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May 1999

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Fed watches for signs of deflation as well as inflation (Monday, 5/31/99)
Inflation is a more likely hazard, but it isn't inevitable, according to the president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

Cathay Pacific grounds more planes (Monday, 5/31/99)
The Hong Kong Airline is still wrangling with its pilots over pay issues. Pilots have been calling in sick, and 25 percent of the airline's flights have been canceled as a consequence.

American auto industry keeps an eye on the Teamsters (Monday, 5/31/99)
Vigorous automobile sales have been part of the booming American economy, but a Teamsters strike could slam on the brakes. The Teamsters represent the people who drive the trucks that carry the new cars to dealers throughout the U.S., and dealers have difficulty selling what they aren't able to deliver.

Experts meet in D. C. and agree: things are looking better in Asia (Monday, 5/31/99)
The IMF is holding a conference in Washington, D. C., and attendees seem to agree that Asia's financial mess is stabilizing because of reforms that have been put in place. Meanwhile, some suburban areas around Washington are expecting a slowdown, but, in this case, it will be because they're running out of workers.

What to do with a thousand public-sector workers in Australia? (Monday, 5/31/99)
David Humphries and Linda Doherty of the Sydney Morning Herald reports that a thousand workers' unproductive jobs have been protected so far, but that may be about to change. Also in the Morning Herald today, Helen Trinca reports that strikes may be coming in manufacturing and metals industries. Finally, big losses at Japan's NEC Corporation are likely to result in thousands of job cuts worldwide.

Columnist alarmed at correspondent's plan to retire at 50 (Monday, 5/31/99)
Liz Pulliam says this person has been getting some bad advice about how Social Security benefits would be affected.

Which have a more beneficial effect on job performance: cash or gifts? (Monday, 5/31/99)
Sherwood Ross of the Los Angeles Times reports on what the head of the American Express Incentive Services thinks about this issue.

If you give two weeks' notice, don't be surprised if your employer tells you you've already worked your last day (Monday, 5/31/99)
A California attorney tells a correspondent that people have a right to be paid for the time they work, but, without a contract specifying otherwise, an employer isn't obligated to keep you on the payroll for two weeks if you give two weeks' notice.

What "social investing" is and how you can do it (Monday, 5/31/99)
An increasing number of investors are unwilling to put their money into companies engaged in activities which they oppose. But, how can you be sure you're not in tacit complicity with some of those companies when you buy stock? Kathy Kristof of the Los Angeles Times has some suggestions, and says social investing may be good for you financially as well.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Social Investment Forum (Monday, 5/31/99)
The Social Investment Forum can assist you in finding investments that match your values.

No progress seen in auto trucking talks (Sunday, 5/30/99)
Truckers who drive for the 17 companies that haul new cars to dealerships throughout the United States are represented by the Teamsters, and negotiations have been continuing, but without apparent progress. A strike is possible, and, before long, that would affect nearly all parts of the automobile industry, which is to say that it would affect a tremendous number of workers and the American economy as a whole. In other labor news, Mishi Saran reports from Hong Kong that the standoff continues between Cathay Pacific and its pilots. Meanwhile, in the U.S. airline industry, a 1997 unionization vote is overturned by a federal appeals court.

Prison guard awarded $3.75 million in harassment case (Sunday, 5/30/99)
The male guard had accused a female coworker and others of harassment. He notified supervisors, but prison authorities failed to stop the harassment, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Hong Kong's economy is quite a lot smaller than only a few months ago (Sunday, 5/30/99)
For years, Hong Kong's economy was the envy of much of the world, and certainly the envy of most of the rest of Asia. Then, the "Asian contagion" swept through, after beginning almost two years ago in Thailand. Many Asian economies were sent into a tailspin with high unemployment and the movement of many people from Asia's new middle-class back into poverty. Now, much of the region is beginning a tentative recovery, but Hong Kong is lagging a bit with a 3.5 percent retraction during the first quarter of this year. Experts are fairly optimistic about the year as a whole, though, reports the International Herald Tribune.

What to do about a nation running out of workers? (Sunday, 5/30/99)
Federal Reserve officials as well as other government officials are perplexed, as Marjorie Olster reports. As the U.S. experiences the lowest unemployment in at least a generation, many European and Asian countries continue to wrestle with record high unemployment.

Practical jokes in the workplace can turn out to be impractical...and hazardous for careers (Sunday, 5/30/99)
Washington Post columnist Kirstin Downey Grimsley responds to a correspondent who reports that a change in organizational culture has resulted in unexpected consequences.

Reading the fine print in the tax code when you retire (Sunday, 5/30/99)
Albert Crenshaw reports that some retirees are finding that they're better off in some unlikely places.

Here's one therapist who knows just what farmers are facing (Sunday, 5/30/99)
He's a psychologist, but he's also a farmer himself, and he's trying to help his neighbors through a very bad time in American agriculture.

What it's been like to work at Kingston Technology Company (Sunday, 5/30/99)
Kingston's founders set aside $100 million for the company's workers, and it's being distributed now. Andrea Adelson reports on the impact of a windfall. Also in the New York Times today, Michelle Cottle tells a middle manager about the hazards of diminished autonomy in the eyes of those both above and below.

Graduates begin their careers in a very American way: in debt (Sunday, 5/30/99)
David Flaum offers some advice on working your way out from under the load of debt you may have built up while in college.

Stopping out for your children's sake (Sunday, 5/30/99)
Skills become obsolete quickly in the new economy, and, as Sue Shellenbarger of the Wall Street Journal reports, many working parents are afraid to take much time out to care for young children. The work world may have moved far ahead by the time they try to come back, they fear.

Clothes the Deal helps people prepare for job interviews (Sunday, 5/30/99)
Rhonda Hillbery of the Los Angeles Times tells about a nonprofit organization that has helped thousands of job seekers become well-dressed when it really counts. Meanwhile, in Michigan, welfare applicants will soon have to pass a drug test in order to obtain benefits.

What does it take to be a qualified entrepreneur? (Sunday, 5/30/99)
Dick Youngblood of the Minneapolis Star Tribune tells about some folks who seem to be making it, despite an apparent lack of traditional preparation.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Small Business Expo (Sunday, 5/30/99)
Here's Small Business Expo, Entrepreneur Magazine's listing of conferences, workshops, trade shows, and other events of interest to people who start or run their own businesses.

Los Angeles doctors fire a shot across the HMOs' bow (Saturday, 5/29/99)
Hundreds of doctors in Los Angels have voted to unionize in an effort to take back control of their profession. Carol Pine of the St. Paul Pioneer Press discusses the profound changes in American medicine over the past several years and how these changes have affected what physicians have to know and do. For one thing, they must now be business sophisticates or have access to the advice and services of people who are. Finally, Randy Kennedy reports that New York hospitals and others fear a collapse now that hundreds of thousands of poor persons are about to be directed into HMOs.

Sickout at Cathay Airlines (Saturday, 5/29/99)
A different version of the "Asian flu" has struck many pilots at Hong Kong's airline, resulting in the cancellation of two dozen flights Saturday. The airline hopes that its pilots will give consideration to the company's "improved offer." In the U.S., pilots at major airlines are nervous about the increasing movement to regional airlines, and service workers at United Airlines have approved their first contract.

Slower auto sales may lie ahead (Saturday, 5/29/99)
Dealers can't sell what they can't get, and the people who haul the cars from the manufacturing plants to the dealers may be getting ready to go on strike. How much would that slow the American economy over all, and what would be the impact on employment in the automobile industry as a whole?

Productivity in the new economy (Saturday, 5/29/99)
Another indication that the new economy may really be new is the rate at which productivity has been increasing. Chairman Greenspan seems impressed, so we're impressed.

Teens and money (Saturday, 5/29/99)
Columnist Janet Bodnar says studies show that most teenagers get most of their training in personal finance from their parents, and, sometimes, it doesn't amount to much. Here are some details from the 1999 Youth & Money Survey. Among the conclusions: young people need more help in learning how to invest for the long haul and also how to stay out of long-term debt.

Shining a bright light on the American economy's dark spots (Saturday, 5/29/99)
Michael Grunwald of the Washington Post about the evangelistic campaign of HUD Secretary Cuomo to draw attention to those left behind. Meanwhile, the Minneapolis Star Tribune editorializes today on the new General Accounting Office study of welfare reform. "Encouraging but incomplete," the paper says.

What determines CEO pay? (Saturday, 5/29/99)
Not company profits, necessarily. Susan Alexander explains why the factors affecting the compensation of many top corporate bosses disturb many economists.

The new economy includes a significant digital component, but just how large is it? (Saturday, 5/29/99)
Hundreds of experts were hosted at a conference conducted by the Commerce Department this week to deal with the thorny question of how to measure the extent of e-commerce, as well as other issues.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Academic Majors Career Opportunities (Saturday, 5/29/99)
What can you do with a major in...? The University of Kansas suggests lots of Academic Majors Career Opportunities.

