DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

How relevant is this ad to you? Video player was slow to load content Video content never loaded Ad froze or did not finish loading Video content did not start after ad Audio on ad was too loud Other issues

☆ Women living in states with abortion bans suffer greater economic insecurity
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Women living in states that restrict or ban abortion face greater economic insecurity than those living in states where they have access, new research finds. “In many of these states, especially the states which have banned abortion, many of the women who are facing economic challenges already are also women of color,” she said. Raising the minimum wage is a powerful tool that has been known to have significant impact on closing racial income gaps. But nearly two-thirds of abortion restrictive states have a $7.25 minimum wage, the lowest legal hourly wage for most workers in the United States. The average minimum wage across the 26 states is $8.17, lower than the average $11.92 for states with no restrictions.

☆ Why experts worry TikTok could add to mental health crisis among US teens
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

TikTok is far from the only social platform to be scrutinized by lawmakers and mental health experts for its impact on teens. That’s problematic because the more time a teen spends on social media, the more likely he or she is to be depressed. Psychologists say as smartphones and social media grew around 2012, so did the rate of depression among teens. But teens say it’s not the most egregious videos that keep them engaged. The majority of teens say social media can be a space for connection and creativity, according to Pew Research.

☆ Nurses strike: Mount Sinai NICU mom stays by her son's side in hospital after his primary nurses leave to strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Celina Tebor | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Her one-year-old baby, Logan, has been in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) since he was born. For the past three and a half months, he’s been under the care of Mount Sinai Hospital where thousands of nurses are currently striking. But since Mount Sinai’s nurses began picketing Monday, new travel nurses have replaced Logan’s primary care nurses – nurses who don’t fully understand her son’s needs, she said. Lora Ribas' son Logan, seen at Mount Sinai with Shernette, a primary care nurse caring for the one-year-old neonatal intensive care unit patient. Transporting infantsIn preparation for the strike, Mount Sinai announced Friday it would transport newborns in its intensive care unit to other area hospitals.

☆ New York nurses strike: Key takeaways
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —The 7,000 nurses who went on strike in New York Monday say the 19% pay hike that hospital management offered them was never the main issue. And so thousands of nurses went on strike with no end in sight. The overall effect on the New York hospital system appear to be minor so far, according to a city official. While the union and Montefiore are due back at the bargaining table Monday afternoon, no new talks are scheduled as of midday for Mount Sinai. The union says Mount Sinai and Montefiore have severe staffing problems and need to do more than the others to improve patient care and work conditions.

☆ Nurses at Mount Sinai Morningside and West reach tentative agreement as thousands of nurses still due to strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Celina Tebor Vanessa Yurkevich Ramishah Maruf Samantha Beech | Celina Tebor | Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Nurses at two other area hospitals, Mount Sinai Hospital and Montefiore Bronx, are still due to strike after not reaching agreements. The new tentative agreement at Morningside and West brings the anticipated number of nurses to strike down from 8,700 to about 7,125. A Mount Sinai spokesperson told CNN on Saturday the hospital system is actively bargaining with the Mount Sinai Morningside and West campuses under separate union agreements. Another six will be transferred Sunday from the NICUs at Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai West, the spokesperson said. “In addition, we have transferred close to 100 patients from the affected hospitals – The Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai Morningside – to unaffected hospitals within the Mount Sinai system and partner hospitals in NYC and we continue to safely discharge patients who were schedule to go home.” All elective surgeries have been postponed, the spokesperson said.

☆ The tech we couldn’t live without in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Bone conduction headphones, TV streaming devices and Bluetooth speakers are among the tech gadgets topping holiday wish lists this year. Other notable products – ahem, the new 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max – are near impossible to find. Since my move to New York, I’ve had to find all new favorite spots for good food and drinks. – Victor Blackwell, co-anchor of CNN NewsroomHBO MaxNow that I commute home at the ungodly hour of 1 a.m., I lean heavily on my HBO Max app (starts at $9.99 a month). – Samantha Kelly, CNN senior tech writerRev.comI remember being an intern over a decade ago logging half hour long interviews for producers.

☆ America needs immigrants to solve its labor shortage
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But If you’re wondering why America’s labor shortage persists nearly three years into the Covid pandemic, it’s in part because America doesn’t have enough immigrants. Immigrants are vital to the US economy and fill thousands of US jobs – jobs many Americas don’t want to do. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that in addition to an aging workforce there is a lack of foreign labor contributing to labor shortages. Those types of industries had higher rates of unfilled jobs last year – adding to existing labor shortages, according to UC Davis research. “The farm labor crisis is hindering production and contributing to food price inflation.

☆ As more men leave the workforce, women are stepping in to fill those jobs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

And that is reflective of new trends developing both for men and women in the labor force. In recent months, more men aged 30-44 have been dropping out of the workforce, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although more men are stepping out of the workforce to take care of children post-pandemic, it’s still only in the single digits, according to economist Richard V. Reeves. The data showed that the total number was skewed more towards women than men, since so many women assumed caretaker roles at home when daycare centers and schools closed during lockdowns. Since then, men and women have gained back all the jobs lost.

