posted 10-02-2003 09:58 PM            

Denial...avoid..denial..avoid.

ANYTHING to prop up Bush.

Should there be "lines" Professor?

posted 10-03-2003 12:38 PM            

Someone let the air out of a man's tires.

When he called in to say he would be late for work;
The culprit sat in the office with an employment application and commented:
"I'd be here on time if I had to take a cab to work."

He got hired.
The other guy was laid off.

Times were less desperate then than they are now.

Conservative newspapers and FAUX "news" even gingerly report record numbers of personal bankruptcies, foreclosures;
(small business failures are no longer listed by this administration) record numbers of college grads living with their parents.

Drive by any
homeless shelter or unemployment office, Salvation Army, Jewish Community Center, Catholic Charities...
to see what you don't see at the office or in a residential neighborhood.

Personal anecdote:
One of hundreds laid off when TX refineries shut down almost all construction in November 1976
("You want Carter." one project manager said in front of me "You can sit home for four years and enjoy him.")
I told an unemployment interviewer in March, "Welders are working."
"Can you weld?" I was asked.
"Yes, but I need to get practice to recertify." I replied.

Next day, my unemployment was suspended, and I began at a welding school, hourly wages and expenses courtesy of Carter's "Re-Employment Program"

"How do I pay it back?" I'd asked.
"You return to work and pay taxes." was the reply.

Nowadays.
Privitization has turned job training into 'debt for the jobless' and 'profit for job training contractors'.

"Take from the poor and give to the rich." IMHO
This recession is deliberate.
High unemployment drives down wages and benefits, as labor contract negotiators are told. (by a gleeful managment)
"There are lots of unemployed who will do the job for less."

posted 10-05-2003 01:24 PM            

Its all about driving down wages.

Turning the US into a new third world.

posted 10-06-2003 01:03 PM            

The Associated Press
10/6/03 11:55 AM

EAST SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- Carrier Corp. is eliminating 1,200 manufacturing jobs at its suburban Syracuse container refrigeration and compressor plant.

Carrier said it will maintain 1,600 jobs at the East Syracuse plant, where it also has warehouse, administrative, engineering and research facilities.

The company said it could eventually expand its research and development operations.

"Manufacturing moves are exceptionally difficult but this move is essential to Carrier's competitiveness and growth," said Ted Amyuni, Carrier's senior vice president for operations.

The market, he said, has become Asian-focused, with more than 80 percent of the company's container refrigeration products shipped there.

posted 10-06-2003 03:02 PM            

The U.S. is no longer an economic superpower.

I predict the next superpower will either be a country using EURO currency or somewhere on the Pacific Rim.

You are seeing our republic dissolved right before our eyes folks.

posted 10-09-2003 01:50 PM            

"Central New York has lost 8000 manufacturing jobs in the past three years. Business leaders believe that trend will continue if no action is taken. Industry experts say the Chinese currency is undervalued, which means American goods cost more in China, and Chinese goods cost less in the United States. This puts domestic manufacturers at a disadvantage. United Auto Workers Union spokesperson Richard Simone Jr. said, “The exodus has started and people have to wake up across the country if we don’t solve problem, there will be no middle classes to pay taxes.”"

The Carrier Effect

"The ripple effect of the Carrier Cuts may be felt on the Onondaga County Budget. The Onondaga Legislature is planning on voting on the County's budget for next year on Thursday. Some lawmakers are concerned the laid off workers will bring in less revenue for the County. With 1200 people without jobs, it means the former workers will buy less and less sales tax revenue will come into the county. The Legislative Chairman, Dale Sweetland (R), tells Five on Your Side there is a big possibility the proposed budget may not be passed Thursday. He says there may not be enough lawmakers ready to pass the budget as it stands. Lawmakers would then have until November First before County Executive Nick Pirro's proposed budget would go into effect. That budget would have an eight percent increase in property taxes."

Some more jobs bite the dust......

Penn Traffic job cuts reach into Central Ohio staff
Penn Traffic Co., the parent of Central Ohio's Big Bear and Big Bear Plus stores, said Tuesday it is dismissing 100 supervisors and administrators, including 22 in the Columbus area.
None of the cuts will affect employees at the company's Central Ohio supermarkets. The bulk of the jobs being removed will come from Penn Traffic's headquarters staff in Syracuse, N.Y., a company spokesman said.
All are being provided a severance package, though the action must be approved by the Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., where Penn Traffic filed for Chapter 11 reorganization this past spring.
The company said it will not refill 25 other vacant positions.
"We sympathize with the affected employees and their families whose lives will be disrupted by these layoffs," Steven G. Panagos, Penn Traffic's interim chief executive, said in a release. "But like any company in Chapter 11 reorganization, Penn Traffic must reduce costs and operate as efficiently as possible."
Penn Traffic filed for bankruptcy reorganization in May, the second time in four years that it was put into Chapter 11. The company last Friday named supermarket veteran James A. Demme, described as a turnaround specialist, as chairman of the chain.
Penn Traffic operates 211 supermarkets in Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York state, Vermont and New Hampshire. In addition to Big Bear and Big Bear Plus stores, the company operates BiLo, P&C and Quality supermarkets and a wholesale food distribution business.

posted 10-28-2003 11:27 AM            

Carrier officials rejected New York State’s offer on Tuesday to provide the company with up to $210 million over the next five years to keep 1200 jobs in DeWitt. In a statement released Tuesday, Carrier Vice President of Communications Nancy Litner said, “The short-term assistance that these proposals would provide cannot reverse the economic realities that Carrier is facing and consequently make Carrier unable to meet the conditions of the offer.” Last month, Carrier announced plans to close the manufacturing part of the DeWitt plant and eliminate 1200 jobs in the process. Those positions are being moved to China and Georgia.
The deal offered to Carrier last week by the Empire State Development Corporation and the Sheet Metal Workers Union would have cost the state, county and workers’ union $42 million a year or $35,000 per job. The offer to Carrier included union wage concessions, loan forgiveness, low-cost power and tax breaks.