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Article source: http://m.timesrecord.com/news/2012-04-17/Local/Parents_question_SAD_75_layoff_policy.html

KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal government is understood to have imposed a condition, with regard to Penang Port Sdn Bhd’s takeover – that any party planning to take over the port operator
must not lay off any of its workforce for a minimum period of five years.

“The condition is non-negotiable. Any parties which intend to take over the port, must comply with the condition, even before they present their financial plan,” said a source.

Business Times was told that at least two parties are interested in taking over Penang Port.

“One is a party led by a China-owned entity, while the other is MMC Corp Bhd. But, to date, no decision has been made as the due diligence process is still being carried out,” said the source.

Penang Port is 100 per cent owned by the Minister of Finance Inc.

The company is licensed to operate, manage and maintain port and ferry services as well as undertake present and future development projects in the port area.

Penang Port, which has more than RM1 billion in bank loans to be settled, has slightly just under 1,800 people on its payroll.

Over the past 15 years, the company had tried to sell its shares to the public twice via an initial public offering exercise, but the plans failed to materialise.

The country’s oldest port, which has been operating for nearly 226 years, has seen its business being eaten up by rivals from Port Klang and Johor.

In Port Klang, there are two main operators, namely Northport (Malaysia) Bhd, the port operating subsidiary of NCB Holdings Bhd, and the privately-held Westport.

Northport and Westport are among the busiest ports in the world, collectively handling more than eight million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a year.

In Johor, there are Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) and Johor Port, which are both controlled by MMC.

PTP, which is also among the top 20 ports in the world, handles some 6.5 million TEUs a year.

In contrast, Penang Port targets its container cargo at the North Butterworth Container Terminal to handle some 1.28 million TEUs this year.

The port operator itself is understood to be profitable, except for a slight blip last year.

However, its ferry operations are said to still be heavily in the red.

Penang Port provides ferry services linking Georgetown on the island to Butterworth on the mainland.

In 2010, the ferry operations suffered some RM15 million in losses. Since Penang Port’s corporatisation in 1994, the ferry operations have lost more than RM180 million.

Article source: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120418013451/Article/index_html

Updated: 21:52, Tuesday April 17, 2012

Toyota has responded to claims it acted callously in sacking 350 workers, saying it tried to show the “utmost respect” to those laid off.

Amid criticism from unions and workers made redundant on Monday, a senior company executive said it was an unfortunate situation but one forced on it by the high value of the Australian dollar and falling exports.

Senior executive director of sales and marketing, Matthew Callachor, said Toyota had tried to show the ‘utmost respect’ to those who had lost their jobs.

‘We had a selection of criteria for each of the 350 that were actually chosen,’ Mr Callachor told reporters in Adelaide on Tuesday.

‘We don’t believe that there is anything we would have done differently at this juncture.

‘We had consultation with the unions right through the process. We believe we have done everything in accordance with the plans in terms of trying to consult and work with people.

‘Obviously it’s always regrettable to let people go, so I don’t minimise that part of it at all.’

Mr Callachor said Toyota did not expect to make further cuts to its workforce though it was impossible for the company to give guarantees.

He said current numbers had been planned around projected local and international demand going forward.

After announcing its plans earlier this year Toyota began the redundancies on Monday morning.

Most of the workers were unwillingly retrenched and 80 per cent of them plan to appeal their redundancies at Fair Work Australia, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union said.

The union branded Toyota’s tactics of calling in security guards and escorting workers off site to sack them as heavy-handed and disgusting.

The company ferried workers in mini-vans across the road to a reception centre where they were handed a folder with the criteria for their dismissal and told they had lost their jobs.

Mr Callachor said everything the company had done was in line with the processes that had been set down.

‘We have tried to show the utmost respect to the people involved,’ he said.

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Article source: http://www.skynews.com.au/national/article.aspx?id=740542&vId=

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Published: April 17, 2012 9:48 AM

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo credit: AP | House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Peter King. (May 25, 2011)

Galleries

Rep. Peter King

WASHINGTON – The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee is defending the head of the Secret Service in the Colombian incident involving agents and prostitutes.

