Wooed by heavy discounts from online retailers, consumers who had been exercising restraint during this young holiday shopping season finally let themselves go on Cyber Monday. E-commerce spending on that day, the first workday after the long Thanksgiving weekend, jumped 15 percent to $846 million, according to a ComScore report released Wednesday morning. This provides much-needed relief for online merchants, which saw sales drop 2 percent in November — the first such decline after years of double-digit increases.
Boeing overtime is bargaining issue
The union representing Boeing engineers and technical workers is using voluntary overtime of Puget Sound members as leverage in bargaining a contract for members in Wichita, Kan. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace finalized a contract for members in the Northwest but continues to negotiate a deal with Boeing for 700 engineers in Kansas. The union deemed the company’s first offer “disappointing.” SPEEA members in Wichita are urged to refrain from voluntary overtime. The union still is working on implementing a similar policy in the Northwest.
Former workers buy Lehman unit
A group of managers and employees has won an auction to buy Lehman Brothers Holdings’ prized investment management unit, which includes the Neuberger Berman money management business. The bid by the Neuberger Berman group beat out two other competing bidders, one of which included private equity firms Bain Capital Partners and Hellman &Friedman, who had proposed paying $2.15 billion. Lehman Chief Operating Officer Jim Fogarty said the management group’s bid offered greater value.
United to lay off 1,088 workers
United Airlines plans to furlough 1,088 workers at bases around the country, according to layoff notices and the unions that represent the workers. The nation’s third-largest airline also plans to close maintenance facilities at the Newark, N.J., New York-LaGuardia and Philadelphia airports on Jan. 11. United has been working for several months toward reducing its headcount by 7,000 positions as it trims the amount of flying it does. It’s been using a combination of leaves, buyouts and furloughs to eliminate those jobs. The latest furlough plans are part of that 7,000 total, which also includes plans to lay off roughly 1,500 office and management workers.
Ford to increase F150 production
Ford Motor Co. plans to ramp up production of its F-150 pickup trucks at its Kansas City-area assembly plant as truck sales remain a bright spot in the otherwise dreary automotive industry. Angie Kozleski, a spokeswoman for the Dearborn, Mich.-based company, said Ford will add a second shift to the production of F-150s during the week of Jan. 12. The 800 workers affected are one of three shifts making Ford Escapes and Mercury Mariners. “We are adding a shift back to the truck side and eliminating a shift on the SUV side,” Kozleski said.
From Herald news services
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
