HTN: Unemployment Still Rising

The New York State Department of Labor reported yesterday that the state's unemployment rate continued to climb in May. The rate jumped from seven-point-seven-percent in April to eight-point-two-percent in May. Last year in May, the unemployment rate was just five-point-two-percent. The unemployment rate in the Buffalo region was eight-point-three-percent, up from eight-point-five in April and five-point-seven a year ago.

HTN: Buffalo Unemployment Rises

Buffalo posted another decline in jobs in March. The statewide unemployment rate stood at seven-point-eight-percent. Unemployment was just four-point-eight-percent at the same time last year. Buffalo's unemployment rate is nine-point-two-percent. The rate increased by two-point-five-percent year-over-year.

HTN: Unemployment Climbing

The unemployment rate in the Buffalo-Niagara region is inching closer to the double digit mark. The jobless rate for February was at nine-point-six percent. That's the highest since the mid-80s. Labor Department officials say nearly eleven-thousand jobs have disappeared over the past year. The losses did not spare any sector of the economy. Banking, retail and hospitality jobs lost 84-hundred jobs in the last year. The nine-point-six-percent unemployment is higher than the state average of eight-point-four-percent.

HTN: Price-Rite Hiring

Yesterday we talked about a new PriceRite market coming to the city. Now, Mayor Brown has announced that the Buffalo Employment & Training Cente, is assisting PriceRite with a recruitment event for the opening of the new store. On-site recruitments have been set for today and Monday from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 77 Goodell Street. You can apply online at www.priceritesupermarkets.com before being interviewed. PriceRite hopes to hire between 80 and 100 people. Starting wage will be eight-dollars-an-hour.

HTN: More Layoffs at GM Tonawanda

More bad news for General Motors workers in Tonawanda. The company has announced 65 more layoffs at the engine plant. This is due to production cuts previously announced for the assembly plant in Ohio. The latest round of pink slips bring the layoffs at the Tonawanda facility to more than 400 hourly workers.

HTN: More GM Layoffs Could Impact Tonawanda Plant

Workers at General Motors' Tonawanda engine plant are waiting anxiously to hear how the latest round of production cuts at GM assembly plants will affect them. Tonawanda supplies several other plants affected by the cuts, as GM announced two-thousand layoffs in Ohio and Michigan. Nine plants will be shutdown over the next six months, on an alternating basis, in response to slow sales. About one-third of the 1,165-member Tonawanda plant are already on "indefinite layoff."

HTN: Layoffs Looming at GM Powertrain

GM is confirming layoffs at the Powertrain Plant in Tonawanda. Between 200 and 400 workers will be furloughed because of reductions in productions volume. The staff reductions will take effect next Monday, January 26th. Two engine lines will be reduced from two shifts to one.

HTN: DHL Closing Local Hub

DHL Express' facility in Cheektowaga will close at the end of the month, part of a worldwide restructuring. The closure means 34 unionized workers in Cheektowaga will lose their jobs. Some will be able to transfer to the Rochester facility, which is remaining open. The company is closing all of its U.S. ground hubs and reducing the number of stations from 412 to 103.

HTN: DHL Closing Local Hub

DHL Express' facility in Cheektowaga will close at the end of the month, part of a worldwide restructuring. The closure means 34 unionized workers in Cheektowaga will lose their jobs. Some will be able to transfer to the Rochester facility, which is remaining open. The company is closing all of its U.S. ground hubs and reducing the number of stations from 412 to 103.

HTN: Meet Set in Kaleida Labor Dispute

A federal mediator is set to sit down today with Kaleida Health and the union that represents health care workers at Women & Children's Hospital. Some are saying that if there is a strike, Kaleida might once again propose closing the Bryant Street facility.

Labor Dispute for Rural-Metro

Rural-Metro will return to the bargaining table next month. Paramedics held an informational picket in front of the Cheektowaga Police Station, where inside, the Cheektowaga EMS Board was having its monthly meeting. Rural-Metro workers have turned down two contract deals already. A federal mediator will be brought in to begin the new round of discussions. The union wants a raise from the current nine-dollars-70-cents starting wage for full-time EMTs. Rural-Metro is still under contract to provide ambulance services to the town of Cheektowaga, even if there is a strike. This means using company managers or out-of-town paramedics to do the job.