A new common market (Friday, 5/28/99)
This time, it will be the Andean region of South America. A new common market will be formed by 2005, according to plans.

Who will represent the strawberry workers? (Friday, 5/28/99)
Nancy Cleeland and Fred Alvarez write in the Los Angeles Times that the United Farm Workers may have been a shoo-in years ago, but not now. Here's more from Todd Purdum of the New York Times, and CNN tells about the implications of the strawberry workers vote for the entire American labor movement.

U.S. economy slowed a bit during the first quarter (Friday, 5/28/99)
The latest Commerce Department data show an American economy that is growing a bit more slowly now, but is still in good shape.

New York to move Medicare recipients into managed care (Friday, 5/28/99)
The state had to get special permission from the Department of Health and Human Services.

New Institute of Global Health (Friday, 5/28/99)
Established by California universities, the Institute will focus on health problems worldwide.

The struggle to find workers (Friday, 5/28/99)
Rekha Balu writes in today's Wall Street Journal about the restaurant industry's staffing problems in a hot economy, and Sara Nathan of USA Today reports that employers are having particular difficulty finding summer workers this year.

Additional thoughts about worker anxieties (Friday, 5/28/99)
Two thoughtful writers seem to agree that the new economy is good news but also bad news. John Jacobs of the Nando Times reflects on the implications of the findings in the California study that we've been reporting, and Paul Van Slambrouck of the Christian Science Monitor says that among the undesirable attributes of the new hi-tech economy are "less job security, bigger wage gaps, and more unemployment for over 50."

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: WAHM (Friday, 5/28/99)
If you're a mother and you work at home, the online newsletter, WAHM: Mothers Who Work at Home, may be for you.

Air Force personnel set for retirement will have to wait awhile (Thursday, 5/27/99)
The American Air Force apparently feels that it needs all of the trained personnel it can get because of the crisis in Kosovo, so retirements are being placed on hold. The United States is the world's only remaining superpower, and Yugoslavia is a small country with a third or fourth-rate military, so you may wonder why the concern? Being a superpower at the end of the 20th century mostly means that the U.S. retains the capability to end life on the planet, but not necessarily to achieve limited military objectives with ease and speed. Moreover, a key question is whether the American military currently has the personnel and equipment to fight several small wars at once scattered throughout the world. Experts generally agree that the answer to this question is "not really." What if there were suddenly a major flare-up in the Middle East and, at the same time, North Korea were to decide to invade its neighbor to the south? We'd rather not think about it.

In strawberry fields...there will soon be union workers (Thursday, 5/27/99)
The people who pick the strawberries in California have voted overwhelmingly to organize. It's still unclear which union will represent them, however. In other labor news, the people who drive the trucks that carry the cars from Detroit to local dealers seem ready to strike. Donald Nauss of the Los Angeles Times has details.

Experience matters (Thursday, 5/27/99)
Not really news, we admit, but Johns Hopkins University Hospital researchers find that it certainly applies in emergency medicine. If you have a heart attack, you will want to be carried into a hospital that treats a lot of heart attacks on a routine basis, and that may not be the closest one to you.

California as a laboratory experiment (Thursday, 5/27/99)
Many things, both desirable and undesirable, have started in California and, then, spread throughout the U.S., and not just during recent years. Ramon McLeod of the San Francisco Chronicle discusses the big job creation boom in California, but indicates that it may not represent what you expect. A lot of the new jobs are temporary and don't pay well. Job security is not a key attribute of the new economy, and California is a good place to look if you want to understand workforce turbulence.

If you work for Opel, check to see if your locks have been changed (Thursday, 5/27/99)
The big German car company is cutting 4,000 jobs at its plant in Ruesselsheim. In the U.S., first-time unemployment claims held steady last week. Speaking of unemployment, you may be able to negotiate your severance package if you're laid off, according to a California labor lawyer.

Expect another round of mechanization on the American farm (Thursday, 5/27/99)
The American agricultural sector produced astonishing increases in labor productivity long before we started to wonder about the impact of computers on the economy overall. In fact, American farmers have been victims of their own great success in many ways. Dan Bryant of Farm Press quotes an article by Labor Department economist Richard Mines that more mechanization is on its way. Mr. Mines' article appears in Labor Management Decisions, which is published by the University of California.

Assessing the odds of a minimum wage increase (Thursday, 5/27/99)
David Francis of the Christian Science Monitor says the political time is ripe in Washington.

Saving is more virtuous than spending, right? (Thursday, 5/27/99)
What is true of the part is not necessarily true of the whole. Tim Smart of the Washington Post discusses America's tendency to spend more and save less than many other countries, something about which we might feel a bit guilty. On the other hand, the American economy has been the envy of the world recently, so...? Also in the Post today, Judith Havemann reports on what happens to people once they leave welfare, according to research summarized by the General Accounting Office. Is it a pretty picture? You can decide.

On the not so small matter of getting to work (Thursday, 5/27/99)
William Lamb of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that an increasing number of employers are providing transportation through the use of vans which move people from the city to the suburbs where their jobs are located. Meanwhile, columnist Amy Gage of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tells about a new program through which working mothers can lease automobiles to move themselves and their children around. Finally, speaking of working women, nationally syndicated columnist Jane Bryant Quinn looks at the lingering gender gap and finds that lingering discrimination doesn't account for it all. Finally, if you think being a parent necessarily diminishes a person's work effectiveness, a lot of working parents will provide a ready argument to the contrary. Here's more on that issue from Stephanie Armour of USA Today.

If you need a job, director-general of the WTO is still open (Thursday, 5/27/99)
Who will end up running the World Trade Organization? Geir Moulson reports on the continuing deadlock.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Center on Education and Work (Thursday, 5/27/99)
The Center on Education and Work is a division of the College of Education at one of the world's great universities, the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Air traffic controller strike may be coming in Canada (Wednesday, 5/26/99)
More than 2,000 Canadian air-traffic controllers could be on strike within weeks.

Finance Minister Zadornov gets another job (Wednesday, 5/26/99)
It may be one of those "short straw gets the prize" kind of deals, but Zadornov has been put in charge of leading Russian economic reforms.

Conflict continues at Cathay Pacific Airways (Wednesday, 5/26/99)
The Hong Kong airline has made an offer that its pilots are refusing, and threats of firings and "industrial action" are in the air.

A "gentle" nudge toward entrepreneurship (Wednesday, 5/26/99)
Sheryl WuDunn writes from Seoul for the New York Times about how losing a job during South Korea's time of troubles has galvanized many people to start their own businesses, and this may help the country make a full transition to the new global economy by increasing flexibility and efficiencies. Another economy that is in dire need of greater efficiency also has the world's largest national population. Not so many years ago, nearly everything in China was state-owned and state-run, and that sort of thing just won't do in the new economy. Here's more on China's effort to restructure from Mark Landler in Hong Kong.

More on what your doctor may earn (Wednesday, 5/26/99)
Gwen Marsh reports that CNN has paid the American Medical Association's hefty fee in order to get a look at their recent survey of physician salaries. Median income for American physicians has been declining for several years and reached $164,000 in 1997. For many years, physicians in American society have occupied a higher socioeconomic status than physicians in many countries. Their very high incomes, compared to the incomes of other Americans, including many other professionals, have been partly a consequence of a systematic effort on the part of the AMA many years ago to limit the number of physicians who were trained, thus creating a shortage for many years, as well as the fact that physician skill levels were higher than those in most other lines of work.

In the new economy, quite a number of fields require skill levels that are essentially comparable to those of doctors, so one should expect physicians to become somewhat less exceptional in the American economy. Also, there has been a growing glut of physicians, particularly in some geographical areas and within some medical specialties, so, supply-demand relationships have been driving salaries down somewhat. Then, of course, there is managed care, which is what many physicians think is impacting, not only on their incomes, but also on the quality of medical service.

Incidentally, originally, the role of "physician's assistant" was created as part of an effort to cope with physician shortages. Physician's assistants and nurse practitioners have become increasingly prominent under managed care as part of an effort to move services as low in the cost hierarchy as possible. That is, it's not economically a good idea to have a high-priced surgeon measure your blood pressure, and there are quite a number of other things that someone requiring less training than a physician can handle.

Health problems attributed to work in chip plants (Wednesday, 5/26/99)
Seventy Scottish women are suing National Semiconductor Corporation, blaming cancer and other ailments on conditions in their work environments.

Gore announces attempt to clarify immigrants' eligibility for federal health programs (Wednesday, 5/26/99)
New regulations will try to make clearer the eligibility of legal immigrants for federal programs such as Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program.

Post thinks a raise for the prez is a good idea (Wednesday, 5/26/99)
Like other American presidents over the past 30 years, President Bush earned $200,000 per year while in office. Now, as an ex-president, he makes that much or more from about three speeches. More to the point, the leaders of even small corporations often earn much more than the President of the United States. Today's Washington Post editorializes in favor of giving the President a raise. Incidentally, while there's no apparent connection, today's Wall Street Journal contains an article by Joshua Harris Prager about ex-convicts who are also making a bundle on the lecture circuit.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Job Hunt (Wednesday, 5/26/99)
Here's an index providing ready access to all of James Challenger's recent Chicago Sun-Times' "Job Hunt" columns.

