the last-minute agreement to deny the laborers any sort of civility or respect, President Joe Biden signed legislation Friday to avert a crisis in which rail workers might have been treated like actual human beings. “We were only a week away from a nationwide catastrophe in which we would have been forced to acknowledge the basic rights of these employees,” said President Biden, applauding lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who ensured rail workers would continue to be denied a benefit as humane as paid sick days. “So much of what Americans rely on is delivered by train—from clean water to food to gas—and the last thing we want is for the people responsible for transporting those goods to be able to stay home when they’re seriously ill. Thanks to this law, we can guarantee that no engineer driving 20,000 tons of freight across this great nation will be able to access healthcare without having their pay docked.” Biden went on to express confidence that next year, bipartisan legislation would be passed to ensure rail workers were no longer allowed to eat or sleep between shifts.

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  • Inflation and credit-card debt are on the rise, despite a strong job market. Tell us how the economy is affecting you.

    Inflation and credit-card debt are on the rise, despite a strong job market. Tell us how the economy is affecting you.

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    We want to hear from readers who have stories to share about the effects of increasing costs and a changing economy. If you’d like to share your experience, write to readerstories@marketwatch.com. Please include your name and the best way to reach you. A reporter may be in touch.

    For many people living in the U.S., these are tough — and confusing — times.

    On Friday, the Labor Department reported 263,000 new jobs in November, while the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%. Layoffs remain low, despite mass job cuts in the tech sector. Average hourly wages have also risen 5.1% in the past year, but still lag behind inflation for many workers. And there were 10.3 million job openings in October — slightly down from the previous month’s 10.7 million. 

    Some people might see the latest economic data as both challenging and confusing.

    After all, the cost of living rose 7.7% on the year in October. The once red-hot housing market is finally cooling, thanks to mortgage rates that have more than doubled over the last year amid the Federal Reserve’s attempts to rein in inflation, and rents, while moderating, have surged from pre-pandemic levels. Borrowing money to cover increased precarity is becoming more expensive too, with the average credit-card APR at 19.2% as of Nov. 30, according to Bankrate.

    “‘It’s just mind-boggling, the disconnect that we’ve seen.’”

    Given all the conflicting signals, economists say it can be difficult for consumers to know exactly how to feel about the economy right now. “It’s not new, this disparity between the actual facts on the ground about what’s going on in the economy and the sentiment,” said Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. 

    “I remember this summer it was just unambiguously the strongest jobs recovery we’ve had in decades,” she added. “There’s just absolutely zero chance that we were in a recession — not only were we not in a recession, we were in just an extraordinarily fast recovery — and the polling, a huge share of people actually thought we were in a recession. It’s just mind-boggling, the disconnect that we’ve seen.”

    Still, the fact that inflation is eating into people’s savings — and that essential goods like food, energy and housing have spiked in cost — is bound to make many people unhappy. 

    Struggling to pay for rent and food

    “Going into the pandemic, more than seven out of every 10 extremely low-income renters were already spending more than half of their income on rent. And then the pandemic hits; we saw a lot of low-wage workers lose their jobs and see an income decline,” said Andrew Aurand, vice president for research at the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “Then in 2021, we see this huge spike in prices. For a variety of reasons, they’ve struggled for a long time, and since the pandemic, it’s gotten even worse.”

    Moderate-income Americans are struggling too. Maybe you can’t afford your favorite family meals, as the price of grocery store and supermarket purchases has jumped by 12.4% from last year. Or maybe you’re putting off a trip to see family this holiday season thanks to the higher cost of airfare, or you’re worried about losing your job as some business leaders warn of a recession. Perhaps you’re forced to rely on credit cards and personal loans, as credit-card debt is up 15% from a year ago.

    MarketWatch has chronicled many of these changes, detailing renters’ frustrations, families’ tough choices at the grocery store, and the reality faced by would-be home buyers sidelined by higher rates and dwindling affordability. 

    But we would like your help telling an ongoing story about the American economy, centering the experiences of everyday people. Our readers know better than anyone about how today’s economic conditions have impacted their daily lives.

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  • U.S. adds 263,000 jobs in November and wages rise sharply — far too much for the Fed’s liking

    U.S. adds 263,000 jobs in November and wages rise sharply — far too much for the Fed’s liking

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    The numbers: The U.S. created a robust 263,000 new jobs in November, a historically strong pace of hiring that’s good for workers but that also threatens to prolong a bout of high U.S. inflation.

    The continued rapid gains in hiring have become a big source of angst at the Federal Reserve. Senior central bank officials worry that wage growth stemming from a tight labor market is adding upward pressure to already high U.S. inflation.

    The Fed is expected to keep raising interest rates — and pushing the economy closer to recession — until hiring slows, labor shortages ease and wage growth drops off.

    U.S. stocks fell in premarket trades and bond yields rose after the report. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a smaller increase in new jobs of 200,000.

    The U.S. economy created 263,000 new jobs in November — far more than Wall Street had expected.


    Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

    The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7%, the government said Friday, remaining close to a half-century low.

    Hourly pay, meanwhile, rose by a sharp 0.6% last month to an average of $32.82. That’s the biggest advance in 13 months and was far stronger than Wall Street expected.

    The increase in wages over the past year climbed to 5.1%, from 4.9% in the prior month. Wages are still rising much faster than they were before the pandemic, when they rose about 2% to 3% a year.

    The demand for labor is still strong,” said chief economist Steve Blitz of TS Lombard. “It’s still putting upward pressure on wages.”