Congressman Peter King says this is no time to oust agency director Mark Sullivan, based on what is known so far about the recall of 11 agents from Colombia.

The New York Republican also tells NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday that Sullivan “acted immediately” and says he thinks “it’s wrong to be prejudging Mark Sullivan.”

But King also says, quote, “It looks like we really lucked out on this,” telling NBC it appears agents compromised presidential security with the partying that occurred in Colombia before President Barack Obama arrived for his summit in Cartagena, Colombia.

King says, “You don’t allow a potential enemy into your security zone.”

Article source: http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/king-lay-off-secret-service-chief-1.3666019

TICKY FULLERTON, PRESENTER: It was the high Australian dollar that Toyota blamed for its sacking of 350 workers yesterday, but it was the “Toyota Way” – the way in which the workers were selected for largely forced redundancies – that has raised eyebrows.

Joining me in the studio now to talk about management/employee relations tonight is Roger Montgomery from Montgomery Asset Management. Roger, welcome.

Marks out of five is apparently how workers were rated on a should you stay or should you go basis.

A bit radical for Australia?

ROGER MONTGOMERY, MONTGOMERY ASSET MANAGEMENT: I don’t think it’s radical for the private sector. This might be news to a lot of people, and it’s certainly sad for the families involved, but being chosen to work in a company based on merit and ability is normal in many sectors, it’s just that we’ve been protecting the manufacturing industry, particularly in auto manufacturing, for a very long time and it’s unsustainable.

TICKY FULLERTON: I looked up the Toyota Way, it’s got quite an impressive Wiki entry and apparently it’s a set of principals in two key areas: continuous improvement and respect for people.

We’ve got, anecdotally, comments coming back saying that it was a cattle yard. The Treasurer called it, “particularly unpleasant”, Bill Shorten has weighed into this now. Was there a lot of respect?

ROGER MONTGOMERY: I think in any organisation, any large organisation, there’s going to be complaints from staff. What’s really important is how management responds to that. Toyota has a tough gig in front of it right now.

In Australia it’s suffering, not only from a high Australian dollar, but it’s also suffering from high labour costs – and in addition to that we’ve got Korean manufacturers Hyundai and Kia producing cars that are arguably better looking, and the auto industry is a tough industry because you’re manufacturing a fashion item. Really capital intensive, labour intensive but a fashion item. And arguably, Kia and Hyundai are producing much better looking vehicles, and Toyota is suffering.

TICKY FULLERTON: So you’ve got a competitive issue; Bill Shorten said the workers could actually tell their children they didn’t lose their jobs because they’ve done nothing wrong, but because of the high Australian dollar. A Toyota spokeswoman said all workers were assessed and those with the lowest scores in behaviour, skills and knowledge were sacked.

ROGER MONTGOMERY: That’s sad for those people who were sacked obviously, but it’s a combination of factors. Obviously, the reason why Toyota has had to restructure, and the reason why they’ve had to lay off all these workers is because of the pressures that I’ve already cited. Arguably they may have retained those staff and tried to improve them through their process over time, but they just don’t have that luxury now.

TICKY FULLERTON: Suggestions tonight on the 7.30 Report that are a bit more sinister – that perhaps 50 per cent of shop stewards and health and safety reps were taken out in that forced redundancy, denied by Toyota, and Bill Shorten is saying it’s an obligation on Toyota to clear up any inappropriate conduct?

ROGER MONTGOMERY: Well, I think that’s absolutely right. But within a big organisation you’re always going to get pockets of bad behaviour, and if that’s the result of their survey and their assessments, then that may be where the bad behaviour existed.

TICKY FULLERTON: You want to talk about Leighton, I know, and that’s another issue about management and employee relations.

