Wall Street Journal (August 26)
“Workers at the Detroit automakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of a measure that authorizes the United Auto Workers leadership to call for a strike as talks between the union and companies continue…. The negotiations are among a wave of protracted labor talks this year that have vexed companies and at times threatened to spill over into work stoppages. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters recently reached a five-year contract agreement with United Parcel Service, dodging a potential standoff that could have rippled across the U.S. supply chain.”
Tags: Automakers, Contract, Detroit, Labor, Negotiations, Protracted, Strike, Teamsters, UAW, Union, UPS, Voted, Work stoppages, Workers
OilPrice.com (March 7)
There is scant “spare oil production capacity globally.” This mostly lies with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. U.S. shale firms “are expected to raise oil production this year compared to 2022,” but might surprise on “the downside due to supply chain and labor bottlenecks, cost inflation, and the industry’s strategy to reward shareholders and pay down debts instead of taking on more debts to boost output.”
Tags: 2022, Cost inflation, Debts, Downside, Labor, Oil, Production capacity, Saudi Arabia, Shale, Shareholders, Supply chain, U.S., UAE
Washington Post (August 17)
“By next year, India will become the most populous nation. This, like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s splendidly insouciant visit to Taiwan, will diminish today’s fatalism about China — the fallacious assumption that its trajectory is inevitably upward, so it must be accommodated.” Chinese labor is now “increasingly expensive and decreasingly abundant,” as its population peaks and declines by roughly half.
Tags: Abundant, China, Diminish, Expensive, Fallacious, Fatalism, India, Labor, Peaks, Pelosi, Population, Populous, Taiwan, Trajectory
Wall Street Journal (September 16)
“Transportation costs—typically a fraction of a finished product’s price—are emerging as another supply-chain hurdle, overwhelming some companies already paying more for raw materials and labor…. The Covid-19 pandemic has driven a long-lasting surge in transportation costs, putting pressure on many businesses already confronting higher wages and raw-material prices. Some CEOs are saying they expect elevated freight costs stretching into 2023.”
Tags: COVID-19, Hurdle, Labor, Overwhelming, Pandemic, Pressure, Product price, Raw materials, Supply chain, Surge, Transportation, Wages
New York Times (March 21)
“Gig companies have drawn billions in venture capital funding to help underwrite a system that is a race to the bottom for labor protections. But it doesn’t have to be that way.” Britain’s Supreme Court has ruled that Uber must now classify its drivers as workers. “If Uber can sustain its business while granting drivers improved guaranteed benefits and a financial safety net, then surely that model can be replicated elsewhere.” Uber drivers and other Gig workers “deserve the opportunity to make financial headway.”
Tags: Benefits, Drivers, Gig, Labor, Opportunity, Protections, Safety net, Supreme Court, Uber, UK, VC, Workers
The Economist (November 2)
“On some measures, Japan’s labour market is as tight as it has been since the 1970s. America’s jobless rate, at 4.2%, is the lowest for over 16 years. Inflation has nevertheless been surprisingly weak. In other words, the trade-off between unemployment and inflation, known as the Phillips curve, has become less steep.”
Tags: Inflation, Japan, Jobless rate, Labor, Phillips curve, Surprising, Tight, Trade-off, U.S., Unemployment, Weak
The Guardian (October 5)
“Japan has again been forced to confront its work culture after labour inspectors ruled that the death of a 31-year-old journalist at the country’s public broadcaster, NHK, had been caused by overwork.” NHK’s delayed reporting of employee Miwa Sado’s death from overwork in 2013, “piles pressure on authorities to address large number of deaths linked to labour practices.”
Tags: Broadcaster, Death, Inspectors, Japan, Journalist, Labor, NHK, Overwork, Sado, Work culture
New Yorker (August 17)
“Since last November, many business leaders, and even the representatives of some labor groups, have cooperated with Trump on the grounds that he is the duly elected President, and they want their voices heard in the White House’s policymaking process. But, in terms of reputational risk and personal moral calculus, the price of accommodating Trump” has increased dramatically. Trump now occupies a place in the political firmament where it is becoming almost as risky for corporate chieftains to associate with him as it is for them to distance themselves.”
Tags: Accommodating, Business leaders, Cooperated, Distance, Labor, Moral calculus, Policymaking, Reputational risk, Trump
Reuters (May 14)
“Desperate to overcome Japan’s growing shortage of labor, mid-sized companies are planning to buy robots and other equipment to automate a wide range of tasks, including manufacturing, earthmoving and hotel room service…. If the investment ambitions are fulfilled it would show there is a silver lining as Japan tries to cope with a shrinking and rapidly aging population. It could help equipment-makers, lift the country’s low productivity and boost economic growth.”
Tags: Aging, Automate, Desperate, Economic growth, Japan, Labor, Manufacturing, Productivity, Robots, Shortage, Silver lining
New York Times (February 21)
“While not as dangerous as protectionism and xenophobia,” blaming robots for job losses and economic disruption “is also a distraction from real problems and real solutions.” We’ve been through this before. “Automation is the hero of the story in good times and the villain in bad. Since today’s middle class is in the midst of a prolonged period of wage stagnation, it is especially vulnerable to blame-the-robot rhetoric.” Bad policies can result in disruption, but economic history has repeatedly shown “that automation not only substitutes for human labor, it complements it. The disappearance of some jobs and industries gives rise to others.”
Tags: Automation, Dangerous, Disruption, Jobs, Labor, Protectionism, Robots, Wage stagnation, Xenophobia