Verizon Workers Picket

Instead of working on phone lines, some of Verizon's unionized workers will be on a picket line Thursday. They're not on strike, yet, but pickets are being held in several cities across New York State today, including Buffalo. Verizon's contracts with the CWA and IBEW expire on August 2nd. Union and management are far apart on several issues, including workers contribution to health care premiums, and subcontracting, which unions say Verizon uses to reduce their membership. Other rallies are being held today in Albany, Cooperstown, Oneonta, Poughkeepsie, and Utica.

Mercy Hospital Workers Consider Strike

Mercy Hospital workers are voting on a possible strike authorization today. Their contract ran out about a week ago, and the renewal is hung up over personnel levels and health benefits. Nurses, along with service, clerical, and technical staffers are affected.

American Axle Strike Ends

The American Axle strike has come to an end after three months. The deal cuts employees' hourly wages and increases the amount they will pay for health care. UAW member Erik Webb says workers did what they felt was best. Many workers will be eligible to receive a buyout to leave the company, or a buydown to stay at a lower wage. Local shift workers are scheduled to return to work on Tuesday, after the holiday weekend. Workers who were laid off at the start of the work stoppage are asked to call a special hot line at 447-5222 for more information.

New Jobs in the Falls

GLOBE SPECIALTY METAL WILL REOPEN AND EXPAND UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP. THE COMPANY IS PLEDGING 60-MILLION-DOLLARS IN INVESTMENT AND 500 NEW JOBS OVER THREE YEARS. THE AVERAGE SALARY WILL BE $52,000. GLOBE SPECIALTY MANUFACTURES SILICON USED IN SOLAR PANELS AND OTHER PRODUCTS. IT WILL REOPEN AT HIGHLAND AVENUE IN THE FALLS, A FACILITY THAT'S BEEN SHUTTERED SINCE 2003. THE COMPANY WILL RECEIVE $25 MILLION IN EMPIRE DEVELOPMENT ZONE BENEFITS OVER TEN YEARS. LOW COST HYDROPOWER MADE THE FALLS AN ATTRACTIVE CHOICE FOR THE NEW OWNERS.

UAW Votes for American Axle Agreement

ABOUT EIGHTY PERCENT OF THE NEARLY 600 MEMBERS OF THE UNITED AUTO WORKERS FROM THE LOCAL AMERICAN AXLE PLANTS HAVE VOTED IN FAVOR OF A NEW CONTRACT. UNDER THE AGREEMENT THE TONAWANDA FORGE PLANT WILL CLOSE WITHIN A YEAR, LEAVING ONLY THE CHEEKTOWAGA MACHINING PLANT OPEN HERE. AMERICAN AXLE WORKERS IN DETROIT WON'T VOTE UNTIL TOMORROW.

Tentative Pact Will Close Plant in Tonawanda

Striking American Axle workers should see a tentative contract today. UAW officials got the proposal yesterday, as details were hammered out on Friday. Word is that the Cheektowaga Plant has gotten a reprieve and will stay open for at least the next four years, while the plant in Tonawanda will close. The union agreed to significant cuts in pay. If an agreement is reached, it will end the eleven-week strike. A vote could come as early as tomorrow.

UAW Fights Plant Closings

Striking American Axle workers in Western New York are again hearing that all local American Axle operations are in danger of shutting down. Company officials proposed the shuttering of the Cheektowaga plant as well as the facility in Tonawanda. But the UAW says that the threat of additional plant closings is a step backwards in the negotiations. American Axle already closed a plant on Delevan Avenue, before the strike.

UAW Workers Get Strike Update

Over the weekend local workers from American Axle got together to hear more about negotiations going on over their fate. The UAW strike has been going on for ten weeks. Workers were told that things keep changing and that nobody is sure about a report last week by a Detroit newspaper that the Tonawanda plant and another one in Michigan could be closed as part of a new deal. The company is pushing for big cuts in salaries and benefits. American Axle closed a plant in the City of Buffalo last year.

Regional Director Takes Over Local Union

Last week 12 top members of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 17 were indicted on federal extortion and racketeering charges. Now the northeast regional director of the national union says he's been asked to oversee the operations of the union's 25-hundred members in Western New York. The 12 under indictment, including the local union president, are on unpaid leave.