ROGER MONTGOMERY: Oh, absolutely. There’s a really big issue at Leighton’s at the moment, and it’s symptomatic of, I think, a difficult relationship between staff and management.

This is a business that has, over the last five years, for example, not grown profit by dollar. In fact, analysts are forecasting profits for Leighton’s for this financial year that will be less than the profit five years ago. And yet, in that time, the top 15 executives have paid themselves $190 million in salaries to themselves and incentives. Now that’s just … if you’re a staff member of any company and you see management lavishing gold upon themselves in that way, then clearly you’re going to be unsettled and I think that’s the root cause of Leighton’s woes on the labour front.

TICKY FULLERTON: Rather than any union issue, any sort of Fair Work reports about going slow on some of these building sites?

ROGER MONTGOMERY: Of course that’s happening but you’re going to be less incentivised – even if you’re represented by unions – you’re going to be less incentivised if there’s no excess at the management level. You’re more incentivised to demand more if you see management lavishing gold upon themselves and being excessive in the way they pay themselves. And this is all in the annual reports.

TICKY FULLERTON: Roger Montgomery, you’re a very good scourer of annual reports, and I thank you very much for joining us.

ROGER MONTGOMERY: It’s a pleasure, Ticky.

Article source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-17/toyotas-layoffs-necessary-montgomery/3956820?section=vic

Open hearings began today for 9,500 teachers, librarians, counselors and nurses, who were sent preliminary pink slips by L.A. Unified and may lose their jobs at the end of this school year.

In what has become a dark ritual, the district and teachers now engage in the RIF dance, as some call it: Notices are sent, hearings are held at the cost of millions to the district, some notices are rescinded before the school year ends, and other teachers are hired back as budgets become more clear. By law the district must inform educators of their possible termination by March 15, forcing them to send the preliminary pink slips before state and local budgets can be finalized and their consequences analyzed.

This is the fourth consecutive year of such hearings, the administrative law judge rule on the legality and technical accuracy of the notices on issues such as seniority, credentialing, among others.

About 300 teachers gathered in the cavernous top floor of the California Market Center in downtown Monday amid a sea of roughly 1,700 empty white folding chairs. With their backs to the snow-capped mountains, teachers (who took personal days to attend) listened to the protocols of the next weeks of hearings. Up front at a table to the left sat the district’s attorneys Marcos Hernandez and Aram Kouyoumdjian and to the right the United Teachers Los Angeles attorneys Richard J. Schwab and Lawrence B. Trygstad.

In front of all this, with rows of three-inch binders spread on tables, sat Administrative Law Judge Eric G. Sawyer, listening to the opening statements.

According to UTLA staff, about 3,200 teachers filed requests to testify, and about 300 will be called as witnesses or respondents.

The district attorneys argued in their opening statement that L.A. Unified has followed the law and notified the teachers as required by law. Because of a $390 million budget gap, the district is required to make painful cuts in its 2012 budget plan and send out more than 11,700 notices to educators across L.A. Unified.

“The bottom line, unfortunately, is that we followed the law,” said district attorney Hernandez.

United Teachers Los Angeles attorney Schwab, however, said the district “did not need to go this far, this deep.”

Schwab argued the district didn’t follow the law, which requires it to lay off teachers according to seniority, but instead targeted teachers in subjects such as adult education, the arts or early childhood education — programs that are slated to to be slashed under the budget plan. Schwab said the district is abusing teachers by putting them through the layoff process when it hasn’t worked hard enough to identify other cuts and better allocate money.

“This is done for the mere convenience of the district, and to hedge their bets,” Schwab said. “This should not be a gambling game.”

This story has been updated.

Tami Abdollah can be reached via email and on Twitter (@latams).

Tagged:

education,

lausd,

LAUSD,

budget

Article source: http://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2012/04/16/5607/l-unified-teacher-layoff-hearings-begin-today/

Salford City Reds’ Vinnie Anderson could be out of action for up to eight weeks with an elbow injury.