☆ The busiest port in America is no longer on the West Coast
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Since August, imports into the two major West Coast ports – Los Angeles and Long Beach – have declined. That cargo is now flowing into Gulf Coast ports like Savannah and New Orleans, and East Coast ports in New York and New Jersey. Around 20,000 dockworkers at West Coast ports, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, have been working without a contract since July 1. The jam at the West Coast ports delayed Americans getting goods and sent prices higher as demand outpaced supply. But until the labor dispute is resolved on the West Coast, it will be a challenge to lure importers back.

And a freight rail strike could cost the US economy $1 billion in its first week alone, according to a new analysis from the Anderson Economic Group. But that’s nothing compared to what would happen with a prolonged rail strike. CommutingOnly the nation’s freight rail lines face a pending strike, but commuters would likely be affected, too. Many commuter trains travel on tracks maintained and operated by the freight railroads and passenger railroads expect they’ll have to shut down their operations once the freight strike starts. Many commuter railroads also move over freight rail lines and could not operate if a strike was called.

☆ US Freight rail strike could cost US economy $1 billion in first week
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A US freight rail strike could cost the US economy $1 billion in the first week of the strike, according to a new analysis from the Anderson Economic Group. In the first three days alone, US workers and consumers could see potential losses of a quarter billion dollars as a transit strike involving rail is one of the most expensive and disruptive events that can happen to the economy. It does not include indirect effects or losses on other industries or income losses for rail company investors and managers. Second and third day strike losses would increase to $91 billion per day because of lost agricultural goods and food spoilage. The four rail unions who voted down the tentative agreement with US freight railroads have set a joint strike date of December 9 if they do not reach a deal on a new contract.

New York CNN Buiness —With a crippling freight rail strike looming in two weeks, leaders of four railroad unions and management of the major US freight railroads are due back at the negotiating table Tuesday afternoon. It will be the first joint negotiating session for the four unions, whose rank-and-file members rejected the five-year labor agreements similar to deals accepted by the eight other rail unions in recent months. If any one of the unions goes on strike, it would be honored by all 12 unions, which would bring US freight rail service to a halt. Union members also would receive cash bonuses of $1,000 a year. All told, the backpay and bonuses would give union members an average payment of $11,000 per worker once the deal is ratified.

New York CNN Business —America faces a growing risk of a crippling national freight rail strike in two weeks after rank-and-file members of the nation’s largest rail union, which represents the industry’s conductors, rejected a tentative labor deal with freight railroads, the union announced Monday. The nation’s second-largest rail union, which represents engineers, ratified its own contract. But the failure of the conductors to ratify their own deal is another setback to efforts to avoid a crippling nationwide rail strike. Both unions reached tentative deals in September in a marathon 20-hour negotiating session just hours before their earlier strike deadlines. Although 64.5% of members who ride the locomotives with the engineers supported the deal, 50.87% members of train and engine service members of the union voted against ratification.

☆ Retailers warn of ‘self-inflicted economic disaster’ after largest rail union rejects labor deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

“Retailers urge policymakers to use every tool at their disposal to avoid a self-inflicted economic disaster,” the trade group said in a statement. The warning was issued shortly after America’s largest rail union rejected a tentative labor deal with freight railroads, raising the risk of a crippling national freight rail strike. The National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade group, similarly called on Congress to intervene “immediately” to avoid a “catastrophic shutdown” of the freight rail system. A rail strike would come at a difficult time as the US economy is still grappling with high inflation, surging borrowing costs and elevated recession risks. “This would be the worst possible time of year to have a disruption in rail freight and rail transportation,” Matthew Shay, CEO of the NRF, told CNN on Monday.

☆ See Volkswagen's office chair that would make even a 'Star Trek' Captain jealous
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

Volkswagen Norway's Commercial Vehicles department unveiled an office chair prototype that resembles their EV cars. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich reports the chair has a horn, seatbelt and a top speed of 12 miles per hour. Source: CNN Business

☆ Thanksgiving dinner will cost 20% more this year because of inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Business —Thanksgiving dinner will cost a whopping 20% more than it did last year, according to a new survey released Wednesday by the American Farm Bureau Federation. “General inflation slashing the purchasing power of consumers is a significant factor contributing to the increase in average cost of this year’s Thanksgiving dinner,” said Roger Cryan, chief economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation. Supply chain issues stemming from the war in Ukraine pushed the cost of Thanksgiving menu items higher, as did higher input costs for farmers and ranchers like feed, fuel, and fertilizer. Every Thanksgiving meal item tracked by the Farm Bureau rose in cost this year, except for one: cranberries. Shoppers in the western part of the country saw the highest prices while those in the South found the most affordable Thanksgiving menu items.

