Job searches in 2003 the longest in 20 years

The year 2003 was the most difficult for US job hunters since 1983, as they faced the gloomiest job market in years, according to Labor Department figures released on Jan. 9.

The unemployment rate was the highest since 1994, and the search for a new job was the longest in two decades.

Democrats have called for renewing a federally-funded extension of unemployment benefits offered through states to deal with the problem. Bush administration officials have yet to support a renewal of extended benefits.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, about 80,000 to 90,000 workers will be exhausting their state-funded benefits every week by late January, after the program’s eligibility ended in December. (Reuters)

Department of Labor advises employers on how to avoid paying overtime

The Labor Department is giving employers tips on how to avoid paying overtime to some of the 1.3 million low-income workers who would become eligible under new rules expected to be finalized early this year.

A final rule, revising the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, is expected to be issued in March. The act defines the types of jobs that qualify workers for time-and-a-half if they work more than 40 hours a week.

“Most employers affected by the proposed rule would be expected to choose the most cost-effective compensation adjustment method,” the department said. For some companies, the financial impact could be “near zero,” it said.

Among the options for employers: cut workers’ hourly wages and add the overtime to equal the original salary, or raise salaries to the new $22,100 annual threshold, making them ineligible.

Mark Wilson, a lawyer for the Communications Workers of America who specializes in overtime issues, said the Bush administration was protecting the interests of employers at the expense of workers. (AP)

California supermarket labor talks break down

Four days of secret talks between the union representing 70,000 striking Southern California grocery workers and several big supermarket chains broke down Dec. 11 as the strike entered its fourth month, union officials said.

“We are deeply disappointed that the supermarket giants are unwilling to compromise on their plan to push 70,000 working Californians out of the middle class, cut workers’ health benefits by 50 percent and slash workers’ pension. We are staying in this fight,” said Rick Icaza and Mike Straeter, presidents of two local chapters of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW).

The UFCW walked out at Vons and Pavilions Oct. 11. The next day, workers were locked out of Ralphs and Albertsons stores. The supermarket chains have one contract with the union.

Union officials said they hoped the federal mediator would call both sides back to the bargaining table by the end of the month. (Reuters)

Aboriginal station hands demand $500m in lost pay

The governments of Victoria, NSW and Queensland face claims that for much of the past century they “stole” the wages of workers on sheep and cattle stations and the child endowment payments of mothers.

Their wages, only 66 per cent of those of white workers, were kept “in trust” by regional Aboriginal Affairs officials, who doled out pocket money and issued vouchers to spend at clothing stores -- but only rarely.

Fred Edwards, 64, who lives in Normanton in the Gulf of Carpentaria, was either underpaid or unpaid for 25 years. He estimates his lost wages at about $400,000, but the Queensland Government has offered just $4000. (The Age (Australia))

Out of work, out of sight

The Los Angeles Times reports that while the nation’s unemployment rate of 5.9 percent is relatively low, it fails to include the 4.9 million people who want full-time positions but are working part-time jobs.

The figure also omits 1.5 million people who have stopped looking for work.

Taken together, the total number of jobless reaches 15.1 million — or 9.7 percent, up from 9.4 percent a year ago, the Times reports.

While forecasters believe things are falling into place to produce the strongest economic growth in two decades, analysts believe there will be much less improvement in unemployment as businesses concentrate on boosting productivity so they can expand output without hiring new workers.

And in a significant change from past downturns, workers who lost their jobs have stayed unemployed far longer.

The proportion of unemployed workers who have been without a job for more than six months hit 24 percent in November, a 20-year high, which Bush’s Democratic opponents contend is evidence of the president’s mishandling of the economy. (CBS.com)

Zimbabwe doctors end strike, accept new salaries

All junior and middle-level doctors have ended a two-month strike after agreeing to a 250 percent salary increment offered by the government.

Hospital Doctors Association President Dr. Phibion Manyanga, Jan. 6 confirmed that doctors had resolved to return to work after agreeing to what they described as an “acceptable package...the new salaries that were presented to us by our employer[Public Service Commission (PSC)] are acceptable for now. (...)we are trying to negotiate for a transport and survival allowance...because we have not been getting our salaries during the time we were on strike,” said Dr. Manyanga. Sources said the doctors also had their on-call and medical allowances increased.

Junior and middle-level doctors went on strike on October 23 last year, demanding a monthly salary of $30 million. ((Zimbabwe) Herald)