    The Fed has embarked on a series of increases in U.S. interest rates to try to slow the economy just enough to tame inflation without tipping it into recession.

    The bank is trying to bring inflation back down to prepandemic levels of 2% from the current rate of 6%, based on the PCE price index.

    “The level of [hiring] is not conducive to getting the base inflation rate back to 2%,” Blitz said.

    The tough medicine, senior Fed officials figure, is likely to lift the unemployment rate to as high as 5% by 2023. Some Wall Street analysts believe the jobless rate will go even higher if a recession takes hold, as many are forecasting.

    Higher borrowing costs slow growth by depressing consumer spending and business investment, the two key pillars of the economy.

    Another potential pressure valve for the economy is also not offering any relief. The share of working-age people in the labor force — known as the labor-force participation rate — fell a tick to 62.1%, marking the third drop in a row.

    The lack of people looking for work is another big factor contributing to the labor shortage.

    Key details: The increase in employment last month was concentrated in hotels, restaurants and healthcare businesses. Americans have gone back to seeing their doctors and are spending more on travel and entertainment.

    Hiring also rose in construction and manufacturing, two areas of the economy that are under more duress, while government employment increased by 42,000.

    There were some signs of labor-market softness in the report. Retail employment shrank for the third month in a row, and warehouse and transportation jobs also declined.

    Hiring at professional businesses, a leader in employment, rose by a meager 6,000. That’s the smallest increase since April 2021.

    Hiring in October and September were little changed after government revisions. The economy added 284,000 jobs in October and 269,000 in September.

    Big picture: The economy is slowing, but the labor force is still an oasis of strength.

    For the Fed, it’s too much of a good thing. The central bank wants the demand and supply of labor to become more balanced to ease the pressure on wages.

    The ongoing labor shortage, however, might be a saving grace for the economy. Many businesses have told the Fed they plan to hold onto more workers than usual even if the economy slows, because it’s been so hard to hire people in the first place.

    If that’s the case, the economy might escape a recession altogether or only suffer a short and shallow downturn, some economists say.

    Looking ahead: “Job creation continues to top expectations, holding the unemployment rate near half-century lows,” said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors.

    “The Fed may be closing in on a point that the pace of rate hikes could be stepped down, but the combination of tight labor markets and stubbornly elevated inflation leaves policymakers with a clear directive: keep tightening.”

    Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average
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    and S&P 500
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    were set to decline sharply in Friday trades.

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  • Senate passes bill to prevent rail strike, rejects measure providing paid sick leave

    Senate passes bill to prevent rail strike, rejects measure providing paid sick leave

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    The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted 80-15 in favor of a bill that would prevent a rail strike by imposing a deal on freight-rail workers, after rejecting a separate House-passed measure that would require rail companies to provide those workers with seven days of paid sick leave per year.

    The vote for the bill imposing a deal keeps Washington on track to block a strike, as the House of Representatives passed it Wednesday. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the legislation into law given that he called on Monday for Congress to act.

    Business groups have been warning that even a short-term strike would have a tremendous impact and cause economic pain.

    The deal that would be imposed on rail employees includes a 24% increase in wages from 2020 through 2024, but workers have remained concerned about a lack of paid sick time.

    In the vote on sick leave, there were 52 senators in favor, while 43 were opposed, and 60 votes for it were needed. A half dozen Republican senators were in favor, while Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia was the only Democrat in opposition.

    “While I am sympathetic to the concerns union members have raised, I do not believe it is the role of Congress to renegotiate a collective bargaining agreement that has already been negotiated,” Manchin said in a statement. 

    Earlier Thursday, the Senate also voted against an amendment from Republican senators that aimed to deliver a cooling-off period so talks between rail companies and their workers could continue.

    Railroad operators’ stocks finished with gains Tuesday as traders reacted to Washington’s moves to prevent a strike, but Norfolk Southern Corp.
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     CSX Corp. 
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    and Union Pacific Corp.
    UNP,
    -0.69%
    all lost ground Thursday as the broad market
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    -0.09%

    DJIA,
    -0.56%
    closed mostly lower.

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  • This 82-year-old retiree makes makes moose calls

    This 82-year-old retiree makes makes moose calls

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    Butch Phillips, an 82-year-old member of the Penobscot Nation, etches 18-inch long moose call horns from birch bark he harvests off tribal land. While some moose calls he gives away to local hunters, others have sold at auction for as much as $3,200 and some sit in museums.

    “It’s very exciting calling a moose. You can hear them coming. Snuffing and grunting,” said Phillips, who hunts a moose each year on tribal land, the largest being 940 pounds. He also sometimes calls moose just to watch them and study them.

    Based in Milford, Maine, Phillips has been making the moose calls, which are hornlike devices used to attract moose when hunting, for about 30 years with a wooden-handled knife his late wife bought him. He has more orders than he can keep up with, due in part to some local media coverage and word-of-mouth. He hopes to pass down his skills to his grown sons.

    Phillips retired 31 years ago from telecommunications jobs with NYMEX and AT&T
    T,
    -0.49%    ,
    and he’s been filling his time with his etching talents ever since.

    “I just can’t imagine being retired with nothing to do. I think I’d go crazy,” Phillips said.

    Plus, in the winter, etching gives him something productive to do to pass time.

    “There’s not a lot you can do outdoors. It gives me something to do rather than just sitting around. Can you imagine doing that for 31 years?” Phillips said.

