Rudacille’s Tome: A Must-Read for Labor Buffs (Review) (tags)
In 1959, Bethlehem’ Sparrows Point plant, outside Baltimore, was “the largest steelworks in the world.” In its heyday, it employed 36,000 workers. Bethlehem went into bankruptcy in 2001, and many of its retirees at the “Point” got screwed out of their benefits. Deborah Rudacille’s book, “Roots of Steel,” recreates, via compelling “oral histories,” the history of the Point; the collapse of Bethlehem, an industrial titan; and the baleful impact that it had on the lives of its union workers and communities that they lived in.
Gremach Infrastructure's Google India Attack, Mozambique Coal Baron's Squalor (tags)
The original purpose of this article post was to point out that India's Gremach Infrastructure Equipments & Projects Ltd that is threatening to sue Google because of an anonymous poster 'using the name 'Toxic Writer' criticized the company on blogger.com, a site that allows individuals to create blogs....' is no more than an India stock market version of U.S. incorporated penny stock pump and dump scams and has lost 80% or so of investor money in the last few months.If anything their own investors it should be sueing them. However when I say 'investors' -I do not mean such international stock sharks and hedge fund entities as Merrill Lynch or Templeton Funds or Eureopean Swiss Finance Corporation or Caytman Island based LB India Holdings Cayman II Ltd., offshores.These international securities parasites are in my opinion part of the problem and have aided and abetted Gremach and its insiders and promoters,such as or particularly Mr. Ratanlal Tamakuwala and Mr Rishi Raj Agarwal,to take retail or small investors for a ride.
Rude Awakening in Mexico (tags)
US businesses invested $120 billion in Mexico between 1994 and 2006. Only 80,000 jobs were created per year while 730,000 Mexicans pressed on the labor market every year. While migration climbed 95% from 1980 to 1994, it soared an incredible 452% from 1994 to 2006.
Chrysler, Globalization, and Labor's response (tags)
The UAW will confront Detroit auto makers at the bargaining table in July for a new national contract. In what will prove to be one of the UAW’s biggest challenges since the union’s birth, this contract will bear the imprint of the wholesale restructuring of the American auto industry. When Cerberus Capital Management paid $7.4 billion to take control of Chrysler on May 13, 2007, the challenge to the Union was official: “Are you ready to negotiate with a private equity firm which specializes in gutting troubled companies?” The UAW’s position on Chrysler will undoubtedly influence negotiations with General Motors and Ford. Cerberus wants to cut costs to make money off its investment. Contract talks open up a golden opportunity for the bosses to cut costs at the expense of the workers on the assembly lines. Cutting benefits which previous generations sacrificed, fought for and in some instances, died for, is what is at risk for auto workers in 2007.
Arab Port Deal Distorted for Political Gain (tags)
Recently, 8,600 U.S. companies have been taken over by foreign ownership, while 20 percent of all U.S. assets are held by foreigners. The politicians were silent. Now, a United Arab Emirates’ enterprise will soon be operating stevedoring companies in six U.S. ports, including Baltimore’s. Its Mayor, Martin O’Malley, almost broke a blood vessel complaining. However, he didn’t say a word while the preceding British outfit was doing the work. Go figure!