News & Commentary

September 28, 2014

The New York Times reports that Air France’s pilots union has ended its 14-day strike. The pilots went on strike two weeks ago over the proposed labor conditions for Air France’s new low-cost affiliated airline, Transavia. The strike had grounded nearly half of Air France’s flights. After recent negotiations, there is still no deal, but the pilots union is wiling to come back to the negotiating table.

In other airline news, the Washington Post reports that earlier this week Lufthansa pilots threatened a new strike. The pilots union and the airline are in an ongoing dispute over early retirement benefits. The pilots union has already staged three brief strikes, each lasting several hours, over the past several weeks.

The New York Times reports on a new grant from the Department of Labor to three states and the District of Columbia to help them implement paid family and medical leave policies. Washington, Massachusetts, Montana, and the District of Columbia. each received funding to “evaluate the effectiveness of the state’s existing program” and “raise . . . awareness about the fund and its benefits to residents.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that technology companies in China are increasingly relying on student labor. Some students at vocational schools have reportedly been told that they must work in factors over the summer to graduate. The work is typically 12-hours per day for 6-days per week, which violates China’s labor laws for workers under 18. These factories supply parts for companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Apple.

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