Big mine explosion in the Ukraine (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
Thirty-nine people have died for sure, but authorities say there may be more.

Workers with disabilities win one in court (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
A ruling by the Supreme Court yesterday will make it easier for workers with disabilities to bring discrimination suits against their employers.

Bias suit is now a class-action suit (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
A judge has granted a discrimination suit against West Publishing class-action status. West is best known as a publisher of legal materials, but also publishes for other markets, including the college textbook market.

Fewer bankruptcies (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
Legislation to make it harder to walk away from accumulated debts is working its way through Congress in response to the very high rate of bankruptcies in the United States, as well as what many regard as abuses. However, the latest data indicate that fewer individuals and companies have been declaring bankruptcy lately, even without a new law.

What is a "cybercity ?" (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
It isn't yet, but soon will be a major hi-tech center intended to push Malaysia front and center in the new information economy. They're going ahead with it, despite a severe recession in that Southeast Asian country. Malaysia is one of the Asian countries affected by the economic "flu" over the past couple of years. Todd Zaun reports that the World Bank is saying that the region is recovering faster than was expected, but that caution on the part of investors is still a good idea.

A setback for physicians who want to unionize (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
A petition by 650 New Jersey doctors has been turned down by a federal labor regulator. During recent years, with the rise of managed care organizations, American physicians have lost quite a lot of their political power, as well as a lot of their professional independence. Surveys show that many doctors would not choose to become doctors, if they had it to do over, and many others are considering leaving the field. Still others have been exploring the possibility of forming labor unions, an idea that most physicians a few years ago would have found abhorrent. Incidentally, if you want to know how much American doctors are making now, that information is available from the American Medical Association, but it will cost you. A good guess is that many doctors aren't making as much as they once did, but that they still average far higher than most Americans.

Clarification on Russia's economic policies (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
Timothy Heritage reports that President Yeltsin has appointed Alexander Zhukov to a key economic job and Mikhail Zadornov will be retained as Finance Minister, suggesting no major break from previous policies now that Sergei Stepashin is Prime Minister. The highest priority still seems to be to satisfy the IMF in order to secure critically needed help.

Why so much spending? (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
Chairman Greenspan says a lot of it is coming from capital gains and increased home equities, not just from moderate increases in incomes. Thus, increased wealth is fueling the American economy further.

Maybe more job insecurity in California (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
When many people think about California's economy, they think either entertainment or hi-tech. However, in addition to being huge, California's economy is highly diverse, and a new study indicates that Californians may experience less job security overall than people in other parts of the United States. Here's more from Don Lee and Nancy Cleeland of the Los Angeles Times

The movement to give the President a raise is growing (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
Most people who have any real chance of becoming President of the United States can easily earn several times as much doing something else, particularly the way things stand presently. An increasing number of influential people in Congress and elsewhere would like to see the presidential salary increased from $200,000 to $400,000 per year.

DeLay is critical of his critics (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
Congressman Tom DeLay says it ain't true: he's not standing in the way of legislation that would crack down on sweatshops in Saipan, he says. Present laws apply but simply aren't being enforced, according to DeLay's office.

Moms are working more (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
The Council of Economic Advisers says that the amount of time that mothers spend working outside the home has nearly doubled in thirty years.

Who's calling in sick? (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
USA Today reports that nearly 4 percent of the American full-time workforce is absence from work because of illness during the typical week. Here's more, including a breakdown of the data by gender.

Many persons really are finding jobs online (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
There are a lot of job recruiting web sites, and, as Denise Duclaux reports, many people are making use of them and are benefiting from them.

A higher degree of mental health parity expected for federal workers (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
The Clinton administration wants to boost mental health coverage for those who work for the government. Throughout American society, psychiatric illnesses are dealt with differently by insurance carriers than physical illnesses, and the principal reason is widespread ignorance and misunderstanding. Most of what most people believe about psychiatric ailments is simply wrong.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Mortgage Rate Trends (Tuesday, 5/25/99)
Mortgage Rate Trends is exactly what it sounds like, and may be of help if you're either in the market for a mortgage or are thinking of refinancing something.

Family leave expanded for federal workers (Monday, 5/24/99)
In a commencement speech at Grambling State University, President Clinton announced that federal workers will be able to use up to 12 weeks of sick leave to care for a family member who is ill. Some other workers will be able to draw unemployment benefits while caring for a new baby. Here's this story from Charles Babington of the Washington Post and Randall Mikkelsen of Reuters.

Special report on small business (Monday, 5/24/99)
Today's Wall Street Journal contains a special section on small business, including a piece on the great increase in the number of women-started and women-owned businesses. Lots of articles; all worth reading.

Social psychologists call it "role conflict" or "role ambiguity" (Monday, 5/24/99)
It's when different people expect different and contradictory things from you, which can be highly stressful. One example is when you have several bosses expecting different things, and, as Amy Joyce reports, quite a lot of workers in the new economy, particularly those at lower echelon levels, have that problem.

A surprise in South America (Monday, 5/24/99)
The Venezuelan economy is still in recession. Well, that's not a surprise, but President Chavez' responses have been surprising quite a lot of people who expected him to try to develop a centralized managed economy. Like we said, "Surprise!" Despite his past, he's turning out to be less radical than many people feared.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: National Cooperative Business Association (Monday, 5/24/99)
Most organizations that do business are corporations, but some are cooperatives, including some famous names. If you're trying to decide if there is a significant place for cooperatives in the new economy, the National Cooperative Business Association may be able to help you.

Congressional Republicans want to build a fence around the Social Security trust fund (Sunday, 5/23/99)
Republicans see themselves as protecting Social Security's surpluses from the Democrats. Here's more from today's Washington Post

Japanese economy has stopped getting worse but hasn't started to get better (Sunday, 5/23/99)
The Japan Times reports on the most recent Bank of Japan assessment.

Ford to bring jobs to St. Petersburg (Sunday, 5/23/99)
Ford Motor Company will build a new auto assembly plant in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Many employers cut costs by providing health insurance themselves (Sunday, 5/23/99)
Glenn Howatt of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that nearly half of Minnesota's workers are covered by self-insured employers.

Food service as a desired career (Sunday, 5/23/99)
A severe labor shortage has convinced restaurants to add incentives to encourage people to regard work in the food service industry as a career rather than a temporary job or a dead-end consolation prize.

Pension disaster for former Pan Am workers (Sunday, 5/23/99)
Eight years after Pan American World Airways fell apart. many former Pan Am staffers are receiving unpleasant pension surprises. Here's that story from the New York Times.

Georgia exempts farm workers from workers' compensation (Sunday, 5/23/99)
Agriculture workers who are injured on the job in Georgia are on their own, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The nature of new full-time jobs in Australia (Sunday, 5/23/99)
The new economy is making fuller use of temporary, part-time, and contract workers in order to maximize labor allocation flexibility, while full-time jobs with benefits are playing a smaller role overall. Tim Colebatch writes from Canberra for Melbourne's The Age about a new Federal Government survey showing that 80 percent of the new jobs in Australia over the past two years have gone to professionals.

You can't be fired for doing jury duty (Sunday, 5/23/99)
Some employers haven't gotten the message yet, but, as Kirstin Downey Grimsley tells a correspondent, workers can't be penalized for performing their legally required duties.

What to do about your 401(k) when you change jobs? (Sunday, 5/23/99)
There are lots of options, as Scott Burns tells a correspondent.

Tony Blair's attitude toward the dole (Sunday, 5/23/99)
Sarah Lyall reports from London for the New York Times on the Prime Minister's plan for changing attitudes about jobs and the imminent disappearance of automatic benefits in the UK. In the United States, a booming job market is beginning to pull young black men back into the mainstream of American life.

Community of scholars? (Sunday, 5/23/99)
A newly released Chronicle of Higher Education survey finds an increased incidence of alcohol and drug arrests on American campuses, as well as quite a lot of other behaviors you might not readily associate with serious academic communities.

An important life-work issue (Sunday, 5/23/99)
Where does your work leave off and the rest of your life begin? Boundaries have gotten a lot more permeable now that technology enables you to be in touch---and bosses and colleagues can be in touch with you--wherever you are.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: College and University Home Pages (Sunday, 5/23/99)
It hasn't been updated for quite a while, but this site can be helpful if you're interested in looking at College and University Home Pages.

Talks collapse at Northwest Airlines (Saturday, 5/22/99)
Eric Torbenson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports on the failure of Northwest and its flight attendants to get together on a new contract. Negotiations have been broken off. Laurence Zuckerman of the New York Times says a strike is looking more likely at TWA as well. Burlington Northern, which travels much closer to the ground, is cutting 1,400 jobs.

