The State of Michigan’s No Worker Left Behind (NWLB) Initiative got a $100,000 boost from The Grainger Foundation. The donation will support training and education for NWLB students pursuing careers in high-demand traditional trades like HVAC and plumbing as well as emerging trades in the green sector.
Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholme said, “Grainger’s commitment to [...]

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The Detroit News is reporting that the higher than expected offers from GM will likely entice as many as 15,000 GM workers into early retirement. Read more here.

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A report in Bloomberg.com says that Ford buyouts will eliminate as many as 9,000 jobs. We’ve reported on the Ford buyouts a few weeks ago. The latest report puts an estimate on the number of jobs that will be lost. That number represents 12-14% of Ford’s North American workforce. The full article is here.
Meanwhile, [...]

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Union workers in Detroit picketed a midtown apartment construction site this week, protesting that the contractor hasn’t hired a proper quota of local workers to complete skilled-trades work. The protest was 250 strong at one point.
Barabas Shabazz, of Carpenters Local 687 said that city policy dictates that at least 50% of skilled-trades workers on any [...]

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For the week ending Jan. 19, advance figures for seasonally adjusted initial employment insurance claims was 301,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s (revised ) figure of 302,000, according to figures just released by the Employment and Training Administration arm of the US Department of Labor. California was [...]

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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has settled a lawsuit against the United Auto Workers (UAW), the Ford Motor Company and two related companies. Ford and its co-defendants will pay $1.6 million in the settlement of a racial discrimination lawsuit over a written test that determined the eligibility for a skilled trades apprenticeship program. [...]

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While the news at General Motors does not seem so good these days, 64% of skilled trades (and 87% of production workers) workers at Ford have voted to ratify the new contract between the auto giant and the United Auto Workers union. The new labor agreement promises to keep several factories in exchange for a [...]

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