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25 Aug 2011 10:44

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Biz: Unemployment claims rise based on a single company’s labor issues

  • what Even though investors were expecting a drop in first-time jobless claims last week to roughly 400,000, they actually went up to 417,000 — up 5,000 from the prior week. Wait a second …
  • why Simple — Verizon workers went on strike, and 8,500 of them filed unemployment benefits (12,500 filed the week before). They’ve since gone back to work, so expect this to change next week. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Aug 2011 10:30

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Biz: Striking Verizon worker: They want to turn us into “Wal-Mart workers”

  • All the benefits that we’ve worked and fought for, 30 and 40 years, they want to take off the table … they want to make us like Wal-Mart workers. No benefits and low pay.
  • Striking Reading, Mass. Verizon worker Paul Murphy • Offering his take on the negotiations that led to the first strike Verizon’s had in over a decade. The strike, which involves the company’s landline workers, flared up after the company pushed to make it easier to fire workers and give raises based on performance, not seniority. The company says that the workers are among the highest-paid telecommunications workers in the industry, and that they have no plans to outsource workers. (h/t John Ness) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Aug 2011 11:39

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Biz: Verizon: “Can you hear me now?” Workers: “No, because we’re on strike!”

  • 45,000 Verizon workers are now on strike source
  • » Verizon’s tough stance led to strike: In the first strike the company has faced in 11 years, many of the company’s field technicians and customer service workers were fending off a tough stance the company took in negotiations — they were hoping to make it easier to fire workers and also wanted to change the method they decided on raises. Verizon’s push is indicative of the evolution away from the more-profitable landline business and towards wireless.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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