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Federal Funds to Train the Jobless Are Drying Up - (www.nytimes.com) With the economy slowly reviving, an executive from Atlas Van Lines recently visited Louisville, Ky., with good news: the company wanted to hire more than 100 truck drivers ahead of the summer moving season. But a usually reliable source of workers, the local government-financed job center, could offer little help, because the federal money that local officials had designated to help train drivers was already exhausted. Without the government assistance, many of the people who would be interested in applying for the driving jobs could not afford the $4,000 classes to obtain commercial driver’s licenses. Now Atlas is struggling to find eligible drivers. Across the country, work force centers that assist the unemployed are being asked to do more with less as federal funds dwindle for job training and related services.
US union pensions hole deepens to $369bn - (www.ft.com) The hole in the pension plans of US labour unions now stands at $369bn Credit Suisse has calculated with the aid of new reporting standards. This raises the prospect of higher pension contributions for employers and deteriorating industrial relations. Multi-employer pension schemes, managed by trade unions on behalf of members working for many different employers, are now just 52 per cent funded, the bank calculates with most of the burden to close this gap likely to fall on small and midsize companies. S&P 500 companies' share of this obligation is estimated at just $43bn. However Credit Suisse identifies seven large companies in the S&P, including Safeway and UPS, where the pension liability is a significant proportion of their market capitalisation. There is also a "last man standing" risk for companies if other contributors to a fund fail. In 2007 it cost UPS $6.1bn to withdraw entirely from the Central States Pension Fund, capping its liability. More than 10m people are covered by such multi-employer schemes with contribution rates typically set by the collective bargaining agreements that cover pay, benefits and working conditions. Membership of these funds, and the businesses contributing to them, tend to be concentrated in industries with highly unionised workforces, such as construction, transport, retail and hospitality.
Shaken Spain seeks to restore confidence - (www.ft.com) Spain’s centre-right government, shaken by last week’s fall in Spanish sovereign bond prices and the stock market after its first budget, has signalled an immediate drive to restore confidence among investors and European leaders with further economic reforms. Luis de Guindos, the economy minister and Spain’s de facto international spokesman on the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, has said in interviews with local and foreign media that Spain does not need a bailout of the kind provided to Greece, Ireland and Portugal by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
Report: Sony to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide - (finance.yahoo.com) Sony Corp. will cut about 10,000 jobs worldwide over the next year as it tries to return to profit, Japanese news reports said Monday. The Nikkei business daily and other media said Sony's decision to slash 6 percent of its work force comes as it struggles with weak TV sales and swelling losses. Sony spokeswoman Yoko Yasukouchi wouldn't confirm the reports. New CEO Kazuo Hirai is holding a press conference Thursday. Sony has announced restructuring plans by selling its chemical unit. Sony is also merging its LCD panel operation with Toshiba and Hitachi. Yasukouchi said those changes could affect up to 5,000 employees who are subject to transfers.
Obama attacks banks while raking in Wall Street dough - (www.news.yahoo.com) Despite his rhetorical attacks on Wall Street, a study by theSunlight Foundation’s Influence Project shows that President Barack Obama has received more money from Wall Street than any other politician over the past 20 years, including former President George W. Bush. In 2008, Wall Street’s largesse accounted for 20 percent of Obama’s total take, according to Reuters. When asked by The Daily Caller to comment about President Obama’s credibility when it comes to criticizing Wall Street, the White House declined to reply. Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer says the distance between the president’s rhetoric and actions makes him look hypocritical. “It’s almost as if President Obama won’t cross across a Wall Street picket line except to get inside with [his] hand out, so he can raise money,” Fleischer told TheDC, referring to the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators who the president has been encouraging over the past week. “That sort of support causes him to look hypocritical.”
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