Category: Low Rate

Flaherty gives Canadian provinces 2015 deadline to wipe out deficits

Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News

Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada (AHN) – Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on Monday gave Canadian provinces until 2015 to wipe out their budget deficits. He encouraged the provinces to address their financial problems to avoid facing a debt crisis similar to what some European Union nations are grappling with.

Most Canadian provinces have already made plans to achieve balanced books within the next five years. Ottawa, however, has an eight-year timetable to remove its projected $18.7 billion deficit. Although Ontario accounts for 40 percent of Canada’s economy, Flaherty said the largest province’s fiscal situation does not place Canada’s economy at risk.

To help provinces cope with decreasing revenues and increasing expenses, Ottawa hiked transfers for 2011-12 to $56 billion, which is $2.2 billion higher than the current year’s transfers. The federal transfers are allocated for delivery of front-line services such as health care and social programs.

Flaherty added that he ordered a one-year protection of federal transfers to provinces in which there would be no reductions in major transfers for next year. The move costs Ottawa $1.1 billion.

In the same meeting of finance ministers, the group agreed to Flaherty’s proposal to establish a new private-sector retirement savings fund that will provide Canadians more retirement savings options. The fund will be open to small Canadian firms, employees whose companies do not want to participate and self-employed workers.

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Poll: Canada’s Tories get good feedback on job creation, crime reduction

Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Canada’s Conservative Party continues to enjoy the support of voters. According to the latest survey by EKOS, the Tories have secured 32 percent support.

The Liberal Party got 26.5 percent, the New Democratic Party 17.1 percent, the Green Party 10.9 percent and Bloc Quebecois 10.6 percent.

While the Tories enjoyed a 5.5 percent lead over the Liberals, the Conservatives nevertheless could not form a majority government if an election were held now.

Another survey by Ipsos Reid said the Tories were strong in the areas of creating jobs and preventing crime, but indicated the party was weak on social programs such as health care and pensions. The survey also found other strong areas for the Tories were Ottawa’s military record, the Afghanistan deployment and international standing. The party’s weaker points were climate change, human smuggling, democratic reform and the Senate.

EKOS warned that the Tories’ 5.5 percent advantage over the Liberals could easily be erased by female and young voters, who said they would vote for candidates from any political parties, except the Conservatives. Only 28.1 percent of female survey respondents said they would vote Tory, while a smaller 17.8 percent of voters below age 25 and 27.6 percent of voters from 25 to 44 shared the same political view.

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NHL Players Association votes overwhelmingly for Don Fehr to lead group

Corine Gatti – AHN Sports Contributor

NY, NY, United States (AHN Sports) – The NHLPA announced that Don Fehr will be its new executive director. Fehr, who has been an unpaid consultant already with the organization, will lead the NHLPA into heated discussions as the CBA expires after the 2011-2012 season.

“We are pleased that the leadership position at the Players’ Association has been filled, and we look forward to working with Don in his new role,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a released statement.

It comes as no surprise that Fehr was voted in by the NHLPA, he’s been working as an unpaid consultant for the group. He is expected to start his job immediately.

“I am both humbled and honored by the expression of confidence that the players’ vote reflects,” Fehr said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to working closely with the membership and the Executive Board.”

Fehr, 62, represented baseball players for 33 years with the MLBPA as an executive director from 1983-2009.

The CBA expires following the 2011-12 season. The last talks in 2004 resulted in a lockout season and cancellation of the 2004-2005 campaign.

The sides eventually agreed on a salary cap and the league has seen tremendous growth.

However, players are dismayed with the current agreement that requires a portion of players’ paychecks to be held and vanquished into a fund in escrow to ensure salaries don’t bloat above the percentage of set revenues.

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U.S. unemployment rises in 21 states in November

Linda Young – AHN News Writer

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Unemployment rates went up in 21 states and the District of Columbia in November, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

However, unemployment declined in 15 states in November compared to October. Unemployment rates remained the same in the other 14 states.

In addition, the national jobless rate edged up by 0.2 percentage points between October and November to 9.8 percent, but it was not much different from a year earlier.

State Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted):

  • Nevada continued to register the highest unemployment rate among the states, 14.3 percent in November. The states with the next highest rates were California and Michigan, 12.4 percent each, and Florida, 12.0 percent. North Dakota reported the lowest jobless rate, 3.8 percent, followed by South Dakota and Nebraska, 4.5 and 4.6 percent, respectively.
  • In total, 28 states posted jobless rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 9.8 percent, 5 states recorded measurably higher rates, and 17 states and the District of Columbia had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.
  • In November three states experienced statistically significant unemployment rate increases from October: Georgia and Idaho (+0.3 percentage point each) and Colorado (+0.2 point). Michigan and Pennsylvania posted the only measurable over-the-month rate decreases (-0.4 and -0.2 percentage point, respectively). The remaining 45 states and the District of Columbia registered jobless rates that were not measurably different from those of a month earlier, though some had changes that were at least as large numerically as the significant changes.
  • Thirteen states reported statistically significant over-the-year jobless rate decreases in November, the largest of which were in Michigan (-2.0 percentage points) and Alabama (-1.9 points). The District of Columbia also posted a significant over-the-year unemployment rate decrease (-1.8 percentage points). Colorado and Utah recorded the only significant rate increases from November 2009 (+1.2 and +0.9 percentage point(s), respectively).
  • The remaining 35 states registered unemployment rates that were not appreciably different from those of a year earlier.

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Canadian Supreme Court tackles Canada Post decades-old pay dispute

Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – The Supreme Court of Canada will tackle a pay equity dispute between Canada Post and the Public Service Alliance of Canada that has been ongoing for almost three decades.

The union filed a case in August 1983 with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal against Canada Post charging that female workers were discriminated against because they were paid less than male employees doing similar tasks. The case involved 2,300 clerical workers belonging to PSAC whose wages were compared to 2,300 clerical employees from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. The CUPW had 14.000 female employees at that time.

Canada Post Vice President for Human Resources Lynn Palmer said in a 2005 statement, “That any wage gap that may have existed in the past was due to the collective bargaining power of two different unions operating in distinct work areas and that it had nothing to do with gender discrimination.”

In 2005, the tribunal ruled in favor of PSAC. However, in 2008 a Federal Court overruled the tribunal’s decision. The Federal Court of Appeal upheld in February the Federal Court’s decision, prompting the PSAC to elevate the matter to the Supreme Court.

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Initial jobless claims drop to three-month low of 420,000

Linda Young – AHN News Writer

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The number of first time jobless claims by unemployed workers fell by 3,000 to 420,000 claims for the week ending Dec. 11, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

It was the lowest level in three weeks. Observers hope it means the labor market is on the mend. Revised first time jobless were 423,000 for the week ending Dec. 4. In addition, the advance seasonally adjusted percentage of jobless workers eligible for unemployment benefits was unchanged at 3.3 percent for the week ending Dec. 4.

There were 15.1 million people officially counted as unemployed. The total number of jobless people claiming benefits in all unemployment compensation programs nationwide was 9,191,897 for the week ending Nov. 27.

Extended unemployment compensation benefits were available in 35 states and the District of Columbia.

States with extended benefits during the week ending Nov. 27 were Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

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Austerity plan sparks Greek protests, Finance Ministry set on fire

Ayinde O. Chase – AHN News Editor

Athens, Greece (AHN) – Angry protesters set Greece’s Finance Ministry on ablaze as nearly 20,000 strikers marched through the streets of central Athens on Wednesday. The violence and protests were part of a national strike against austerity measures closed down services, hospitals and schools.

Most of the marchers were peaceful but some demonstrators clashed with riot police outside of the country’s parliament. They threw rocks, bottles and firebombs at authorities.

Soon after the melee thick plumes of smoke surrounded the area directly around the Finance Ministry located in Syntagma Square. Police believe protesters threw a fire bomb into the second floor of the building.

As part of the day long nationwide strike in Greece on Wednesday schools, hospitals and public sector services were shuttered in protest after the socialist-led parliament passed a new round of austerity reforms.

