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Employers cut 533K jobs in Nov., most in 34 years- Skittish employers slashed 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34 years, catapulting the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent, dramatic proof the country is careening deeper into recession.
Thailand reopens main international airport- Dancers, drummers and apologetic tourism officials greeted travelers Friday at the official reopening of Thailand's main international airport, which was shut down for a week by anti-government protesters.
- A security pact that sets a timetable for troops to leave Iraq requires a shift in how the U.S. carries out combat missions during its remaining time in the country, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq said Friday.
AP IMPACT: Some bailout holdings down $9 billion- Stock intended to eventually earn taxpayers a profit as part of the Bush administration's massive bank bailout has lost a third of its value - about $9 billion - in barely one month, according to an Associated Press analysis. Shares in virtually every bank that received federal money have remained below the prices the government negotiated.
Hill leader says jobs report argues for car rescue- The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee says the new bleak unemployment figures makes helping the nation's beleaguered auto industry even more urgent.
- Barack Obama, who rewrote the book on presidential fundraising, amassed more than $745 million during his marathon campaign, more than twice the amount obtained by his rival, Republican John McCain.
AP Enterprise: Deaths loom over self-defense laws- A convenience store clerk chased down a man and shot him dead over a case of beer this summer and was charged with murder. A week later, a clerk at another Jackson convenience store followed and fatally shot a man he said tried to rob him, and authorities let him go without charges.
- Paul Benedict, the actor who played the English neighbor Harry Bentley on the sitcom "The Jeffersons," has died. He was 70.
Giants' Pierce to meet with NYC investigators- Antonio Pierce is finally going to talk to investigators about what he did on the night Plaxico Burress shot himself.
Daisy Fuentes Blouses Made in Guatemalan Sweatshop
NEW YORK (Map) - Daisy Fuentes, TV host, model and actress, has been using a sweatshop in Guatemala to produce her clothing line, including blouses and other garments sold exclusively at Kohl's department stores. According to Charles Kernaghan, executive director of the NYC-based National Labor Committee, conditions at the apparel factory, Fribo, S.A., in Santiago Sacatepequez are abusive and illegal under Guatemalan law.
Workers are paid twenty five cents for each Daisy Fuentes blouse that sells for $22-38 in the United States. This wage provides a below-subsistence standard of living for the young women who sew the garments. Workers are routinely forced to work sixty hour weeks but believe that they often do not receive compensation for their overtime labor. Workers are cheated of health care, maternity and pension benefits because the factory owner does not send the fees he deducts from workers' wages for these benefits to the Guatemalan Institute for Social Services.
Other labels for which the Fribo factory produces garments include Wet Seal, Filia and Dress Barn's Maurice's.
The National Labor Committee has written to Fuentes not only to inform her of conditions at the factory but to offer her assistance in resolving problems there. (For a copy of the letter, email emma@fenton.com.)
Kernaghan has been a leading labor rights watchdog for the past twenty years and earlier discovered sweatshop use by Kathie Lee Gifford, P. Diddy, the Olsen Twins, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association.
Full Report Available at http://www.nlcnet.org homepage
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