Page 117 - Labor

Railway employees' union says budget 'anti-worker'

A railway employees' association today said the Union Budget for 2018-19 was "anti-workers" as there was nothing for their welfare. In a statement, the All India Railwaymen's Federation (AIRF) said the budget came as "a dampener" for the entire sector. "It is a very disappointing budget for the hardworking workers. There is nothing for their welfare in the budget and instead of relaxation in personal tax, they have increased education and health cess. The workers have been duped," AIRF general secretary Shiv Gopal Mishra said. In the budget, Rs 314.24 crore has been earmarked for amenities for railway staff. Last year, it was Rs 235.76 crore. For staff quarters, an additional sum of Rs 353 crore has been allotted in the budget. The railways also has a corpus of Rs 762.58 crore for compensation claims of workmen. The association also criticised the government's move towards fixed-term employment, stating that this policy would be used to easily fire workers and was ...

Union threatens to cripple Volkswagen vehicle production in pay dispute

Besides 6 percent pay demand, the union is also pushing for improvements in VW's corporate pension scheme

U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly fall as job market strengthens

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, pointing to a tightening labor market and strengthening economy at the start of the year.

Unemployment among professionals up in Kerala

There has been an all-round increase of unemployment among professionals till June 30 last year, according to the latest Economic Review released in the Kerala Assembly on Thursday.

Ujjwala scheme expands ambit to take 8 cr poor women for LPG

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today raised the target of beneficiaries under Ujjwala scheme to 8 crore, besides proposing lowering female employees' provident fund contribution to 8 per cent for the first three years. "To incentivise employment of more women in the formal sector and to enable higher take-home wages, I propose to make amendments in the EPF and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 to reduce women employees' contribution to 8 per cent for first three years of their employment against existing rate of 12 per cent or 10 per cent with no change in employers' contribution," Jaitley said while presenting the Budget. The percentage of working women has declined over time from 36 per cent being employed in 2005-06 to 24 per cent of women employed in 2015-16, the Economic Survey unveiled earlier this week had said. About the Ujjwala scheme Jaitley said: "We launched the scheme to make poor women free from the smoke of wood. Initially our target was to provide free ..

Benefits Under Section 80-Jjaa Of The Income-Tax Act Extended To Footwear And Leather Industry To Help Employment Generation

Shri Jaitley further proposed to rationalise deduction of 30% by allowing the benefit for a new employee who is employed for less than the minimum period during the first year but continues to remain employed for the minimum period in subsequent year.

Bengal mulls developing of 'Silicon Valley Asia'

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said the state is planning to develop a "Silicon Valley Asia", on patterns of the original in California which is home to the world's largest high-tech corporations, to create "spontaneous employment".

Coach factory to come up in Maharashtra's Latur

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal today said a coach factory will be set up in Maharashtra's Latur district. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis thanked the Union minister on Twitter and said the factory will bring employment opportunities and economic development to the Marathwada region. "Thank you Hon Piyush Goyalji for your commitment for setting up of factory of EMU for Suburban Railways and metro coaches at Latur. Big boost to economic activities in Marathwada and huge employment opportunities," the CM tweeted. Goyal held a high-level meeting in Mumbai to discuss the setting up of the factory, a Railways statement read. The plant would manufacture EMUs for suburban trains and coaches for metros. Work on the project will be taken up on a high priority, it said. The Maharashtra government has offered relaxation in land, taxes and other requirements. The factory will create an industrial ecosystem in the drought-prone region and boost the shift from agriculture to

PM promising 'pakoda jobs' to people: CPI(M)

The CPI(M) today alleged that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had made a poll promise of creating two crore jobs is now assuring "pakoda jobs" to millions of people looking for work. Modi in a television interview last week claimed that people earning Rs 200 a day selling pakodas can be considered unemployed. "Now we have it from the prime minister himself that massive employment has been created by people selling goods on streets," former CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat wrote in an editorial in the party journal "People's Democracy". "What the prime minister promises is more 'pakoda jobs' for millions of new entrants to the job market," it read. The CPI(M) leader termed Modi's remark a "cruel joke". The "pathetic claim" of Modi has exposed the "abject failure" of his government in generating employment in the past three and a half years, Karat wrote. Citing 'Report on Employment-Unemployment Survey 2015- 16', he pointed out that nearly half of India's ...

Bengal planning Silicon Valley in state

West Bengal had drawn up plans to set up a Silicon Valley for which the state government is looking for land in Rajarhat area near the metropolis. "We are planning to build Silicon Valley Asia at Rajarhat on the lines of what exists in California", she told reporters at the post-budget news conference here today. Banerjee said the government was looking for land and it would not be difficult to get. The project would create employment in the IT and digital space, she said adding the idea was discussed at the recently-concluded Bengal Global Business Summit with investors.