The 33-year-old back-rower suffered the injury during the

18-10 home defeat to Hull KR

on 9 April.

A Salford club spokesman said: “Vinnie has had investigative surgery after hyper-extending a ligament.

“He also has a potential small fracture which has shown up on the scan but the physio is quite pleased with how it’s gone so far.”

The New Zealand international is in his

second season at Salford

after joining the club from Warrington.

Phil Veivers’ side, currently 10th in Super League,

defeated Whitehaven 58-18

in the Challenge Cup on Sunday to set up a

fifth-round tie at home to Leeds Rhinos.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/17740912

The company – which sacked its long-standing banking head Stefan Auerbach in February – has revised its earnings outlook downwards following a “continued and substantial decline” in net sales generated within its banking division, which has been accompanied by significant pressure on margins in the hardware business.

The group attributes the poor performance to subdued investment spending in Western Europe and a failure to tailor its products to meet the particular demands of banks in emerging markets.

Preliminary figures show net sales declining by six per cent in H1 and operating profit down by 49% at EUR45 million, compared to EUR88 million in the previous year. Profit for the first six months of the fiscal year declined to EUR27 million, contracting by 53% year on year (previous year: EUR58 million).

In response, Wincor Nixdorf has initiated an extensive downsizing programme that will lead to the departure of 500 staff in Western Europe over the next 18 months, with Germany bearing the brunt of the cuts, accounting for around half of this figure. The company will also look to consolidate management and support functions across Europe into larger centralised units and “sharpen” managerial responsibility for the global banking and retail divisions.

In parallel, Wincor Nixdorf says it will scale back its operations in Western Europe and relocate to the Asia/Pacific region key capacities required for future growth in the emerging markets. Alongside this, production capacities in Germany and Singapore are to be downsized, with more manufacturing work shipped over to China.

The restructuring will incur a charge of EUR40 million this year. Ooperating profit for the full fiscal year is expected to contract significantly to around EUR100 million (FY 2011: EUR162 million), including the EUR40 million charge.

Article source: http://www.finextra.com/news/fullstory.aspx?newsitemid=23624

Adminstrative hearings began Monday for the estimated 9,500 Los Angeles Unified School District employees who received layoff notices as part of the district’s attempt to diminish the $390 million budget deficit.

Recieving the notice does not necessarily mean the employees will most definitely be laid off. Thousands of notices are expected to be rescinded by June, according to Superintendent John Deasy.

“Every layoff notice does not necessarily mean that you don’t have a position, but it also means that the current position you’re in may not exist next year,” LAUSD Chief Human Resources Officer Vivian Ekchian said Monday.

Last year, 7,300 layoff notices were issued by the district, and nearly half were retracted. LAUSD employees hope retractions occur on a larger scale this year so not to inhibit teachers’ ability to meet students’ most basic educational needs.

Classroom sizes and programs will be negatively affected, but the district is making every effort to avoid that by negotiating and directing attention to the state in regards to lack of funding and indecision on their part, Ekchian further elaborated.

The layoff notices were sent to more than 1/4 of United Teachers Los Angeles members and add up to more than half of the total state layoff notices sent this year.

President of the UTLA Warren Fletcher believes the layoffs are more detrimental than the district is forseeing.
 
“It would be a disruption of unprecedented proportions and I don’t think the district could survive,” he said. “I mean…if you slice off 1/4 of a person’s body they still have 3/4 of their body, but they’re still probably going to die.”

“Teaching isn’t ditch digging,” Fletcher added. “Teaching is a job where you have to have your heart and your soul in it every day, and you have to have the enthusiasm and the belief.”

Still, for some of the LAUSD teachers and staff members this layoff process could be their third or fourth round of layoff scares in their teaching careers.

“I cant gurantee that these people are going to keep coming back and that would be a tragic loss for every child in L.A.” Fletcher said.

Early and adult education programs have all been badly impacted this year.

Metropolitan High School teacher Sandra Christenson says she has 40 at risk kids in her classroom and imagines the number of troubled students will only escalate if layoff notices are not retracted.