Violent protests in Suriname (Saturday, 5/22/99)
Unions in Suriname are blaming the government for that country's worsening financial crisis in which inflation has skyrocketed, among other things. Protests during recent days have turned violent, and there have been injuries. Suriname is located on the northern coast of South America and was formerly Dutch Guiana.

It will be easier to become a German citizen from now on (Saturday, 5/22/99)
Here's Roger Cohen's New York Times story about Germany's new immigration law and a growing recognition of national diversity.

Will expansionary policies solve Europe and Japan's job creation problems? (Saturday, 5/22/99)
The Chairman of the Department of Economics at the University of Minnesota is doubtful.

If you're a temp or contract worker, you're not alone in the new American economy (Saturday, 5/22/99)
Nationally syndicated Chicago Tribune columnist Carol Kleiman discusses one of the principal trends in American work life, as presented in a Labor Department study published in Monthly Labor Review.

New grads face a welcoming job market in north Texas (Saturday, 5/22/99)
Andrew Backover of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says that more than 17,000 new jobs were created in the region in April alone.

Much asthma attributed to workplace environmental conditions (Saturday, 5/22/99)
An internationally conducted research study published in The Lancet finds that as many as 10 percent of asthma cases involving young adults in industrial societies may be workplace-related.

Social Security and the cost-of-living calculation (Saturday, 5/22/99)
A correspondent is surprised at the Social Security benefit that awaits in 20 years or so. Taking inflation into account helps provide an explanation for the projections.

A holistic look and life, work, and other things (Saturday, 5/22/99)
Here's an interview with author and consultant Peggy Vaughan about keeping total lives in balance and integrating work into the balanced whole. Along similar lines, columnist Amy Gage discusses art in the workplace.

Remember graduates, it's not who you know...but whom (Saturday, 5/22/99)
Amy Lindgren tells how a rich collection of acquaintanceships can be an invaluable resource in your job search, and this is one area in which older workers may have a considerable advantage.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Economic Policy Institute (Saturday, 5/22/99)
The Economic Policy Institute provides information and opinion on family income, poverty, and other issues often given particular attention by the political left.

Hundreds of thousands of American doctors often aspire to being something else (Friday, 5/21/99)
In part because of managed care, very large numbers of physicians don't particularly like being doctors anymore. Marc Meltzer of the Philadelphia Daily News has details.

Brazil's economy as seen from the inside (Friday, 5/21/99)
All of Latin America and much of the rest of the world held its collective breath for months, fearing an Asian-style meltdown of South America's largest economy. Now, things have been looking better, despite continuing vulnerabilities. Catherine Ellison of the Detroit Free Press reports from Rio de Janeiro.

INS extends protection to 300,000 immigrants (Friday, 5/21/99)
About 300,000 persons who fled their homelands to escape political violence will find it easier to convince the American government that they should be allowed to remain in the United States.

Bill to help persons with disabilities clears House Commerce Committee (Friday, 5/21/99)
The bill would help persons with disabilities return to work without losing Medicare or Medicaid benefits. It's far from becoming law, though, with resistance remaining in both Houses of Congress.

Managers get new powers. Well, new in China (Friday, 5/21/99)
It's in China's enlightened self-interest to encourage foreign investment and the operation of foreign companies on its soil. The International Herald Tribune's Philip Segal writes from Nianjing that the Chinese government is breaking with its collectivist traditions and allowing foreign managers to use merit as a basis for hiring and firing.

You can stop moaning about "poor Ireland," and you can stop thinking of it as quaint too (Friday, 5/21/99)
Since at least the potato famine, Ireland has had a reputation as a poor European country from which people will emigrate if they have the chance. No longer. Now, Ireland has one of the hottest, most modern economies in Europe, and job opportunities are even drawing displaced people of Irish ancestry back to their ancestral home.

Canadian wireless company to cut jobs (Friday, 5/21/99)
BCE Mobile Communications has encountered increasingly brisk competition, so needs to cut costs, and, so, will slice about 300 jobs.

Greenspan supports the Administration's plan for stabilizing global financial system (Friday, 5/21/99)
The Chairman of the Federal Reserve spoke to the House Banking Committee. So did outgoing Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, in fact, and they seemed to be singing from the same page of the songbook.

Companies enlisted to fight Medicare fraud (Friday, 5/21/99)
Sarah Lunday of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that a company founded by Ross Perot, Electronic Data Systems, is among a dozen companies across the United States that will help reduce fraud and abuse in the Medicare system. Ross no longer owns EDS, incidentally.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Adam Smith Institute (Friday, 5/21/99)
The Adam Smith Institute is a "think-tank" from the United Kingdom involved in economic policy issues, particularly having to do with privatization, regulatory reform, and government restructuring.

If you've been planning to visit the Louvre today, you'll have to reschedule (Thursday, 5/20/99)
France's Culture Ministry confirms that both the Louvre and the Orsay have been closed by strikes.

Big British bank to cut jobs (Thursday, 5/20/99)
Barclays Bank is famous and Britain's third-largest. It's also struggling, so it has decided to cut 10 percent of its workforce, which will amount to 6,000 jobs.

Mexican president visits California (Thursday, 5/20/99)
Timna Tanners reports from Los Angeles that Mexican President Zedillo would like to see Mexicans treated better in the U.S.

Employers concerned about employee use of the Internet on company time (Thursday, 5/20/99)
Is it because of games? Because of pornography web sites? No, this time, it's stock trading. Here's more from Robert Hershey of the New York Times. However, at a St. Louis investment firm, the problems seem to be about abuse of email at work, and 18 people have been fired because of it.

Psychological illnesses ARE covered by the ADA (Thursday, 5/20/99)
Here's Kim Curtis' story from the Salt Lake Tribune on the growing number of bias complaints being filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Widespread employer insensitivity or misunderstanding of psychological disorders mirrors a similar problem in American society overall. In fact, it's probably safe to say that most of what most people believe about psychiatric problems of all types is probably flat-out wrong.

Cash-balance pension plans offer portability (Thursday, 5/20/99)
Increased mobility is one of the defining characteristics of the new economy. Kathleen Lynn of the Bergen Record writes about a type of pension that seems better suited to an economy in which workers move from job to job a lot.

First-time jobless claims down last week (Thursday, 5/20/99)
Fewer people than expected filed for unemployment benefits last week.

Top airline executives will forego bonuses in effort to aid negotiations (Thursday, 5/20/99)
Two top executives of USAirways have decided not to accept millions of dollars in bonus money in an effort to improve relations with flight attendants, with which the company has been involved in protracted negotiations. Speaking of bonuses, employees at Kingston are about to have another very big payday.

Clinton and Archer attempt to resuscitate Social Security reform (Thursday, 5/20/99)
Both Republicans and Democrats would like to find a way to head off the breaking of the American Social Security system, and President Clinton has been meeting with Congressman Bill Archer with that end in mind. Clinton would also like both Medicare and Social Security reform to be part of his legacy in order to change the subject when people discuss his presidency over the next century or two. But, wait--will Social Security really go broke next century? Nationally syndicated columnist Jane Bryant Quinn suggests that gloom may be premature.

Gates expects more mobile workers (Thursday, 5/20/99)
Microsoft CEO Bill Gates is telling top business leaders that workers will soon be in constant touch, no matter where they are.

Is there really a worker generation gap? (Thursday, 5/20/99)
Other factors may be more important than age in distinguishing those on the job and their attitudes about work. Also, stereotypes abound, writes columnist Amy Gage.

Teamsters strike in the Twin Cities (Thursday, 5/20/99)
Mike Hughlett of the St. Paul Pioneer Press Concrete production has been significantly curtailed at Gemstone Products because 150 truck drivers have gone out on strike.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Lippincott Library of the Wharton School (Thursday, 5/20/99)
The Wharton School, one of the world's great business schools, is located at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Lippincott Library helps support the Wharton programs.

Another surprise in Russia (Wednesday, 5/19/99)
Several days ago, many major journalists and other experts on Russia were predicting the fairly good likelihood that President Yeltsin would be impeached, and also were predicting that there was little likelihood that Sergei Stepashin would be approved as prime minister. Well, guess what? The Duma vote fell far short of impeaching Yeltsin, and Mr. Stepashin easily won support in the Duma yesterday. So much for predictions. Do Westerners really understand Russia?

Not now, but maybe soon (Wednesday, 5/19/99)
At its meeting yesterday, the Federal Reserve decided to leave interest rates where they are, as expected, but also indicated growing concern about the possibility of future inflation. A rate hike may come in a few months, they say.

Philippine Airlines' survival on the line (Wednesday, 5/19/99)
A no-strike promise will be needed to prevent PAL's shutdown, company officials say.

French employers object to government plan for reducing the workweek (Wednesday, 5/19/99)
Additional corporate taxes would finance the workweek reduction , they say, and they don't like it.

What to do with all that old money (Wednesday, 5/19/99)
Germany is decided how to dispose of tons of marks when they're no longer in circulation. Given the gradual introduction of the euro, a number of other countries are likely to have the same problem.