    Phillips used to make moose calls by peeling a piece of bark off a tree and using it for the day and tossing it aside. Then he started tying spruce roots around the bark to help keep the shape and use it again and again. Hunters started asking for his moose calls and his work spread by word-of-mouth.

    Phillips in a 14-foot birch bark canoe that he built.


    Credit: Butch Phillips

    “Some hunters will use a roadside cone to call a moose. I wanted to do it the traditional way. A large majority of native hunters use a birch bark call,” Phillips said.

    He uses a variety of tools, but the knife given to him by his late wife is his most treasured tool.

    “The blade’s pretty much worn down. But I treasure it. It’s very special,” Phillips said.

    As he became more adept at making moose calls, Phillips started making more permanent models, refining the workmanship and using thicker bark that was suitable for etching.

    “I decided to do etching like they did in the old days. Everything they used to make, they carved. My artwork evolved. I try to keep the older designs alive. I’ve taken symbols like the Wabanaki symbol and incorporated them into the art to keep them alive. I use plants and trees as fillers,” Phillips said.

    “In most of my art work, I try to combine people, plants and animals. We always memorialize our ancestors. And plants and animals are what we owe gratitude to for keeping us alive,” Phillips said. “In our prayers, we always give thanks to ancestors, plants and animals. There’s a theme.”

    Phillips said he writes up explanations of the symbols so each buyer knows what the designs mean. Diamond shapes, for example, represent wigwams, he said. More often these days his buyers are collectors rather than moose hunters.

    Phillips is an expert in his materials.

    “All bark is not created equal. There’s curly bark, thick, thin, white, dark, gray. I use bark that is thick and pliable and doesn’t separate into layers,” Phillips said.

    With winter bark, it’s brown with a thick rind on the inside. He has to take it off the tree carefully and scrape away the rind to make designs. He can approach the etching in two ways – either scraping away the entire background and leaving just a thin image, or carve images onto rind. Summer bark has no rind and is just yellow.

    His museum-quality pieces have used winter bark with an elaborate scraping process that leaves thin details for designs. Those are the toughest to do, he said.

    Phillips approaches each moose call with an open mind and has no preconceived idea of what the designs will be. The bark just speaks to him.

    “I never plan on paper what it’s going to look like. Most of the time I have no idea until it evolves,” Phillips said.

    In the center of the device, he often puts an image of a moose or a moose head. For special orders, he might be asked to incorporate an image of a hawk or favorite dog or even a woodpecker, in one case. He adds touches like a flower, acorns or moose tracks to fill in blank areas.

    “Each side is balanced because nature is balanced,” Phillips said. “Every design is unique.”

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  • ‘A rail shutdown would devastate our economy’: Biden urges Congress to head off potential strike

    ‘A rail shutdown would devastate our economy’: Biden urges Congress to head off potential strike

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    OMAHA, Neb. — President Joe Biden on Monday asked Congress to intervene and block a railroad strike before next month’s deadline in the stalled contract talks, following pressure by business groups on the stalled negotiations.

    “Let me be clear: a rail shutdown would devastate our economy,” Biden said in a statement. “Without freight rail, many U.S. industries would shut down.”

    Congress has the power to impose contract terms on the workers, but it’s not clear what lawmakers might include if they do. They could also force the negotiations to continue into the new year.

    Both the unions and railroads have been lobbying Congress while contract talks continue. Four rail unions that represent more than half of the 115,000 workers in the industry have rejected the deals that Biden helped broker before the original strike deadline in September and are back at the table trying to work out new agreements. Eight other unions have approved their five-year deals with the railroads and are in the process of getting back pay for their workers for the 24% raises that are retroactive to 2020.

    Biden said that as a “a proud pro-labor president” he was reluctant to override the views of people who voted against the agreement. “But in this case — where the economic impact of a shutdown would hurt millions of other working people and families — I believe Congress must use its powers to adopt this deal.”

    Biden’s remarks came after a coalition of more than 400 business groups sent a letter to congressional leaders Monday urging them to step into the stalled talks because of fears about the devastating potential impact of a strike that could force many businesses to shut down if they can’t get the rail deliveries they need. Commuter railroads and Amtrak would also be affected in a strike because many of them use tracks owned by the freight railroads.

    The business groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers and National Retail Federation said even a short-term strike would have a tremendous impact and the economic pain would start to be felt even before the Dec. 9 strike deadline. They said the railroads would stop hauling hazardous chemicals, fertilizers and perishable goods up to a week beforehand to keep those products from being stranded somewhere along the tracks.

    “A potential rail strike only adds to the headwinds facing the U.S. economy,” the businesses wrote. “A rail stoppage would immediately lead to supply shortages and higher prices. The cessation of Amtrak and commuter rail services would disrupt up to 7 million travelers a day. Many businesses would see their sales disrupted right in the middle of the critical holiday shopping season.”

    A similar group of businesses sent another letter to Biden last month urging him to play a more active role in resolving the contract dispute.

    On Monday, the Association of American Railroads trade group praised Biden’s action.

    “No one benefits from a rail work stoppage — not our customers, not rail employees and not the American economy,” said AAR President and CEO Ian Jefferies. “Now is the appropriate time for Congress to pass legislation to implement the agreements already ratified by eight of the twelve unions.”

    Congressional leaders and the White House have said they are monitoring the contract talks closely but haven’t indicated when they might act or what they will do. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said leaders are aware of the situation with the rail negotiations and will monitor the talks in the coming days.

    Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., said on “Fox News Sunday” that congressional intervention is a last resort but that lawmakers will have to be ready to act.

    “Congress will not let this strike happen. That’s for sure,” said Fitzpatrick, who helps lead a bipartisan group of 58 lawmakers. “It would be devastating to our economy. So, we’ll get to a resolution one way or another.”

    “It certainly could end up in Congress’ lap, which is why we are headed to D.C. this week to meet with lawmakers on the Hill from both parties,” said Clark Ballew, a spokesman for the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division, which represents track maintenance workers. “We have instructed our members to contact their federal lawmakers in the House and Senate for several weeks now.”

    The unions have asked the railroads to consider adding paid sick time to what they already offered to address some of workers’ quality of life concerns. But so far, the railroads, which include Union Pacific
    UNP,
    -2.25%    ,
    Berkshire Hathaway’s
    BRK.B,
    -1.31%
    BNSF, Norfolk Southern
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    -1.49%    ,
    CSX
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    and Canadian Pacific’s
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    Kansas City Southern, have refused to consider that.

    The railroads want any deal to closely follow the recommendations a special board of arbitrators that Biden appointed made this summer that called for the 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses but didn’t resolve workers’ concerns about demanding schedules that make it hard to take a day off and other working conditions.

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  • Disney CEO Robert Iger at Town Hall Vows to Focus on Creativity

    Disney CEO Robert Iger at Town Hall Vows to Focus on Creativity

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    Disney CEO Robert Iger at Town Hall Vows to Focus on Creativity

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  • Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

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    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    Rule No. 1 of working at Twitter? Do not insult the chief twit. Here are things that former employees said about Elon Musk that immediately got them fired.

    “Elon was so nice. I really enjoyed our first meeting, and I’m looking forward to working with him on future projects.”

    “Elon was so nice. I really enjoyed our first meeting, and I’m looking forward to working with him on future projects.”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    Exactly something a social justice warrior would say.

    “I have an idea that will make Twitter profitable.”

    “I have an idea that will make Twitter profitable.”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    That runs directly counter to Musk’s plan to drive this baby into the ground.

    “I haven’t seen my wife in three days.”

    “I haven’t seen my wife in three days.”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    All wives were supposed to be turned in last week.

    “I have to go to the bathroom.”

    “I have to go to the bathroom.”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    Employees of Twitter 2.0 must hold their urine for at least 27 hours.

    “Don’t we have an ethical responsibility to make sure our work isn’t being used to hurt people?”

    “Don’t we have an ethical responsibility to make sure our work isn’t being used to hurt people?”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    No.

    “I actually really like the Green Album.”

    “I actually really like the Green Album.”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    Elon Musk may be a fucking tool, but even he knows everything Weezer made after Pinkerton is reductive drivel.

    “Mr. Musk brings the perfect union of innovation and talent.”

    “Mr. Musk brings the perfect union of innovation and talent.”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    Algorithm caught the word “union” and immediately sent security.

    “I bet I can jump higher than him.”

    “I bet I can jump higher than him.”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    Not a chance. Elon Musk is the most nimble, athletic man on earth.

    “I’m locked inside the office. Please. I’m so hungry.”

    “I’m locked inside the office. Please. I’m so hungry.”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    Not very “hardcore” to complain about spending the weekend trapped in Twitter headquarters, is it?

    “He’s such a great boss.”

    “He’s such a great boss.”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    No one wants to work with a liar.

    “Is now a good time to tell you that I’m a bot?”

    “Is now a good time to tell you that I’m a bot?”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    Read the room. You know bots don’t get a nice severance package, either.

    “Uh, boss. This is going to break the site.”

    “Uh, boss. This is going to break the site.”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    He already knows. Stop wasting time!

    “He’s got weird thumbs.”

    “He’s got weird thumbs.”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    This is apparently the thing Musk is most sensitive about.

    “He’s sitting in my chair.”

    “He’s sitting in my chair.”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    Sitting reduces crucial blood flow to employees’ brains, which should be working nonstop to make Twitter profitable.

    “I would rather have kids with the previous CEO.”

    “I would rather have kids with the previous CEO.”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    Threats to Musk’s corporate propagation plan will not be tolerated.

    [Silence]

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    It’s also inappropriate for employees not to be talking about him.

    “I love Elon, but I wouldn’t sacrifice my wife and kids for him.”

    “I love Elon, but I wouldn’t sacrifice my wife and kids for him.”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    Only absolute loyalty will be accepted!

    “He offered me a horse to not discuss what he did in the elevator.”

    “He offered me a horse to not discuss what he did in the elevator.”

    Image for article titled Things Former Twitter Employees Said About Elon Musk That Got Them Fired

    Should’ve taken the horse.

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  • Twitter VP in Ireland gets temporary court injunction against firing

    Twitter VP in Ireland gets temporary court injunction against firing

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    A Twitter executive in Ireland secured a temporary court injunction preventing Elon Musk from firing her in his mass layoffs at the social media giant.

    Sinead McSweeney, Twitter’s global vice president for public policy, was granted the interim injunction on Friday by Ireland’s High Court, local media reported. The court order temporarily prevents Twitter from terminating McSweeney’s employment contract.

    McSweeney claimed before the court that she received mixed messages from Twitter, according to the reports.