Developmental work underway in far-flung areas of J&K

The Rural Development Department of Jammu and Kashmir took out various initiatives for the development of far-flung areas across the state.The beautification of drains and pathways is in progress under block Keerian Gandyal of Kathua district.Speaking to ANI, block development officer, Barnoti, Varinder kumar Bawa said that nearly 500 development works are being undertaken which included construction of lanes and drains with modern tile works, irrigation and ponds development works under the MGNREGA scheme.He further said that the rural lanes are decorated with colored tiles."People hailed the government for development schemes done in the far flung areas. They said that on one side the upliftment of rural areas is going on under MGNREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and on the other side people are also getting the employment under the same," he added.

CPI-M attacks Modi for calling 'pakoda' sellers 'self-employed'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claims that anyone opening a 'pakoda' shop on the street should be considered employed "exposes the abject failure" by Modi to create jobs on any meaningful scale, the CPI-M has said.

RSDC launches mobile app and online simulated content for skilling in rubber

In new breakthrough digital initiatives and firsts by any Sector Skill Council in India, Rubber Skill Development Council (RSDC) has launched simulated e-learning content and mobile app to provide the ease in connecting with the target segment by introducing the courses online and benefitting the students and those looking for up skilling in rubber.RSDC has been set up by All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA) and Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) in collaboration with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)."Both e-learning content and mobile app have been launched to widen the reach of skill training to many more aspirants in the country. In its own way the e-learning and mobile content furthers the Skill India Mission of the government of India to provide vocational training to millions," said CEO, RSDC, Meghna Mishra.Apart from domain specific qualification packs, the content also plans to offer courses on soft skills, languages and digital literacy ..

Achieved gender pay parity in India: Adobe

Software giant Adobe on Wednesday announced that the company has achieved pay parity in India, closing the wage gap between its male and female employees.

Era of US' economic surrender is over: Trump

In a stern warning to countries like China, President Donald Trump today said the era of America's "economic surrender" is over and the US is seeking to enter into new trade agreements with nations that commit to fair and reciprocal trade. In his first State of the Union address, Trump said his administration will work to fix bad trade deals and negotiate new ones to protect American workers. "We will protect American workers and American intellectual property, through strong enforcement of our trade rules, he said. "The era of economic surrender is over. From now on, we expect trading relationships to be fair and to be reciprocal. We will work to fix bad trade deals and negotiate new ones, Trump said. Trump had earlier criticised the one-sided and unfair trade relationship between the US and China and asserted that America must address the unfair trade practices that drive the trade deficit. Trump said his economic policies is resulting in new confidence in the ...

Trump touts economic growth

President of the United States of America Donald Trump, in his first State of the Union address, touted the economic growth and underscored the creation of "2.4 million new jobs.""Since the election, we have created 2.4 million new jobs, including 200,000 new jobs in manufacturing alone. After years of wage stagnation, we are finally seeing rising wages," the US President stated in his first State of the Union address.Trump used the occasion to reiterate his stand on the low African-American unemployment rate which, according to him, stands "lowest ever recorded.""African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded," Trump added,".. and Hispanic American unemployment has also reached the lowest levels in history."First Lady Melania Trump, who was maintaining a low-profile by far, also attended her husband Donald Trump's address. She was donning a cream-colored suit and is sitting with 15 guests in her own box in the Capitol.Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, ...

India signs $100 mn loan agreement for TN rural enterprises

The Indian government on Tuesday signed a $100 million loan agreement with the World Bank to promote rural enterprises and create employment opportunities for youth, particularly women, across 26 districts of Tamil Nadu, an official statement said.

German industrial strikes to hit Daimler, Porsche

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Workers at German companies including carmakers Daimler and Porsche and automotive supplier Bosch are set to stage strikes over the coming days amid a row over wages and working hours, union IG Metall said.

Government signs USD 100 mn loan agreement with World Bank

The Government of India signed a USD 100 million loan agreement with World Bank on Tuesday, here in the National Capital Region.The loan agreement is expected to promote rural enterprises, facilitate their access to finance, and create employment opportunities for youth, particularly women, in selected blocks of Tamil Nadu across 26 districts, directly benefiting over 400,000 people.However, to promote businesses across select value chains, the Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project will create an enabling environment for producer organizations and enterprises.This project will support building an ecosystem that will provide business development services to entrepreneurs in rural and semi-urban areas for promoting rural enterprises and creating employment opportunities.It will specifically target at least 60 percent women entrepreneurs from the Self-Help Groups (SHG) network in Tamil Nadu who have the potential to move into the next level of economic integration.Further, the project

Volkswagen offers two-step wage increase in German pay talks

BERLIN (Reuters) - Volkswagen has offered to raise wages for workers at western German facilities in two steps by 3.5 percent and another 2 percent, it said on Tuesday.