Canadian copper mine shut down in labor dispute (Wednesday, 5/19/99)
Timothy Pritchard of the New York Times reports that workers at British Columbia's Highland Valley mine will not agree to a company cost-cutting plan which executives say is necessary to keep the mine viable.

Silicon Valley under siege (Wednesday, 5/19/99)
It all has to do with the shortage of technical workers. A leading management consulting firm says it could result in loss of global preeminence for the hi-tech corridor between San Francisco and San Jose. If that were to happen, what would it mean for America's preeminence in the revolutionary new global information economy? This is not a trick question.

Forbes on Social Security (Wednesday, 5/19/99)
Steve Forbes still wants to be president, and he's been talking a lot about privatizing Social Security.

The OECD changes its mind about Japan (Wednesday, 5/19/99)
Now, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development thinks Japan's economy will shrink by .9 percent during the year. The likelihood of a return to expansion has to be put into the future, they say. Also in the Japan Times today, a government official says that, even though the high salaries of top banking executives are not performance-based, they should not undergo reduction. The salaries, that is.

Congressman Hyde on bankruptcy reform (Wednesday, 5/19/99)
The Congressman says that he's a conservative who believes in capitalism with a human face, so, even though a new bankruptcy law is needed, it's possible to make too radical a response to the highly publicized abuses of the current law.

Medicare cuts lead to job losses (Wednesday, 5/19/99)
We've reported on the troubles many hospitals say they're having because Medicare cost cutting has been too aggressive. Now, a major nursing home company says it will lay off 7,300 workers due to Medicare cuts.

Coca-Cola need not remain silent on discrimination suit (Wednesday, 5/19/99)
The company can continue to send email messages about the suit to its employees, says a court. However, the company must make clear that workers are free to join in.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Centre for Advancement in Work and Living (Wednesday, 5/19/99)
The Centre for Advancement in Work and Living is a nonprofit Canadian organization that helps people with special needs learn how to get and keep jobs, including those persons who first need help in developing basic life skills.

No two-tier welfare system, sez high Court (Tuesday, 5/18/99)
States cannot provide fewer welfare benefits to people who have arrived recently, ruled the Supreme Court yesterday.

Agreement at American Airlines (Tuesday, 5/18/99)
Twenty-thousand flight attendants at the nation's second-largest airline have reached a tentative agreement with the company. The airline's pilots conducted a disruptive and costly "sick-out" about three months ago.

Blue skies begin to peek through Asia's dark economic clouds (Tuesday, 5/18/99)
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development thinks the worst is over in Asia, but that the American economy is beginning to lose a bit of its momentum. Gail Marksjarvis of the St. Paul Pioneer Press says that inflation, for a time, a word that many leaders had forgotten how to pronounce, is back on people's minds. The Fed is meeting today and is expected to leave interest rates where they are, but, next time...?

How wealthy is your favorite candidate? (Tuesday, 5/18/99)
Here's the lowdown on the income and assets of some of the people who want to be the next U.S. president.

What it takes to keep your job at the Internal Revenue Service (Tuesday, 5/18/99)
You've finally gotten the hang of being hard-nosed, aggressive, mean, and unreasonable, thinking that this is what it takes for job security at the IRS. Whoops--better back off. Things have changed, according to David Cay Johnston of the New York Times.

A plan on behalf of older workers (Tuesday, 5/18/99)
The Australian government is proposing that unemployed older workers be hired as apprentices at a reduced rate. Here's that story from the Australian Financial Times.

Job references not involving bosses (Tuesday, 5/18/99)
Prospective employers may settle for references from somebody other than your boss or former boss, and there are reasons, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

Berkeley wades into the e-commerce revolution and expects to train leaders (Tuesday, 5/18/99)
E-Commerce Times reports that the Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley intends to begin offering four courses dealing with the exploding field of electronic commerce. Professor Arturo Perez-Reyes says that the e-commerce revolution represents "the single greatest change to business since the invention of money."

Medicare budget cuts too aggressive, hospitals say (Tuesday, 5/18/99)
American hospitals are urging Congress to take another look at Medicare funding because of what appear to be unintended consequences of the earlier spending cuts.

More food for North Korea (Tuesday, 5/18/99)
An additional 400,000 tons of food is on its way to North Korea from the United States in an effort to prevent further mass starvation in that beleaguered totalitarian country.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Center for the Study of the Family in Economic Development (Tuesday, 5/18/99)
The Center for the Study of the Family in Economic Development is part of the RAND Corporation's Labor and Population Program. RAND celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. It was established after the Second World War as one of the first private "think-tanks." RAND and the Hudson Institute are distinguished institutions sharing a distinguished parentage. The legendary Herman Kahn had much to do with inventing both.

A worker who should be paid more, according to one Congressman (Monday, 5/17/99)
When the president's salary was first fixed at $200,000 per year, a dollar bought several times as much as it does now, so, in terms of buying power, recent presidents have earned far less, in effect, than those several decades ago. Republican Congressman Tom DeLay thinks it's time to give the president a raise. A doubling of his salary would bring things more into line with realities, he thinks.

Canine officers need more legal protection (Monday, 5/17/99)
Most people realize that it's a very serious thing to assault a police officer in the line of duty. Several Congressman point out that some dogs should be considered police officers too, and the legal protections should also extend to them.

An analysis of South Korea's recovery (Monday, 5/17/99)
If you're betting that, despite recent pain, South Korea will regain its status as one of the world's most vital economies, you're probably going with the odds. Today, Michael Schuman of the Wall Street Journal takes a look at Korea's recovery so far and to what it can be attributed.

One job-seeker talks to other job-seekers (Monday, 5/17/99)
Outgoing Treasury Secretary Rubin has told New York University graduates that choices are required even when we don't feel prepared to choose.

Who's responsible for the economy? You, me, him, her, them, us (Monday, 5/17/99)
Alice Rivlin is second in command at the Fed, and, in a speech in the Twin Cities, she said that everybody needs to take responsibility for keeping the remarkable American economy remarkable. And, of yes, what about the risks of overconfidence during such good economic times? John Cunniff has been thinking about some of those risks and is willing to share.

When cutting government is or is not a good idea (Monday, 5/17/99)
Recent American political talk show rhetoric would suggest that some people believe government is everybody's savior, while other people believe it's a fundamental evil and should be cut back to the pre-Articles of Confederation days, particularly in relation to economic life. It is possible to be smarter about the issue than these stereotypes suggest, however. In fact, a generally smart Minneapolis Star Tribune has some editorial thoughts on the subject today.

Russian workers aren't the only ones who haven't been getting paid (Monday, 5/17/99)
There have been numerous stories during recent months about workers, including Russian military personnel, who hadn't been paid for months. The New York Times' Celestine Bohlen says that many pensioners have had the same experience in an economy whose Gross Domestic Product has been reduced by 60 percent during the past few years. Numbers like that make the Great Depression of the 1930s in America look like a slight temporary inconvenience, compared to what Russia has been going through.

A state that's been left out of the American boom (Monday, 5/17/99)
Hawaii is hoping that Hollywood will be able to help reguvinate its sleepy economy.

Competing for workers by boosting retirement benefits (Monday, 5/17/99)
We've reported and commented numerous times about how the new economy presents more diversity of nearly every kind, including the kinds of work incentives that people are interested in. Employers are having to offer a wider variety of enticements to attract and hold the high-quality employees they need. As Max Jarman of the Arizona Republic reports, some people want better retirement benefits, even if they're not near retirement.

Get ready for a bigger health care bill (Monday, 5/17/99)
Health care premiums will be going up. As USA Today reports, employers who expected managed care to enable them to avoid yearly cost increases are undergoing considerable disappointment.

Farmers aren't the only endangered self-employed species (Monday, 5/17/99)
American fishermen have been experiencing hard times in recent years too, but have gotten little attention. Paisley Dodds tells how many New England fishermen are trying to cope with the help of seafood auctions.

Getting new cars from point A to point B may get a lot harder (Monday, 5/17/99)
The people who drive the trucks that carry new vehicles to dealers may go on strike.

The accelerated career path of many new Harvard MBAs (Monday, 5/17/99)
A lot of Harvard MBAs have ended up starting their own businesses. The latest generation is different only in that it's more likely to become entrepreneurial right out of the gate, and the Internet is a major reason.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Electronic Commerce Guide (Monday, 5/17/99)
We've reported that it's getting harder to hire to recent Harvard Business School grad, because a lot of them are becoming entrepreneurs immediately after graduation now, rather than waiting a few years, as many of their predecessors have done. Reason? The Internet is offering stunning opportunities with less up-front capitalization than conventional businesses, so there's less reason to wait. If you're interested in the possibilities of biz on the Internet, you'll probably also be interested in The Electronic Commerce Guide.

Strike ends at Bell Canada (Sunday, 5/16/99)
Nearly 10,000 workers at the big Canadian telecommunications company have ended a five-week strike by approving a new contract.