“The schools don’t know what’s going to happen to [employees] and it causes such a demoralization of teachers who care so much,” she said. “We have at risk kids…you can’t hurt the teachers and not hurt the kids. It’s ridiculous.”

Metropolitan pink-slipped teacher Kierstyn Olsen agrees that LAUSD students will suffer severely.

“Basically they’re going to be neglected,” Olsen said. “Class sizes are going to go up. They’re not going to get the help that they need, and at the end of the day it means that more of them are going to drop out and not get diplomas.”

Ruben Santos, a student at Metropolitan High School, is disappointed that good teachers may be getting laid off once again.

“I feel really bad because a lot of these teachers really do help us a lot,” he said. “All the teachers that have been doing their job pretty good they don’t deserve to be laid off.”
 
The district is required to send out layoff warning notices before both the state and LAUSD’s budgets are finalized. LAUSD is also waiting on Governor Brown’s May budget revision.

LAUSD plans to ask voters to approve a $298 parcel tax in the fall that would raise about $255 million a year to help offset state funding cuts.

The hearings are expected to run until the end of June, when employees will find out just how many jobs will be salvaged.

RELATED:

Local Students and Teachers Protest Adult Education Cuts

LAUSD School Board Delays Massive Budget Cuts

Article source: http://www.atvn.org/news/2012/04/lausd-layoff-hearing

Open hearings began today for 9,500 teachers, librarians, counselors and nurses, who were sent preliminary pink slips by L.A. Unified and may lose their jobs at the end of this school year.

In what has become a dark ritual, the district and teachers now engage in the RIF dance, as some call it: Notices are sent, hearings are held at the cost of millions to the district, some notices are rescinded before the school year ends, and other teachers are hired back as budgets become more clear. By law the district must inform educators of their possible termination by March 15, forcing them to send the preliminary pink slips before state and local budgets can be finalized and their consequences analyzed.

This is the fourth consecutive year of such hearings, the administrative law judge rule on the legality and technical accuracy of the notices on issues such as seniority, credentialing, among others.

About 300 teachers gathered in the cavernous top floor of the California Market Center in downtown Monday amid a sea of roughly 1,700 empty white folding chairs. With their backs to the snow-capped mountains, teachers (who took personal days to attend) listened to the protocols of the next weeks of hearings. Up front at a table to the left sat the district’s attorneys Marcos Hernandez and Aram Kouyoumdjian and to the right the United Teachers Los Angeles attorneys Richard J. Schwab and Lawrence B. Trygstad.

In front of all this, with rows of three-inch binders spread on tables, sat Administrative Law Judge Eric G. Sawyer, listening to the opening statements.

According to UTLA staff, about 3,200 teachers filed requests to testify, and about 300 will be called as witnesses or respondents.

The district attorneys argued in their opening statement that L.A. Unified has followed the law and notified the teachers as required by law. Because of a $390 million budget gap, the district is required to make painful cuts in its 2012 budget plan and send out more than 11,700 notices to educators across L.A. Unified.

“The bottom line, unfortunately, is that we followed the law,” said district attorney Hernandez.

United Teachers Los Angeles attorney Schwab, however, said the district “did not need to go this far, this deep.”

Schwab argued the district didn’t follow the law, which requires it to lay off teachers according to seniority, but instead targeted teachers in subjects such as adult education, the arts or early childhood education — programs that are slated to to be slashed under the budget plan. Schwab said the district is abusing teachers by putting them through the layoff process when it hasn’t worked hard enough to identify other cuts and better allocate money.

“This is done for the mere convenience of the district, and to hedge their bets,” Schwab said. “This should not be a gambling game.”

This story has been updated.

Tami Abdollah can be reached via email and on Twitter (@latams).

Tagged:

education,

lausd,

LAUSD,

budget

Article source: http://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2012/04/16/5607/l-unified-teacher-layoff-hearings-begin-today/