Flights into and out of Greece from Athens International Airport were cancelled. Ships in the city’s harbor also remained anchored in addition to national and suburban trains.

Public transportation has been halted since Tuesday but limited service was restored for Wednesday’s protests.

The country’s two largest umbrella unions, the GSEE and ADEDY, representing both the public and private sector supported the day of protests.

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Ontario reduces number of agencies by 5 percent

Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News

Toronto, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced Tuesday the closure of 13 of 259 government agencies in the province. The move is part of the provincial government’s cost reduction effort to eliminate waste and save money.

The number of agencies, boards and commissions to be shuttered would be about 5 percent of the total. Duncan did not name the agencies to be closed or provide a timetable for implementation of the planned closure.

Ontario would also ban funding perks of government officials and employees such as golf membership fees, season tickets to sporting events and lump sum payments for travel without receipts. The province will also stop awarding the Discovery and Catalysts Awards in a bid to save province coffers $2.5 million yearly.

Because of cost-cutting measures implemented by Ontario, the province’s projected deficit this year is 25 percent less compared to a year ago. Among the measures put in place are a three-year freeze on salaries of legislators, a two-year freeze on pay of provincial employees, a 5 percent reduction in the number of public workers and a 50 percent cut on hiring of outside consultants.

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Newfoundland premier seeks stand-alone offshore oil safety regulator

Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News

St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada (AHN) – Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy Dunderdale said Monday she will initiate talks with Ottawa to establish a stand-alone offshore oil safety regulator for the province.

Dunderdale told the province’s House of Assembly that she also supports the 28 other recommendations that the Offshore Helicopter Safety Inquiry made. The separate agency to regulate safety needs amendments to the Atlantic Accord Acts, so the federal government’s hand is required.

Newfoundland jointly manages offshore resources with the federal government under the Atlantic Accord.

The investigation was the result of the March 12, 2009, crash of a helicopter that took the lives of 17 of 18 people aboard the chopper. The commission tasked to probe the incident issued a report eight months after the tragedy.

An existing agency, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, oversees offshore safety. The board promised to work on the 27 recommendations of the commission, but maintained it is a strong, independent regulator.

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Report: British High Street Shops’ Asian Workers in Sweatshop Conditions

Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News

London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – A report by two anti-poverty campaign groups released Sunday charged British High Street shops of exploiting their Asian workers by making the employees labor in sweatshop conditions. The groups named the retailers and brands as Marks & Spencer, Next, Monsoon, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge.

Aside from poor working conditions of Indian workers, the groups War on Want and Labor Behind the Label, said the retailers pay poverty salaries and go against labor laws to pare costs to a minimum.

According to the campaigners, some workers get less than $90 (GBP 60) monthly salary and work until 2 a.m. to meet orders for clothes shipped to Britain. Some employees work 140 extra hours a month, but receive only half the mandated overtime rate.

It is the second time that Marks & Spencer has been accused of sweatshop allegations. Marks & Spencer recently released its danced-themed TV commercial with talent show judge Dannii Minogue, models Twiggy and Lisa Snowdon, singer W Brown, comedian Peter Kay and football commentator Jamie Redknapp endorsing the clothing brand.

The ad carries the slogan, “Don’t put a foot wrong this Christmas” and ends with the tagline “Quality worth every penny. The $90 paid by Marks & Spencer to Indian workers monthly is more than 50 percent below the living wage of $189 (GBP 126) in India.

Sam Maher, author of the report and campaigner at Labor Behind the Label, said in a statement, “Workers interviewed from these factories spoke of living in a climate of fear, where violence and systematic exclusion from rights was a daily reality. These conditions and their poverty wages are inexcusable. Brands sourcing from Gurgaon must take action to stop violence against unionized workers and make sure they pay prices that allow for a living wage.”

Monsoon declined to comment on the report. Debenhams and Marks and Spencer said they take seriously allegations of worker exploitation which goes against their companies strict ethical standards. The Arcadia Group which owns two major labels said it welcome the probe into poor labor standards involving their Asian factory workers.

Marks & Spencer reported a $948.75 million (GBP 632.5 million) pre-tax profit for the year ended in March 2010.

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