Duma decides it's not the time to throw the captain overboard (Sunday, 5/16/99)
Russia is attempting to navigate some of the most treacherous waters in its modern history, and, while nearly everybody finds something about President Yeltsin with which to be frustrated, the Communist-led drive to impeach him went nowhere. Despite his failing health and the fact that he doesn't spend all of his time sober, many Russian politicians seem to remember those times when Mr. Yeltsin has demonstrated enormous courage and commitment to the development of a viable free and prosperous post-Soviet Russia.

Moreover, despite his mistakes, there is no good reason to believe that conditions would be anywhere near perfect in Russia if he had not come along. Moreover, democratic institutions are still trying to take hold there, so institutional stability will be best served if he leaves office on schedule following an election. Michael Wines of the New York Times has details on the failed impeachment attempt, while Celestine Bohlen provides perspective and analysis on Russia's political situation, emphasizing that, while impeachment seems off the radar screen now, the struggle for Russia's political soul is far from over. Current developments have thrown sand into the gears, so far as implementation of the latest agreement with the International Monetary Fund is concerned.

Summers tells Asian leaders about the importance of sticking with the program (Sunday, 5/16/99)
Asia seems to be in the early stages of recovery from the Asian economic flu, but the likely next U.S. Treasury Secretary seems nervous that some of the Asian nations may feel that it's okay to relax reforms, and he thinks not. Secretary-designate Summers is in Asia in an effort to head off what he considers to be a likely impulse, given the pain required for new gain and how politically popular some relaxation might be. Meanwhile, Richard Stevenson suggest the kind of letter from Mr. Rubin that Mr. Summers might find waiting when he gets back to his office.

Important insurance opportunity (Sunday, 5/16/99)
Nationally syndicated columnist Jane Bryant Quinn says you have a golden opportunity to get a bargain on term life insurance and lock in your rate for years to come, but don't tarry. It means that you could still be paying the premiums of a young person many years from now. On another personal finance issue, Liz Pulliam of the Los Angeles Times says that it may not be such a good idea to put your children's name on the deed for your home.

Maintaining human resources (Sunday, 5/16/99)
Most employers would never think of neglecting or abusing valuable raw materials, facilities, or inventory, but some of the same people don't seem to understand that their workers aren't made out of cast iron. Actually, even if they were, it would be important to recognize that cast iron deteriorates too, if you don't take care of it. Push workers hard enough, and you increase the risk of burnout, which is costly to the worker's quality of life and also diminishes his/her value as a worker. Leslie Kaufman of the New York Times says an increasing number of companies are gettingthe message.

United's flight attendants think weight rules are a step back to the old era (Sunday, 5/16/99)
There was a time when the advertising of many major airlines was blatantly sexist, suggesting that female flight attendants were on board mostly to be ogled, rather than to serve routine passenger needs and also to help keep them alive during an emergency (Flight attendants are NOT simply waiters!). In the judgment of several women who have filed suit against United Airlines, a weight-restriction policy is a step back to the bad old days.

Hard times for one Silicon Valley organization (Sunday, 5/16/99)
No, most of the computer companies are doing quite fine, thank you. It's United Way that is having serious financial problems in California's hi-tech corridor. David Cay Johnston has details.

Who's in charge here? (Sunday, 5/16/99)
The new global economy is the opposite of a managed system. It seems to be a living organism that nobody has on a leash, although some key individuals have been given a lot of credit for recent successes. David Sanger says that the "cult of personality" can be overdone in an economy in which nobody's really in charge.

The complicated issue of religious discrimination in the workplace (Sunday, 5/16/99)
Jeffrey Seglin writes about the increased number of discrimination suits involving religion in the workplace. Some may not involve quite what you would expect.

In a revolutionary new economy, it's not where you've been, but where you're going that matters (Sunday, 5/16/99)
Here's Michelle Cottle's advice for an employer who is trying to compete with the big guys in attracting and holding high-quality people.

What the new Yankelovich survey says about black stereotypes (Sunday, 5/16/99)
Michelle Singletary has some thoughts on why African Americans haven't been investing as much as whites and what it says about commitment to family. For a slightly different view, syndicated Washington Post columnist James Glassman discusses the new book, Getting Rich in America, which asserts that anybody can do it.

Being called up for military service doesn't mean the end of your civilian job (Sunday, 5/16/99)
Or, at least, it shouldn't, because it's the law, and you have rights. Here's more from Kirstin Downey Grimsley.

Yes, showing up is required (Sunday, 5/16/99)
No formally-stated policy to that effect is necessary, and you can be fired if you're habitually late or absent.

Networking opportunity for women in D. C. (Sunday, 5/16/99)
Amy Joyce of the Washington Post tells about Women Opening Doors for Women, an annual event in the nation's capital.

An often overlooked worker benefit (Sunday, 5/16/99)
Albert Crenshaw reports that medical savings accounts remain quite controversial, but some people apparently simply don't remember that they can be an option.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Business Law (Sunday, 5/16/99)
The American Bar Association maintains a special web site for its Business Law section.

Japan lends a helping hand (Saturday, 5/15/99)
Japan has agreed to guarantee $16 billion in debt to support Asia's tentative economic recovery. Despite its own problems, including the worst recession since World War II, Japan's economy is second-largest in the world and more than twice as large as the other Asian economies combined. U.S. Treasury Secretary designate Lawrence Summers is on his way to Asia to offer encouragement and reasons for embracing his free-market ideas. What's Lawrence Summers really, really like? Peter Gosselin of the Los Angeles Times says that he hasn't always had a reputation as excessively likable, but he's smart, very smart. What are the outgoing Secretary's plans. For the time being, he's goin' fishin'.

Violence in South Korea (Saturday, 5/15/99)
Students and workers clash with police in South Korea, despite the announced suspension of nationwide strikes to clear the way for direct talks with the government. The issue: job losses associated with South Korea's plan for restructuring its troubled economy so as to pull it out of a severe recession.

Sears to pay fine (Saturday, 5/15/99)
The United States Department of Labor says some Sears stores have been violating child-labor laws.

Discrimination claim filed against the United States Department of Agriculture (Saturday, 5/15/99)
The USDA recently reached a settlement with African American farmers. Now, some of the agency's own employees are filing a discrimination class-action suit. Meanwhile, one of two major-state governors with the same familiar last name is trying to keep an anti-affirmative action initiative off the ballot in 2000.

German bank sued over W. W. II-era slave labor involvements (Saturday, 5/15/99)
Dresdner Bank is being sued for $3 billion because it helped finance SS operations during the Second World War, including forcing large numbers of Poles into slavery.

Job security will be top priority for United Auto Workers this time around (Saturday, 5/15/99)
Here's more on what UAW negotiations will be like this year from Donald Nauss at the Los Angeles Times.

Employers get a tax break on the cost of meals (Saturday, 5/15/99)
A federal appeals court ruling is good news for employers who provide free meals to workers who must remain on the premises.

Is poverty intractable? (Saturday, 5/15/99)
The New York Times' Jason DeParle reports that a post-mortem on Milwaukee's Project New Hope provides a mixed picture and encourages sober reflection on the difficulties of moving people out of poverty.

Good signs in Brazil and...gasp!...Russia (Saturday, 5/15/99)
Brazil's economy has stopped shrinking and has started to grow again. Moreover, it's produced a bigger budget surplus than expected. There are even slight signs that Russia's economy is improving a bit, according to Neela Banerjee of the New York Times.

When moving, look to your employer for help, not Uncle Sam (Saturday, 5/15/99)
Columnist Gary Klott says that the tax code doesn't help much with moving expenses when you relocate, and a lot of people make job-related moves during the summer.

Coping with the cost of college requires lots of money and perhaps a little aspirin (Saturday, 5/15/99)
The cost of college has skyrocketed over the past 20 years or so. Expect your son or daughter's tuition to take a much larger proportion of family income now than when you were in school. An irony is that there is a less clear relationship between academic credentials and economic security now than when college costs were much lower. Current costs are shifting a lot of people's attention toward the practical career payoffs that can be expected from big college investments. However, Andrew Larkin writes in the Minneapolis Star Tribune that higher education is about more than work and career. We would add that some of the most important reasons for going to college have nothing whatever to do with career preparation or economic security.

Getting together on work-life issues (Saturday, 5/15/99)
Columnist Amy Gage writes that academics and employers are beginning to form partnerships for studying and making work settings more family-friendly , among other things.

How low is the lowest? (Saturday, 5/15/99)
"Full employment" can't mean zero unemployment, because there are always people between jobs and moving from one job to another takes time, even in a hot labor market economy. The national unemployment rate is hovering around its lowest level in many years, and Minnesota's unemployment is even lower. Dave Beal has some thoughts, and some questions.

Writing a resume that helps rather than hurting your chances (Saturday, 5/15/99)
Amy Lindgren shares some dos and quite a lot of don'ts when it comes to resume writing.