    Even if she didn’t explicitly accept an exit package that was proposed to her, McSweeney said she had been locked out of Twitter’s Dublin office and of the company’s IT system, the Irish Examiner reported. Twitter lawyers however reassured her in an e-mail that they knew she didn’t want to resign and that her access to the IT system would be restored, according to the Examiner report. But McSweeney told the court that she was still concretely unable to work, the outlet said.

    Musk, Twitter’s new owner, has fired thousands of employees across the globe since he took over the popular social network.

    An email that Musk sent to employees on November 16 asked them to click on “yes” if they wanted to continue working for Twitter; McSweeney didn’t respond to that email, according to the reports.

    The court injunction states that that email has no effect on McSweeney’s contract, but it doesn’t go as far as re-instating her in her job, as judges still have to take a final decision on her case, according to the reports.

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    Giorgio Leali

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  • Who’s going to pay for an ethical chocolate bar?

    Who’s going to pay for an ethical chocolate bar?

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    Press play to listen to this article

    Voiced by artificial intelligence.

    Europe, the world’s biggest consumer of chocolate, and West Africa, the leading grower of the cocoa beans used to make it, share a common goal to make the sector sustainable.

    But they have opposing views on how to put an end to the social, economic and environmental harms caused by satisfying Europe’s sweet tooth, heralding a showdown over who will bear the costs of complying: Big Chocolate or cocoa farmers.

    The EU is finalizing regulations that seek to ensure that chocolate entering the market is free from deforestation and child labor. At the same time, Ghana and Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa producers, are demanding higher prices. That’s vital, they say, to make sustainable chocolate a possibility — and not a pipe dream.

    The stakes are high: For the EU, cocoa is a test case for how companies and producers react when the bloc tries to impose higher standards. For producers, the push to set up a cartel could drive up prices in the short term — but also risks stimulating oversupply and ultimately causing a price crash that would deepen the poverty already suffered by most cocoa farmers. Chocolate makers, facing rising costs and greater scrutiny, may reroute supply chains to other cocoa-producing countries seen as less risky.

    Doing nothing is not an option, said Alex Assanvo, who heads the joint West African initiative to support cocoa prices.

    “We are not asking to pay them more, we are asking to pay them a fair price,” Assanvo told POLITICO in an interview. “If we believe that this is going to create oversupply, well then I don’t know, maybe we should stop eating chocolate.”

    Bittersweet taste

    Chocolate may be sweet but the industry that makes it is not. Most of the beans used to produce the world’s supply are grown by impoverished West African farmers; all too often from trees planted on deforested land and harvested by children. One problem drives the others. Poverty pushes farmers to chop down forests to produce more beans and profits and to put children to work as they cannot afford to pay wages to adult laborers.

    To address this, Ghana and Ivory Coast, which produce 60 percent of the world’s cocoa, formed an export cartel in 2019 modeled on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). They introduced a $400 per ton Living Income Differential, which aims to bring the floor price up enough to cover the cost of production.

    In public, big chocolate manufacturers and traders, including Barry Callebaut, Cargill, Ferrero, Hersey, Lindt, Mars, Mondelez and Nestlé, welcomed the initiative.

    Yet behind the scenes many of the firms — which between them account for about 90 percent of the industry’s $130 billion in annual profits — have done everything possible to avoid paying the premium and to drive prices back down, according to the Ivorian Coffee-Cocoa Council (CCC), the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) and their joint Initiative Cacao Ivory Coast-Ghana (ICCIG).

    The companies that responded to requests for comment from POLITICO said that they have paid the Living Income Differential (LID) since its introduction. The Ghanian and Ivorian trade boards and the ICCIG claim, however, that they have negated the LID’s value by forcing down a different premium, the origin differential.

    Fed up, these countries boycotted the World Cocoa Foundation Partnership Meeting at the end of October in Brussels. They then gave the companies a deadline: commit to the premiums by November 20 or the countries would ban their buyers from visiting fields to carry out harvest forecasts and suspend their Corporate Social Responsibility programs – which sell well with ethically-minded consumers.

    More harm than good?

    Another proposed remedy comes from Brussels. Cocoa is one of the products to which the new EU legislation on due diligence — Brussels speak for supply-chain oversight and compliance — would apply.

    Under this, large firms operating in the bloc will be forced to evaluate their global supply chains for human rights and environmental abuses, and compensate injured parties. In theory, this should reduce deforestation and child labor and improve the lot of farmers.

    Yet, as European ambassadors thrash out the terms — and big players like France push for them to be watered down — concerns are growing that the legislation could turn out at best to be ineffective in practice, and at worst do more harm than good.

    Cocoa farmers, and the NGOs that support them, have reason to be skeptical: Back in 2000, a BBC documentary exposed the widespread use of child labor on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast and Ghana. The resulting media pressure led to a proposal for legislation in the United States forcing companies to certify chocolate bars free of child labor.

    Companies pushed back hard, Antonie Fountain, managing director of cocoa NGO coalition The Voice Network, told POLITICO. The proposal was dropped and companies committed instead to a voluntary plan to solve child labor, he explained: “And that turned into a two-decade failure of policy.”

    The resulting patchwork of pilot projects failed to transform the sector. Despite an initial decline, nearly 20 years after the framework was introduced 790,000 children in Ivory Coast and 770,000 in Ghana are still working in cocoa, with 95 percent of them exposed to the worst forms of child labor, according to a 2020 report.

    Deforestation has meanwhile accelerated.

