Gov't reopens after Congress ends 16-day shutdown Associated Press ...The government reopened its doors Thursday after a battle-weary Congress approved a bipartisan measure to end a 16-day partial shutdown and avert the possibility of an economy-jarring default on U.S. obligations...
Government shutdown has cost US economy $1.5bn a day, S&P says The Guardian ...Ratings agency says impasse has shaved 0.6% off US GDP in the fourth quarter – equivalent to taking $24bn from the economy...
The Perpetual Budget Crises Have Already Cost 900,000 Jobs ThinkProgress ...The reliance on crisis-driven governing since the House changed hands in the 2010 elections has already cost 900,000 jobs, according to a study commissioned by the conservative Peter G. Peterson Foundation...
South Dakota's cattle cataclysm: why isn't this horror news? The Guardian ...Ranchers in South Dakota lost tens of thousands of cattle from a freak storm. Thanks to the shutdown, no one is paying attention...
U.S. Standard of Living Index Sinks to 10-Month Low Gallup ...The index is a summary of whether Americans are satisfied with their current standard of living and perceive it as getting better or worse...
Greek union calls general strike for Nov 6 Associated Press ...Greece's largest labor union has called a new general strike for Nov. 6, warning that unemployment has reached "nightmare" levels and that working rights are continually being eroded by austerity measures...
ILA Strike Closes Baltimore Port Journal of Commerce ...The Port of Baltimore closed Wednesday when International Longshoremen’s Association members went on strike after voting down a proposed local contract with the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore...
San Francisco Bay-area rail strike again averted; Morning commute to proceed as talks continue Associated Press ...San Francisco Bay-area commuters again waited late into the night before federal mediators announced late Tuesday that a planned rail strike would once more be delayed and contract negotiations would continue...
DHL, BP Sign Five-Year Freight Forwarding Deal Journal of Commerce ...DHL has signed a new, five-year agreement to provide global freight management and forwarding services for BP, the London-based oil and gas company...
‘Black Bloc’ anarchists emerging as a force amid unrest in Brazil Raw Story ...On Tuesday, they fought police in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo at the close of a march by striking teachers, hurling firebombs and tearing metal shutters from buildings to use as shields against police who responded with tear gas and pepper spray...
Group Says Haitian Garment Workers Are Shortchanged on Pay New York Times ...Garment factories in Haiti, the backbone of an effort to revive the country’s earthquake-shattered economy, have seriously shortchanged workers of their wages to keep costs of their T-shirts and other export goods low, according to a report issued by a labor rights group...
Fast-Food Giants Make Billions While Their Workers Use Billions In Welfare Benefits AlterNet ...Two new studies profile the worst employers in America...
UN Official Slams GOP as Shutdown Delays US Human-Rights Review The Hill ...A United Nations official tore into House Republicans this week after the government shutdown forced the Obama administration to postpone a long-awaited review of its compliance with its international human-rights obligations...
Outsourced Cities, Brought to You by CH2M Hill Center for Media and Democracy ...When Wall Street collapsed the economy in 2008, one company was eager to buy public assets from cash-strapped governments. Across the country, for-profit companies are engaged in a hostile takeover of our schools, roads, prisons, drinking water, and even government itself...
JPMorgan paying $100M, admitting manipulation of prices in settlement over $6B trading loss Associated Press ...JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay a $100 million penalty and admitted that it “recklessly” distorted prices during a series of London trades that ultimately cost the bank $6 billion in losses...
Employers grapple with workplace safety amid new gun laws Kansas City Business Journal ...Offices around the nation are struggling with laws that allow employers to ban guns in the workplace, but not in the parking lot, The Wall Street Journal reports...
Calif. Governor Signs Prevailing Wage Bill Reuters ...Starting Jan. 1, 2015, charter cities in California will be required to pay prevailing wages for public works construction projects or face not receiving any state funding, according to Senate Bill 7 that was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday...
North Carolina is first state to cut welfare amid federal shutdown Reuters ...North Carolina has become the first state to cut off welfare benefits to poor residents in the wake of the partial federal government shutdown, ordering a halt to processing November applications until a deal is reached to end the federal standstill...
About half of Maidenform’s 1,330 employees to lose jobs in Hanesbrands deal Winston-Salem Journal ...Hanesbrands Inc. said it will close the New Jersey headquarters of Maidenform Brands Inc. as part of a large-scale merger of the two apparel companies, resulting in the loss of nearly half of Maidenform’s 1,330 global workforce...
