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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Labor Headlines 3-12-02 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Peter Miller
Email: peterm (nospam) shout.net (unverified!)
Address: 218 W. Main St., Urbana, IL 61801 |
09 Mar 2002
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Headlines as broadcast during the Illinois Labor Hour, Saturdays at 11 a.m. on WEFT 90.1 FM, Champaign. UI Announces Job Cuts, Bush Imposes Steel Tariffs, Russia Bans US Chicken, Enron: More Corruption Uncovered, Good Hope Man Dies in Industrial Accident, Two 'Critical' After Inhaling Pure Nitrogen, 200 to Lose Jobs When Phoenix Plant Closes |
UI Announces Job Cuts
The University of Illinois may need to reduce its workforce by about 2 percent, according to statements by President James Stukel last week. Stukel, speaking to the education committee of the Illinois House of Representatives, said 600 job cuts across the university's three campuses will come through both attrition and layoffs, and he said that about 200 faculty positions will be included in the cuts. A ten percent tuition increase, originally announced in January, will help save about 200 jobs, Stukel told lawmakers. The job cuts are the latest news resulting from the recession and from extremely inaccurate state budget estimates from the governor's office and the state legislature, last year. University spokespeople have not said whether severance packages, re-hiring rights, or any other consideration will be offered to fired employees, nor have they said which university services will be reduced.
Steel tariffs
Following months of study and a recommendation by the International Trade Commission, President Bush imposed tariffs on imported steel last week. Bush said the measure was necessary to level the field for the US steel industry which has been hurt by a market flooded by imports. A press statement observed that since 1998, firms accounting for thirty percent of US steel-making capacity have filed for bankruptcy. The import tariffs range from eight percent to thirty percent, however imports from developing countries that only export small amounts of steel to the US will be excluded. Reaction to the announcement was strong. The United Steelworkers of America hailed the announcement as a victory for grassroots activism, since the announcement came after months of concerted campaigning to protect the steel industry, with busloads of affected workers setting up symbolic camps in Washington, DC. Steelworkers president Leo Gerard said that the tariffs raise hopes that the steel industry can be saved, and he said that congress now has a moral obligation to protect the health care benefit of 600,000 steelworker retirees whose benefits remain at risk. Outside the US, reaction was overwhelmingly negative. Russia warned of a trade war with the US, the German Prime Minister said the tariff sent the wrong signal about free trade, Japan called the move "regrettable," and even Britain's prime minister Tony Blair, who has seldom diverged from US policy, called the tariff "unacceptable and wrong." The Euorpean Union and Japan have both said they will appeal to the World Trade Organization in an attempt to overturn the ban. A secret tribunal will decide whether the US tariff is permissible.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020305-8.html
http://www.uswa.org/press/tariffs030502.htm
http://www.uswa.org/sra/media.html
Russia Bans US Chicken
Russia says that chicken manufactured in the US is low-quality, contaminated by salmonella, produced with unacceptable use of antibiotics and artificial feed, it's tainted with chlorine, improperly labeled, and import procedures don't meet Russian standards for veterinary approval. Because of those concerns, Russia is imposing a full ban on chicken manufactured in the US, effective tomorrow. The US ambassador to Russia sharply criticized the move and defended US chicken, saying that salmonella is a common contaminant. The ambassador said the stakes were larger than just poultry, and the assault to the US national interests led him to label the ban as "unacceptable." Half of all US poultry exports go to Russia.
Enron: More Corruption Uncovered
The business pages continued carrying news about the largest bankruptcy in US history. The Associated Press reported that last summer, Enron dramatically under-reported the amount it spent on lobbying. Enron originally told Congress is spent $800,000 for lobbying during Bush's first six months in office, but last week, the bankrupt corporation admitted that it actually spent three times that amount, or $2.5 million. The money was spent lobbying the white house, and lobbying for nominations to the Securities and Exchange Commission and to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, both regulatory bodies that should have regulated Enron. In other Enron news, a senate committee discovered that Army Secretary Thomas White lied about his financial ties to Enron. White is a former Enron executive who Bush appointed to the secretary post last Spring. When he became the Secretary of the Army, he was required to sell all stock in defense corporations, including Enron. White said that he did sell his interests, but as recently as last month, Congress was learning of holdings that he didn't disclose or sell, including 50,000 shares of Enron stock, originally valued at over $1 million. White promised to sell the stock in the near future.
Good Hope Man Dies in Industrial Accident
The Peoria Journal-Star reported that a worker in a construction crew at a concrete plant north of Orion in Henry County died on March 4 when an accident trapped him inside a tank and buried him up to his shoulders in cement powder. The crew was dismantling the plant in preparation for moving it to another location. The county coroner said that the worker probably died of head injuries occurring during his fall.
Two 'Critical' After Inhaling Pure Nitrogen
The Peoria newspaper also reported that two employees of George Young and Sons in Peoria were in critical condition on March 5 after accidentally inhaling pure nitrogen instead of oxygen. The contracted workers were sandblasting huge casting equipment inside the Keystone Steel & Wire Co. plant when there was a "mix-up" in their breathing equipment and they inhaled pure nitrogen for an undetermined length of time. An investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been initiated.
200 to Lose Jobs When Phoenix Plant Closes
Deere & Co. announced on March 5 that it would shut down its Phoenix International plant in Springfield by the end of November 2002, eliminating about 200 jobs. Deere plans to transfer operations from the plant, which manufactures electronic components, to a facility in Fargo ND. This action is the latest in a series of cost-cutting moves caused by the softening of demand for electronics. Laid-off employees, who are not unionized, will receive severance packages and outplacement assistance.
Labor Hour headlines are posted to the Independent Media Center website each week. The address is www.ucimc.org. Thanks to Margaret Chaplan at the Institute for Labor and Industrial Relations for combing through newspapers across the state each week, and posting the labor stories to the ILIR website. (www.ilir.uiuc.edu/lii/)
Announcements:
* Candlelight Vigil for ALL the victims of the 9-11 attacks, Monday, 3-11 on the U of I Quad.
* David Rovics Tuesday, 3-12 at 8 p.m. at the IMC, 218 W. Main St., Urbana. 344-8820.
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See also:
http://www.ilir.uiuc.edu/lii/
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