    Ivory Coast has lost up to 90 percent of its forest in the last half century. Between 2000 and 2019 alone 2.4 million hectares of forest was cleared for cocoa farms, representing 45 percent of the total deforestation and forest degradation in the country, according to Trase, a data-driven transparency initiative.

    The government’s attempts to safeguard what remains are half-hearted and often undermined by corruption: In 2019 a quarter of Ivory Coast’s cocoa production was in protected areas and forest reserves, the Trase study found. This left the EU exposed to 838,000 hectares of deforestation from Ivorian cocoa. Commodity trader Cargill leads the pack, according to Trase, with its 2019 exports exposed to 183,000 hectares of deforestation.

    Over the last decade companies have proposed corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives that aim to tackle both ills. For instance, Mondelez, the maker of Cadbury and Toblerone, recently committed $600 million to tackle deforestation and forced labor in cocoa-producing countries, bringing its total funding for environmental and social issues to $1 billion since 2010.

    These sums are, however, puny by comparison with the profits earned by those firms, said Fountain. Mondelez returned $2.5 billion to investors in the first half of 2022. 

    Mondelez is “excited” about its investments, the firm said in a statement. But it is calling for more sector-wide actions and rethinking its incentive model. Cargill did not respond to a request for comment.

    Social responsibility

    The big numbers that companies cite about their CSR programs’ reach often boil down to one-off training sessions on productivity for farmers, Uwe Gneiting, senior researcher at Oxfam, told POLITICO. This was the case for 98 percent of the 400 farmers interviewed for research recently carried out by Gneiting and others from the charity into the impact of sustainability programs over the last decade in Ghana on farmers’ incomes.

    The research finds that CSR initiatives, which companies use to tout their sustainability credentials to European consumers, have not meaningfully increased farmers’ productivity or profits, pointed out Gneiting. In fact, farmers end up shouldering the associated costs, because companies offer the training but do not pay for extra labor or the fertilizer that farmers need to put it into action.

    Instead, Ghanian and Ivorian farmers have been hammered by the soaring cost of production and of living over the last three years, finds the new Oxfam research. Fertilizer costs have increased by more than 200 percent, said Gneiting, along with labor and transportation costs. That in turn has contributed to a decline in yields that have also been hurt by climate change, with weather patterns becoming increasingly unpredictable.

    All of this has meant incomes have declined close to 20 percent since 2019, said Gneiting, which for farmers already living on the poverty line is “existential.” The decline would have been much worse, he added, if it hadn’t been for the Living Income Differential. Nonetheless, 90 percent of the farmers interviewed say they are worse off than three years ago.

    Over the same period, as cocoa prices have fallen, companies have made “windfall gains,” said Isaac Gyamfi, director of Solidaridad West Africa. “The raw material became cheaper for them. But the price of chocolate didn’t change.”

    Can Brussels sort it out?

    To what extent the new due diligence directive will make a difference depends on the final text that was put to a meeting of EU trade ministers on Friday.

    When the European Commission first came up with the draft it was seen as a game changer, but subsequent wrangling over the regulation’s scope has raised doubts. Last week, ambassadors from France, Spain, Italy and some smaller countries voted down the text in the European Council, seeing the value chain and civil liability provisions as too wide and too ambitious.

    Two-thirds of Ivorian cocoa is exported to the EU and the U.K. | Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images

    A European diplomat told POLITICO that France supported the proposed directive “very strongly,” and its view that it was important to concentrate on the “upstream” part of the supply chain was shared by a majority of EU member countries.

    NGOs take the view that, while it’s positive that the EU is proposing broad legislation, there is a risk that it ends up replicating the mistakes that undermined the voluntary initiatives. One of these is the potential limitation of the companies’ due diligence obligations to “established business relations.”

    “What you’re going to get is a whole bunch of companies that are going to try to have as few established business relations as possible, which just makes supplying commodities more precarious, rather than less,” said Fountain.

    Analysis from Trase finds that 55 percent of Ivorian cocoa, two-thirds of which is exported to the EU and the U.K., comes from untraceable sources. NGOs working on cocoa and on other sectors due to be impacted by the new directive are calling for it to be applied to business relationships based on their risk rather than their duration.

    The civil liability mechanism, which should guarantee compensation for people whose rights have been violated, has also come under scrutiny. The latest compromise proposal debated in the Council, seen by POLITICO, reduces the risk of companies getting sued by stipulating that a company can only be held liable if it “intentionally or negligently” failed to comply with a due diligence obligation aimed to protect a “natural or legal person” — not a forest, for instance — and subsequently caused damage to that person’s “legal interest protected under national law.” But, it states, a company cannot be held liable “if the damage was caused only by its business partners in its chain of activities.”

    Earlier this year, the EU, Ivory Coast and Ghana and the cocoa sector all committed to a roadmap to make cocoa more sustainable, which, they agreed, includes improving farmers’ incomes. Yet it remains unclear whether this will be mentioned in the final draft of the due diligence directive.

    “Sustainability cannot exist without a living income,” said Heidi Hautala, Green MEP and chair of the European Parliament’s Responsible Business Conduct Working Group. Hautala, who is among those pushing for the reference to a living income to be included in the final text, added that responsible purchasing practices are “a prerequisite for respect of human rights, environment and climate.”

    Living income “needs to be a part of it because otherwise you’re in trouble,” agreed Fountain.

    “If you don’t look at what does a farmer need in order to comply, if you don’t make sure that a farmer actually has the right set of income, then all you’re doing is pushing the responsibility for being sustainable back to the farmer. And this is what we’ve done for the last two decades.”