New York CNN Business —A third railroad union has rejected a tentative labor deal, a move that further raises the odds that America’s 110,000 freight railroad workers will go on strike early next month. It is the smallest of 13 unions that represent more than 100,000 union members at the nation’s major freight railroads. The union’s brief statement on the vote said it “fully expects to continue negotiating further toward a satisfactory contract” with railroad management. A freight railroad strike would create massive problems for the US economy, snarling still-struggling supply chains and triggering widespread bottlenecks and shortages. Congress can also prevent or end a strike by extending a cooling-off period during which the unions cannot strike, or by imposing a contract on union members.

New York CNN Business —The threat of a freight railroad strike has been pushed back to early December, as four major unions have agreed to coordinate the date on which they could potentially go on strike. The third-largest railroad union, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employe Division, had been prepared to strike as soon as November 20, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. If those contracts are voted down, the BMWED and Signalmen have agreed to further push back their strike deadline to that date. The unions want to maintain their ability to strike in order to increase their leverage with the railroads. The unions are concerned that the November 20 strike threat would prompt the railroads to curtail services as soon as next week.

☆ 300 business groups call on Biden to intervene in rail unions contract vote
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN Business —Three hundred business groups are calling on President Joe Biden to intervene in the ratification of the national tentative agreement he helped broker last month between rail unions and US freight railroads. In a letter sent to the president Thursday, retail, agricultural, manufacturing, and trucking associations jointly asked the president to ensure that the tentative agreement is ratified. Sick time is unpaid in the current tentative agreement. They also give union members cash bonuses of $1,000 a year. All told, the backpay and bonuses will give union members an average payment of $11,000 per worker once the deal is ratified.

They also give union members cash bonuses of $1,000 a year. All told, the backpay and bonuses will give union members an average payment of $11,000 per worker once the deal is ratified. After BMWED rejected their tentative deal, union leadership proposed adding paid sick days during a bargaining session, only to have management reject the motion out of hand. Congress can also prevent or end a strike by extending a cooling-off period or imposing a contract on union members. Union members working in other industries have recently balked at approving deals, even when recommended by their leadership.

☆ Florida farmers and ranchers could see up to $1.5 billion in Hurricane Ian-related losses
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Florida farmers and ranchers lost up to $1.56 billion in crops, livestock, and nursery and aquaculture products due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian, according to a new preliminary analysis from the University of Florida released Tuesday. The assessment done by the UF/IFAS Economic Analysis program puts the preliminary losses between $787 million and $1.56 billion across millions of acres of agricultural lands impacted by the hurricane. Citrus, vegetables, melons, and livestock sustained the most “significant production losses,” the report said. “Our preliminary estimate is a range, a wide range, to account for many of these unknowns. Assessments are still ongoing and the final value of agricultural losses to the state will not be complete for weeks, according to the report.

☆ UK postal workers begin holiday season strikes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

As many as 115,000 Royal Mail staff went on strike on Thursday to demand better pay and working conditions. It was the first of 19 days of strikes planned to coincide with the peak holiday shopping season, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Royal Mail has said that most letters will not be delivered on strike days, and customers should expect delays to parcel deliveries. It would deliver as many tracked parcels and those tagged for fast-track delivery as possible on strike days, the company added. Amazon (AMZN) workers are being balloted on strike action, with the result of the vote expected next week.

☆ Markets are worried the Fed is going too far
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Wall Street is worried that yet another high reading on the Consumer Price Index will prompt another massive interest rate increase and inflict more pain on markets and the US economy. But this full-steam-ahead approach by the Fed, based on the notion that iron-clad data is protection enough, has given some economists pause. Last week’s nonfarm payroll report roiled markets, but job openings have now fallen by 1.8 million since their March peak. The IMF believes that global inflation will peak late this year, but will “remain elevated for longer than previously expected,” even as central banks work aggressively to bring it under control. ▸ The Consumer Price Index, a closely watched measures of inflation in the US is due to be released on Thursday.

☆ Proposed labor rule could give millions of gig workers employee status
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN Business —The Biden administration is proposing a new labor rule that could classify millions of gig workers as employees — a move that would challenge the low-cost labor models behind Silicon Valley heavyweights such as Uber, Lyft and DoorDash. The proposed rule announced by the Labor Department on Tuesday aims to broaden the test that determines whether workers are entitled to protections such as minimum wage and overtime pay under federal law. The new rule would affect workers in a wide range of industries like home care, trucking, delivery services, and hospitality, according to the Labor Department. Shares of Uber (UBER (UBER)) and Lyft (LYFT (LYFT)), whose drivers are considered independent contractors, fell nearly 10% on the news of the proposed rule. A 45-day public comment period on the proposed rule will start October 13.

Search resuls for: "Vanessa Yurkevich"

25 mentions found