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Significant labor concessions approved by labor union vote with wages going to $14 for new hires and the range to be $14.50 to $16.23 per hour which is down from about $27 per hour. This will have ripple through effects for the rest of the auto industry in wage negotiations between UAW and the Big Three.

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Countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal are severely affected by the war in Persian Gulf region in other ways that access to oil and fertilizer supplies. They are affected when the Gulf economy collapses and expatriate workers are laid off or return. The situation is dire in these countties because as the DW.com says remittances exceed exports in the case of Pakistan. Is such a model viable asks DW.com. All these countries are also affected by internal strife, with new governments in place in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka after protests over economic conditions and jobs. The entire Middle East model for Gulf countries including Saudi, Iran are also facing a new situation as the Western countries, US and EU and Asia shift to nuclear energy, solar energy and find ways to conserve at an accelerated pace so that there will be less dependence on fossil fuels. Recently India announced on its national television channel that one third of peak demand is already being met by solar energy. India's PM Modi says in rallies across the country that he would make it possible for households to have zero electric bills because of solar panels on homes. Germany and Japan are further along on this path to create a renewable energy reliance and phasing out fossil fuels. ...

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 The average work has declined in Europe, and increased slightly in America. It is about one day a week less in Europe for the 5 largest European economies, according to the OECD. Shorter work hours set by employers and furloughs are affecting workers in Europe. This is because many European businesses used shorter working hours to avoid layoffs during the pandemic. 

Nearly 2 million Europeans are in furlough programs with governments making up the lost pay.

Working hours are less in Southern Europe because of a lack of full time work. About one third of workers in France and half in Spain and Italy would like to work more hours but cannnot find the extra hours. In Germany one fourth of workers choose to work less than 30 hours a week by choice.

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The need to rest recharge after long days, weeks and months at work, is now being recognized as a necessity if knowledge workers are going to contribute to companies. At the other end is burnout that hurts both workers and companies. This report in NYT shows how company managers and heads of companies are pushing workers to take time off, go on vacation on a mandatory basis. A big part of the problem in the pandemic is that the work is out of the office and the lines of work and office are blurred. Disconnecting the way it should be done is not managed well these days, there is need for what in Germany is called "feierabend," disconnecting as a ritual to be followed at all times while working from home or office.

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This analysis concludes that it will be harder for developing countries to tackle job losses from robots. One problem is that taxing robot use would lead to investments in production in countries that allow robots. Opportunities exist for technology and robots in agriculture in India, by offsetting this with retraining agricultural workers for other work. China has managed the transition to robots by finding alternative opportunities for workers. Companies have shifted to robots with the higher wages in China and shortage of workers.

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The union representing 75000 nurses and pharmacists and other workers in California reached a settlement after a 3 day strike. Julie Shu, acting Labor secretary participated in the negotiations. Kaiser Permanente has 40 hospitals, medical offices and 213,000 employees other than doctors, serving 12.7 million people on the West Coast of the US. A sticking point was outsourcing. It is the largest strike of healthcare workers in the US for wages and benefits.