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    POLITICO Staff

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  • ‘There are plenty of storm clouds on the horizon’: 5 things not to buy on Black Friday

    ‘There are plenty of storm clouds on the horizon’: 5 things not to buy on Black Friday

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    It’s a year for shopping prudently.

    Americans will spend between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion this holiday season, according to projections from the National Retail Federation. That’s up from last year when holiday sales hit a record $889.3 billion, the trade association said.

    However, people are not willing to go as crazy this Black Friday compared to previous years: that 6% to 8% year-over-year growth expectation is slower than the 13.5% annual increase in holiday season spending in 2021 when consumers had pandemic-era government benefits to spend.

    Once again, millions of people will also be shopping from the comfort of their home and avoiding the Black Friday crowds. Online and other non-store sales are predicted to rise 10% to 12% (to between $262.8 billion and $267.6 billion).

    “People have reason to be concerned about their spending. ”

    “The economy is probably doing better than it feels right now, but that’s not true for everyone of course,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate.com. “There are plenty of storm clouds on the horizon.” He cited rising interest rates, 40-year high inflation and tech layoffs. 

    People have reason to be concerned about their spending. The personal saving rate — meaning personal saving as a percentage of disposable income, or the share of income left after paying taxes and spending money — fell to 3.3% in the third quarter from 3.4% in the prior quarter, the government said last month. 

    Despite a strong labor market and unemployment hovering at 3.7% in October, Rossman said, “it still seems like a recession is likely in 2023, although the best guess is that it will be a mild one.”

    So what should you not buy this Black Friday? Quite a lot, if you don’t believe in living large. Here are 5 things to think about avoiding:

    — Quentin Fottrell

    Tech accessories

    For tech accessories — like earbuds and headphones — waiting until December may be a better way to score better deals, added Ryan McGonagill, director, industry research at Savings.com, another site that aggregates discounts.

    The most popular electronic products like Apple AAPL iPads, MacBooks and iPhones have scant Black Friday deals. “For a limited time, get an Apple Gift Card to use on a later purchase when you buy an eligible iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, AirPods, and more,” according to Apple’s Black Friday offer.

    Computer makers and retailers, however, are coming off the work-from-home boom and may have inventory they need to thin before year’s end. Holiday discounts on computers, at least through October, were at 10% off the base price, according to analysis from Adobe
    ADBE,
    +2.92%    .
     

    The software and analytics provider said computer discounts could go much steeper, up to 32% off the base price before the end of the year. Cyber Monday could be the best day for bargains on computers, Adobe said, but computer deals may stick around for the rest of 2022.

    Pay attention to early deals, if you desperately need a new laptop. “Many retailers offer the same pricing on Black Friday and Cyber Monday,” said Kristin McGrath, editor at RetailMeNot.com, a site that promotes deals. “So start looking on Black Friday and use Cyber Monday as a second chance to snag what you missed.”

    — Andrew Keshner

    Seasonal items

    Winter wear is usually not going to be on sale before Christmas, so it’s best to shop for your puffy jackets and snow boots in the New Year, if you can. The same goes for white linen, tools and holiday decorations, said Charles Lindsey, associate professor in the Marketing School of Management at the University at Buffalo.

    Most stores put their coats, hats, scarves and flannel pajamas on sale — with discounts on big-name brands of 50% or more in January — to make room for their spring collections. Similarly, buy summer clothes in the fall and winter. 

    “The best time to buy holiday decor is immediately after said holidays,” according to DealNews, a site offering shopping advice. “After Christmas sales are generally your best bet for snagging deeply discounted ornaments, lights, and inflatables in order to be well prepared for next year.” 

    Fashion-conscious shoppers inclined to snap up discounted items may want to practice patience on Black Friday. Apparel may have even deeper discounts after the holidays. If you feel compelled to buy something new to wear to the office party, invest in quality pieces. Fast fashion has a cost: It has contributed to a waste crisis, in part because such items are not meant to last very long in your closet.

    But that does not mean you should not keep your eyes peeled for some seasonal goods on Black Friday. Walmart
    WMT,
    +0.34%    ,
    for instance, is pushing out the boat early with some discounts on toys, including hoverboards, bicycles, remote-control cars, and karaoke machines. Similarly, Kohl’s
    KSS,
    +4.17%
    has discounts on a range of doll’s houses.

    — Quentin Fottrell and Emma Ockerman

    Appliances and white goods

    There might be tempting Black Friday deals on appliances, mattresses and furniture. Discounts on appliances may reach up to an 18% from the base price, Adobe said. Still, “you’re going to get another shot at them during New Year’s Eve sales and again during Presidents Day sales in February,” McGrath said.

    If Black Friday is “too chaotic …you’ll have plenty of opportunities to save,” she added. Department stores usually run very attractive discounts on houseware in the days following Christmas. “Stores know they’ll be getting a lot of traffic with so many people returning gifts — and hope to convince shoppers to make an impulse self-gifting purchase or two,” McGrath said.

    If you can’t wait, Costco
    COST,
    +1.64%
    is already rolling out deals on white goods and appliances, including $70 off a Sonos
    SONO,
    +1.87%
    WiFi speaker. However, Consumer Reports cautions consumers against falling for big deals without checking out the reliability of the brand first, as you could end up paying more in repairs down the road. 