Hong Kong unions bark a lot but can't bite much (Saturday, 5/15/99)
Labor unions are legal in Chinese-controlled Hong Kong, but, while increasingly popular, don't carry much clout.

Helping black women get into the market (Saturday, 5/15/99)
Peter Alan Harper reports that a new survey shows that African American women aren't benefiting from investments like much of the rest of the country.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Yahoo's Economic Calendar (Saturday, 5/15/99)
Check Yahoo's Economic Calendar for all the latest numbers.

A signal of the return of general inflation? (Friday, 5/14/99)
The Consumer Price Index took a big lurch upward in April. Here's that story from USA Today, and here's what some economists think the CPI numbers mean.

Boeing to slice thousands of jobs (Friday, 5/14/99)
Boeing's workforce in St. Louis will be cut by a third, and this amounts to about 7,000 jobs. Competitors have been getting some of the prized contracts with foreign buyers of Boeing's military aircraft. It's another example of the increasingly integrated nature of the new world economy and how events or choices in other parts of the world can directly affect American jobs and American workers. ConAgra will cut 7,000 as well, according to today's Wall Street Journal. American farmers have been suffering greatly recently, in large part because of softness in the export market resulting from hard economic times across much of the world. On that issue, the Minneapolis Star Tribune editorializes today about what Congress can reasonably do to help save the American agricultural sector from disaster.

Brazilian economy growing again (Friday, 5/14/99)
A first-quarter increase in Brazil's GDP officially marks the end of the recession in Latin America's largest economy. Simon Romer writes for the New York Times from Sao Paulo about the details of the encouraging government report.

Why Russian political machinations are economically important (Friday, 5/14/99)
Oh, well, yes, of course, what happens politically in Russia will determine the future of the country and perhaps much of the world, but, in addition to that, help from the International Monetary Fund may not come now because of Yeltsin's firing his Cabinet.

The latest employment news from Australia and New Zealand (Friday, 5/14/99)
Tom Allard reports from Canberra for the Sydney Morning Herald that new Australian government figures show a leveling off of job growth in that country. In addition, data also indicate the growing importance of part-time and temp jobs as opposed to full-time positions, a prominent trend in other parts of the new global economy as employers pursue maximum flexibility and efficiency. In the U.S., a court ruling involving software Goliath Microsoft provides more support to the idea that some temporary and part-time workers are entled to benefits. Of course, a principal reason for the popularity of temps among employers is the reduced cost of providing benefits, so stay tuned. At any rate, Australia's neighbor, New Zealand is suffering high unemployment, as vivian Hutchinson of the widely-read The Jobs Letter reports. According to the latest New Zealand government figures, 1 person in 13 is officially unemployed in that country, for a total of 135,000 people.

Public support for strikes waning in South Korea (Friday, 5/14/99)
Thousands of South Korean workers are still on strike, but the public seems more interested in supporting direct talks and some sort of compromise with the South Korean government, all of which is looking more likely. The government has been trying to implement a restructuring plan for bringing the once-mighty South Korean economy out of recession and increasing its efficiency and viability for the new century. Organized labor likes the idea of a strong economy again, but doesn't like the high unemployment and social pain that has resulted along the way.

In microcosm, the South Korean situation is similar to that faced by most of the participants in the new global economy--finding some sort of balance between openness and ruthless competitiveness, on the one hand, and some sort of social safety net, on the other.

Incidentally, many American politicians, in an effort to float with the prevailing currents, have tried not to talk too much recently about the plight of the "have nots and know nots" in the new information economy, as New York Times writer Tom Friedman refers to them.

However, political currents shift, and during the brief period when Senator Paul Wellstone seemed to be considering a run for the presidency, he also seemed to think that Americans were about ready to consider some of the traditionally "liberal" concerns again. Wellstone decided not to run, but former Senator Bill Bradley is after the Democratic nomination and is talking a lot about underprivilege in American society.

Most informed opinion is that, despite everything, Al Gore probably still has the best chance of becoming the Democrats' candidate in the 2000 election. Still, a week can be an eternity in American politics, so stay tuned. Bradley was a big-time basketball star when he was young, but he's also been a Rhodes Scholar and a highly respected legislator.

Short of visas again (Friday, 5/14/99)
You'll recall some months ago that American hi-tech companies wanted the government to allow more people with high-technology skills to enter the U.S. in order to work. Congress responded by greatly increasing the number of visas available to such persons. However, as the San Jose Mercury News reports, almost all of those extra visas are gone and the same problem has arisen all over again.

Welfare changes hit Medicaid recipients (Friday, 5/14/99)
Two-thirds of a million Medicaid recipients lost health care coverage in 1997 because of welfare changes, according to a new study.

Okay, once and for all, is the American workplace getting safer or not? (Friday, 5/14/99)
Well, yes and no, to be precise. Bob Fernandez of the Philadelphia Inquirer why the numbers may not reveal the whole reality.

As Number 2 becomes Number 1, who will be the new Number 2 at Treasury? (Friday, 5/14/99)
President Clinton wants former Harvard professor Lawrence Summers as his new Secretary of Treasury to succeed the spectacularly successful Robert Rubin, and there seems to be little opposition to Summers in Congress, so the smart money is saying that he will be confirmed. Moreover, odds are that Stuart Eizenstat, another man with a very strong resume, will succeed Summers in the second-tier slot in the Treasury Department.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Entrepreneurs: Characteristics & Self-Analysis (Friday, 5/14/99)
Entrepreneurs: Characteristics & Self-Analysis is a lesson plan for helping upper-elementary and high school students understand entrepreneurship and its role in the economy, as well as providing help in assessing their own potential for becoming entrepreneurs. The plan comes from the Pennsylvania Partnership for Economic Education and includes a self-assessment questionnaire from the Small Business Administration.

Thoughts about the remarkable Mr. Rubin (Thursday, 5/13/99)
The rest of the world could be forgiven for suspecting that something's gotten into the water in the U.S. when watching American political campaigns or when listening to political rhetoric. Still, the fact is that both major parties contain a great number of highly competent and serious people who can be brought to the task of governing once the noise subsides and grave responsibility sets in. Outgoing Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin is one of these, and, along with Republican Alan Greenspan, head of the Federal Reserve, he deserves his share of the credit for the remarkable recent success of the American economy. Ianthe Jeanne Dugan of the Washington Post says even his departure has been well-thought-out and well-timed so as to produce minimal disruptions. Also, here's the Post's editorial on Rubin's resignation, as well as some kind words from David Ignatius. Finally, the St. Paul Pioneer Press offers some indications of what can be expected from Secretary Rubin's likely successor, Lawrence Summers.

Mine fatalities (Thursday, 5/13/99)
Angry miners kill a union leader in South Africa, and an explosion in a Chinese mine kills 41 miners.

Sides approach compromise in South Korea (Thursday, 5/13/99)
The latest round of strikes is losing steam as South Korean unions and the South Korean government attempt to move toward a compromise. Direct talks seem to be imminent.

Health should be top concern, according to WHO (Thursday, 5/13/99)
The head of the World Health Organization says that health should be at the top of the agenda in the fight against poverty.

No change in U.S. jobless claims (Thursday, 5/13/99)
First-time jobless claims remained steady last week, according to Labor Department numbers.

More law enforcement jobs, if Clinton has his way (Thursday, 5/13/99)
President Clinton wants funding to hire tens of thousands of additional police over the next few years.

A new study of women-owned businesses (Thursday, 5/13/99)
Marla Dickerson of the Los Angeles Times writes about new research showing the growing importance of women entrepreneurs and the businesses they start and run.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Graduate School Survival Guide (Thursday, 5/13/99)
Wanda Pratt at Stanford University has some advice or her own and also passes along the advice of others if you're trying to stay afloat in graduate school. Here's her Graduate School Survival Guide.

Primakov out; Stepashin in (Wednesday, 5/12/99)
If you're tired of worrying about Russia's economic mess, you can worry about their politics again. President Yeltsin, in a showdown with the Communists in the government, has ejected Prime Minister Primakov after only a fairly short period. Here's more on what may be the most important story of the day from the New York Times. Meanwhile, Brian Williams reports from London that leaders in the West are certainly concerned about the implications of the latest stirring of the Russian political cauldron, but are attempting to do some cautious and deep thinking before speaking or acting too much.

Rubin out; Summers in (Wednesday, 5/12/99)
United States Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin has resigned, to be replaced by Lawrence Summers. It's been rumored for a long time that Secretary Rubin has wanted to leave, but he seemed to be waiting for the global financial mess to stabilize, which it has done somewhat.

More strikes in South Korea (Wednesday, 5/12/99)
Workers walk out across the country, as the government seems to reach out somewhat by offering direct talks if the strikes stop. South Korean organized labor is dissatisfied with governmental economic restructuring policies which have thrown a lot of people out of work faster than labor leaders like.