    You might be tempted by offers and rebates on matching kitchen suites — typically a refrigerator, range, dishwasher, and microwave — from the same maker,” Consumer Reports said. “But price is only part of the equation when you’re purchasing appliances. Reliability is key, and it can vary within a brand’s offerings.”

    — Andrew Keshner

    Fitness equipment

    One of the best times to buy exercise equipment is around the New Year, when people are making resolutions to improve their health, said Regina Conway, who researches sales and promotions for Slickdeals, a site that tracks retail discounts.

    When you make your purchase, think twice before buying equipment that runs on proprietary technology, like Peloton
    PTON,
    -1.13%
    or Lululemon’s
    LULU,
    +1.79%
    Mirror exercise products, mainly because the at-home fitness boom faces an uncertain future post-pandemic, Conway noted.

    However, this Black Friday is a little different than previous years, and there are some deals in categories that traditionally don’t have good Black Friday discounts, including exercise equipment. “This year we’re seeing strong Black Friday deals from industry stalwarts like NordicTrack,” Conway said.

    Peloton Interactive, which is facing a challenging time since people are no longer stuck at home due to the pandemic, is currently offering $600 off this fitness bike package. However, consumers will still have to fork over $2,195 for the machine and exercise regime.

    “We think consumers are likely to continue to prefer out-of-home experiences in the near-term and believe Peloton is still working through pandemic pull-forward,” Cowen & Co. analyst John Blackledge wrote in an analyst note on Tuesday, citing “limited visibility” on Peloton’s fiscal 2023 performance.

    — Leslie Albrecht and Quentin Fottrell

    Big-ticket items like TVs 

    Does Amazon
    AMZN,
    +0.80%
    founder Jeff Bezos have a point about the dangers of splurging this year? In something of a Black Friday surprise, Bezos offered some shocking spending tips as Americans gear up for the holiday shopping season — amid four-decade-high inflation. Or, to be more accurate, he offered tips on what not to spend your money on.

    ‘If you’re an individual and you’re thinking about buying a large-screen TV, maybe slow that down, keep that cash, see what happens. Same thing with a refrigerator, a new car, whatever. Just take some risk off the table,” Bezos said in a recent interview on CNN
    WBD,
    +2.27%    .
    The remarks drew a significant amount of scorn on social media, with some critics advising people to avoid shopping on Amazon too.

    About those TVs: “They’re normally not going to be a high-end TV brand,” Lindsey said. “It will be a lower to mid-tier brand. Companies utilize these TVS as doorbusters to get people in the store and people clicking on their website. You’re probably better off shopping around the Superbowl in late January.”

    Rossman said consumers are becoming more judicious about their Black Friday splurging. “People seem to be pulling back on some big-ticket purchases,” he told MarketWatch. “For example, sellers of appliances, electronics and furniture all posted disappointing results in the most recent retail sales report.”

    “Yet discretionary sectors such as travel and dining are seeing sharp increases in spending,” he added. “I think the main explanation is pent-up demand. People are prioritizing experiences over things right now, largely due to the pandemic. There was also a pull-forward in demand for many physical goods the past couple of years as many out-of-home activities were curtailed.”

    — Quentin Fottrell

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  • Labor Board Tells Congress It Will Have To Furlough Staff Without A Funding Boost

    Labor Board Tells Congress It Will Have To Furlough Staff Without A Funding Boost

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    Leaders of the federal agency responsible for enforcing collective bargaining law have told Congress they will have to furlough employees if they don’t receive an increase in funding as soon as possible.

    The letter from the National Labor Relations Board shows just how dire the situation is at the agency. The NLRB is responsible for overseeing union elections and holding employers and unions accountable for labor law violations — a mission that officials say is now in danger, especially amid a surge in workplace organizing.

    NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran and NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo said in their letter Friday that “erosion” of staff and resources has become a “significant detriment” to employers and workers.

    “At this point, the Agency has exhausted its ability to absorb cost increases through staff attrition and operational efficiencies,” they wrote. “The Agency has already implemented a hiring freeze and, without additional funding, will likely be forced to pursue furloughs.”

    Congress has not given the NLRB a nominal increase in funding in the better part of a decade, leaving the agency unable to fill positions as they open up. Total staffing has dropped 30% in 10 years, from 1,733 full-time employees to 1,207. Most of the cuts have fallen on regional offices that conduct union elections and investigate unfair labor practices.

    The agency’s annual appropriation from Congress has remained $274 million since fiscal year 2014.

    “Adjusting for inflation, we have lost one-quarter of our purchasing power over the past nine years,” McFerran and Abruzzo wrote.

    Meanwhile, the NLRB says workers filed more election petitions this past fiscal year than in any other since 2016, part of a boom in organizing at employers like Starbucks and Trader Joe’s.

    With Republicans projected to win control of the House, it will likely be even more difficult for the agency to secure funding increases starting next year. McFerran and Abruzzo are hoping the additional money will come in an omnibus spending package next month, while Democrats still hold House and Senate majorities.

    The NLRB’s staff union warned in a Twitter thread last week that furloughs could be on the horizon, saying the agency faced “budgetary Armagedon.”

    “We are DESPERATELY asking Congress to increase our budget in the coming weeks,” the union said.

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  • Twitter Workers Say Farewell After Musk Ultimatum Over Terms of Employment Passes

    Twitter Workers Say Farewell After Musk Ultimatum Over Terms of Employment Passes

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    Company follows up with practical details after billionaire challenges remaining employees to be ‘hardcore’ or leave: ‘This is not a phishing attempt’

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