How bombing another country's embassy can put a chill on trade (Wednesday, 5/12/99)
Henry Kissinger says he's absolutely convinced that the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was a mistake and that the Chinese government has been taking too much deliberate advantage of it for their own, in part, domestic, political purposes. It was a "screwup of such magnitude that it has to be real," Kissinger said on Charlie Rose's TV show last night, not a deliberate attempt to retaliate for anything, such as the stealing of a lot of American nuclear secrets or attempts to influence the American electoral process. Nonetheless, as Michael Laris reports in the Washington Post, the whole mess is having major economic implications. Some American companies have been getting their employees out of China. At least, things have cooled sufficiently in Beijing so that the American ambassador is no longer trapped in the embassy building.

Good productivity news (Wednesday, 5/12/99)
Here's John Berry's story about the latest productivity figures. Labor productivity in the American economy has increased for the second quarter in a row.

Why the growing income gap? (Wednesday, 5/12/99)
It may or may not be true that the poor will always be with us, but, at the very least, it's a relative issue. For thousands of years, thoughtful persons have puzzled over why some people are rich and some (usually many) are poor. However, attempting to explain why something exists in the universe often leads to quite a lot of intellectual tail-chasing. An attempt to "account for the variance" is likely to be more productive. That is, why are there more poor people in one region as opposed to another, or at one time as opposed to another? In the United States, income inequality narrowed a bit for quite a long time, but during recent decades, it's been widening again, and many people would like to know why. How much of it is a result of inherent attributes of the new economy. For lots of information and quite a lot of insight, we suggest this ambitious article from Scientific American.

Harder times for maids in Hong Kong (Wednesday, 5/12/99)
For many years, women have come from the Philippines to Hong Kong to work as maids. Recently, though, Hong Kong's recession has made conditions for them less desirable, although not necessarily less desirable than those that would await them back home. Marcos Calo Medina's story comes to you via the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Northwest and its flight attendants will resume talks earlier than expected (Wednesday, 5/12/99)
The NLRB has managed to get representatives of Northwest Airlines and their thousands of flight attendants back to the table three weeks earlier than originally scheduled. They'll begin talking again on May 20.

NTSB says too much fatigue out there on the roads, rails, and in the skies (Wednesday, 5/12/99)
Too many tired people are in control of large vehicles of all sorts, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which believes new regulations are needed.

Little reason for optimism down on the American farm (Wednesday, 5/12/99)
Farm product prices are expected to remain low, in large part because of a continuing softness in the export market. Also, many afflicted farmers are being told that they won't be able to contribute to a lessening of the supply-demand imbalances by taking land out of production in exchange for government payments.

Do you know who's making the products you buy? Do you care? (Wednesday, 5/12/99)
Once upon a time, most of what large manufacturing companies needed done was done on site by their own permanent workers. However, in the new economy, a lot of work is conducted through a complex network of alliances and outsourcing arrangements. The new economy is nothing if not creative. Tim Smart of the Washington Post has an interesting example. Also in the Post today, esteemed columnist David Broder wonders why there seems to be a negative correlation between the number of uninsured Americans and the political will to do something about it. Speaking of things medical, Taro Karasaki reports from Tokyo for Asahi Shimbun on what is seen as too few nurses in many hospitals and the high accident rates that seem to be associated with this condition.

No grad student union at Minnesota (Wednesday, 5/12/99)
For the time being, at least, "student union" will refer exclusively to a large building on the campus where students hang out, eat lunch, study, and so on, because graduate assistants at the huge Midwestern university have voted not to organize.

Commencement webcasts (Wednesday, 5/12/99)
An increasing number of higher ed institution are enabling people to "attend" commencement ceremonies on the Internet.

The loss of American garment industry jobs (Wednesday, 5/12/99)
Stephen Gregory writes in the Los Angeles Times writes about the reasons for the loss of 3,700 jobs in Los Angeles County's garment industry and how things are no better in other regions of the country.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Intellectual Property Center (Wednesday, 5/12/99)
Much information, news, additional resources having to do with intellectual property issues, including issues specifically relating to the Internet in the new information economy, can be found at the Intellectual Property Center.

Ah, by the way, how about that WTO membership? (Tuesday, 5/11/99)
The way to win friends and influence people in the international community is NOT to bomb somebody else's embassy, and China has been expressing the appropriate degree of outrage. In fact, TV viewers around the world may have reached the conclusion during the past few days that, while Chinese police seemed to be guarding the American embassy in Beijing, they also seemed to be standing by while large crowds "spontaneously" threw rocks at the embassy building where the American ambassador has been holding up for several days, possibly fearing a bit for his life. As an indicator of how deep the outrage really runs, though, it may be useful to note that the Chinese government is expressing hope that U.S. support for its membership in the World Trade Organization is still on.

Clinton urges help for America's poorer regions (Tuesday, 5/11/99)
Not gifts or government assistance this time, but investment. President Clinton is asking corporate America to do its part to help communities on the margins to share in the U.S. economic boom.

Whoops--better be careful about consolidating your debts (Tuesday, 5/11/99)
Michelle Emery explains why consolidation loans are risky for some people.

New German legislation to result in loss of low-pay jobs, according to the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Tuesday, 5/11/99)
John Schmid has the details in the Paris-based International Herald Tribune. Meanwhile, in the United States, James Tyson writes in the Christian Science Monitor that the strong American economy is providing a boost for people on the lower end.

Australian Unions concerned that Y2K could lead to loss of leave records (Tuesday, 5/11/99)
They want written confirmation of accumulated entitlements in case the expected computer bug might lose track of things. Here's that story from the Australian Financial Review. Also from Australia today, Leslie Cannold writes in Melbourne's The Age why men should be important to the new generation of feminists.

Work that's most likely to lead to injuries (Tuesday, 5/11/99)
Heavy lifting remains hazardous in the new economy. Safety should be a high priority in nursing homes, warehouses, and at trucking companies, in particular, according to a new report from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

It's getting harder to hire a Harvard biz school grad (Tuesday, 5/11/99)
A lot of them are striking out on their own and finding the Internet to be irresistible. Here's more from the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

University of Michigan sued over its diversity practices (Tuesday, 5/11/99)
The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is one state-supported university with a reputation for academic excellence that has extended over decades. Recently, it's also been known as the most ethnically diverse large campus in the United States. However, the policies that have helped make this happen are under fire from some directions. Steven Holmes reports for the New York Times about two current lawsuits directed at the university.

Microsoft attempts to get more competitive (Tuesday, 5/11/99)
...In the labor market, that is. A Wall Street Journal report indicates that the big software company will increase pay and stock options for the majority of its 30,000 employees. In a tight labor market in which tech skills are scarce, they want to be sure a sufficient number of the right people will want to work at Microsoft.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Software Engineering Institute (Tuesday, 5/11/99)
Software engineering is central to the revolutionary new world information economy. The Software Engineering Institute is a division of Carnegie Mellon University. The research center is federally funded through the United States Department of Defense.

What's most on the minds of Kosovo refugees once they have food and a place to live again? (Monday, 5/10/99)
Some refugees have taken up at least temporary residence in Tasmania, and, as this Sydney Morning Herald article reports, education and work are much on the minds of these people, many of whom are professionals. Incidentally, the U.S. isn't the only country with a strong economy. Tom Allard in Canberra reports on Australia's good times overall.

Black unemployment runs counter to trends, but in the right direction, for a change (Monday, 5/10/99)
Overall unemployment in the U.S. went up slightly in April, but not the rate among African Americans, which went down a bit instead. Still, black unemployment remains much higher than national averages.

On the demand for older tech experts (Monday, 5/10/99)
So, given the shortage of technical skills, a lot of senior people are being called out of retirement, right? Well, maybe not. Leslie Nicholson has a case in point from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Also in the Inquirer, Henry Holcomb passes on some advice for older workers in general who are seeking employment.

Higher ed and economic needs in D.C. (Monday, 5/10/99)
Peter Behr of the Washington Post looks at the hi-tech needs in the region of the nation's capital and examines how area universities are doing . The greater Washington, D.C. region contains several of the nation's highest-regarded universities, including the University of Maryland, which has also maintained a large, famous overseas program for decades, Georgetown University, Howard University, American University, and others. The University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson, isn't far away either.

The effects of Medicare cutbacks (Monday, 5/10/99)
Amy Goldstein examines how government restrictions on what Medicare will pay for services is affecting the health care industry, individuals, and the extent to which the program is able to fulfill its mission.

Nearly extinct species: the male breadwinner and the full-time mother (Monday, 5/10/99)
Rosalind Barnett and Caryl Rivers tells how things have changed in the United States. If you believe that the typical American family is one in which dad goes to work and mother stays at home as a full-time mother and homemaker, you've been asleep for thirty years. Time to wake up, Rip. Here's more on what the authors of this article think is needed to serve the family's needs and society's needs in the new economy.

"Feminist business" vs. women in business (Monday, 5/10/99)
What is a "feminist business?" Carol Pine of the St. Paul Pioneer Press explains.

The dairy business attempts to protect itself (Monday, 5/10/99)
It's been a rough year for American agriculture generally. Janelle Carter reports on what the dairy sector is trying to