Zara workers to protest outside Spanish stores after record profit
- Workers at Zara owner Inditex's stores plan to protest in eight major Spanish cities on Friday to demand better benefits after the fashion giant reported record profits and raised shareholder payouts, unions said on Monday.Inditex shares hit a record high after it reported positive early spring sales and a record annual profit last week, and said it would boost its dividend payout by 28%."We are happy with Inditex's results, but having seen them, they can't make excuses to the workers and need to discuss more benefits," said Alvaro Cajigal, leader of the UGT union.Spain's two largest unions, UGT and CCOO have called on shop workers in Inditex's home country to gather outside Zara and Bershka stores in cities including Madrid, Barcelona and Seville at midday on Friday.CCOO union leader Lucia Trenor said union representatives and workers will gather for an hour and will do so outside of their regular shifts, so shops will work as normal."There will be no shop closures during the demonstrations," she told Reuters.The unions want the company behind the Zara brand to offer more hours for part-time employees and a minimum number of weekends off a year for all staff. UGT also wants seniority bonuses to start after four years of service, as the company is discussing offering a benefit based on experience, so they can reach the majority of workers.Union and Inditex representatives will meet on Tuesday. The company declined to comment on the union's actions.Last year, the company increased wages for its around 28,000 shop workers in Spain by around 20%. Globally, wages of 161,281 Inditex employees rose by 9% in 2023, reaching an annual average of 28,726 euros ($31,274), according to its annual report.In Spain, the company has also agreed to an average 3.5% pay rise for its shop workers this year and to renew a one-off bonus of 1,000 euros.The Israel-Palestinian conflict is seen pushing the rate of Palestinian unemployment in the occupied West Bank and Gaza to above 50%, the International Labour Organization said on Monday.Already more than half a million jobs have been lost since Oct. 7, 2023, when Israel began a retaliatory military campaign in Gaza after Hamas militants launched deadly cross-border attacks, the new report showed. If the conflict continues until end-March then the unemployment rate will soar to 57%, it said.ILO Regional Director for Arab States Ruba Jaradat said that the destruction of infrastructure and schools, hospitals, and businesses in Gaza had "decimated entire economic sectors and paralyzed labor market activity, with untold repercussions on the lives and livelihoods of Palestinians for generations to come."In Gaza, some 200,000 jobs have been lost, accounting for about two-thirds of total employment in the enclave.In the West Bank, the report described "near lockdown" conditions with more than 650 permanent and temporary checkpoints across the territory having significant negative effects on the economy. More than 300,000 jobs, or about a third of total employment, have already been lost there, it said.Joann Inc., the Ohio-based fabric and craft retailer, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after 81 years in business.
The company made the announcement Monday, adding it could become privately owned as soon as next month.
Joann Fabrics and Crafts stores and website will remain open and continue operating as normal, according to a press release.
"There is no other retailer with the same ability to serve sewists, quilters, crocheters, crafters, and other creative enthusiasts as we have for the past 80 years, and we take great pride in seeing the passion and engagement of our millions of customers and our Team Members," Chris DiTullio, chief customer officer and co-lead of the interim office of the CEO, said in the release.
The company was founded in 1943 and operates 829 store locations across 49 states.
"This agreement is a significant step forward in addressing JOANN’s capital structure needs, and it will provide us with the financial resources and flexibility necessary to continue to deliver best-in-class product assortments and enhance the customer experience wherever they are shopping with us," Scott Sekella, Joann’s chief financial officer and co-lead of the interim office of the CEO, added.
Joann Inc. went private in 2011 before going public a decade later with an initial offering at $12 a share. The stock opened at 25 cents a share on Monday.
Joann Inc. has received about $132 million in commitments for new financing, and "expects to reduce funded debt on its balance sheet by approximately $505 million," according to the press release.
Workers at Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly plant are seeking an election to join the United Auto Workers union, setting up a critical test for UAW President Shawn Fain's unprecedented campaign to expand the union's reach to foreign-owned automakers in the southern United States.The UAW said a supermajority of eligible workers at the VW plant has signed union cards in about three months. The workers have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking a vote to join the union. It would be the third time in 10 years that the UAW has sought to represent VW Chattanooga workers.For more than two decades, the UAW has tried and failed to organize non-union U.S. auto assembly plants established by Asian and European automakers, mostly in southern states with laws and political leaders that are hostile to unions. The UAW has not organized workers at Tesla (TSLA.O) or other electric vehicle startups such as Rivian (RIVN.O).Winning a vote to organize the VW plant would be a significant milestone for the UAW in an election year where both U.S. President Joe Biden and his presumptive Republican rival Donald Trump are aggressively courting votes from UAW members in Michigan and other industrial swing states.Biden, in a statement released by the White House, congratulated the workers and noted that many VW plants internationally were unionized. "As the most pro-union president in American history, I believe American workers, too, should have a voice at work. The decision whether to join a union belongs to the workers," Biden said.After winning record new contracts with the Detroit Three automakers last fall, Fain launched a first-of-its-kind campaign to organize the entire nonunion auto assembly sector in the U.S., initiating simultaneous organizing efforts at non-union operations owned by Toyota, Mercedes, Hyundai, and other automakers.VW, which produces the Atlas and ID.4 at the plant, said Monday it "will fully support an NLRB vote so every team member has a chance to vote in privacy in this important decision. The election timeline will be determined by the NLRB."The NLRB said it had received the union election petition for 4,300 employees at the VW plant to be represented by the UAW. If both sides do not agree on the election details, the NLRB will hold a pre-election hearing on March 26 in Atlanta.Two attempts to organize VW's plant in Chattanooga narrowly failed. In 2019, VW workers at the plant rejected union representation in an 833-776 vote. Earlier efforts to organize Nissan Motor (7201.T) plants in Mississippi and Tennessee also failed by wide margins.The UAW in November announced campaigns at 13 nonunion automakers, including at Tesla (TSLA.O), Toyota Motor (7203.T), Hyundai, Rivian, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE). Senators in January pressed the automakers to remain neutral during organizing.Earlier this month, the UAW said that more than 30% of workers at a Toyota factory in Missouri are seeking to join the union.The UAW said last month a majority of hourly workers at a Mercedes-Benz Alabama factory have signed union authorization cards.VW said in November it would hike pay for Tennessee factory workers by 11%, joining several foreign automakers who have announced significant pay and other compensation improvements in response to the UAW contract. Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Danny Werfel said on Monday that the tax agency will need to boost its workforce to over 100,000 people over the next three years to achieve its modernization, service, and enforcement goals and additional funding will be needed to maintain that extra capacity.Werfel told reporters on his first anniversary in the IRS' top job that near-term hiring will focus on improving taxpayer services and handling complex audits.He added that the IRS will detail its hiring plans next month in an update to its strategic operating plan for deploying some $60 billion in supplemental funding over a decade from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act."We're at 90,000 now. I think to get into a right-size position over the next two to three years, we need to be above 100,000, but not that much above 100,000," Werfel said.That figure would represent a more than 20,000 full-time-equivalent staff increase over the fiscal 2022 level of 79,070, which was about 9.1% below the 2013 level of 86,974, according to IRS data. IRS employment dipped to 73,519 in 2019 after years of budget cuts, mostly passed by Republican-controlled Congresses.The overall level of increase in the IRS' staffing would be far less than Republican accusations that the agency is building an "army" of 87,000 agents, many of them armed. That figure was derived from a 2021 Treasury report that estimated gross hiring needs to overcome a wave of IRS retirements and rebuild the workforce, but it has motivated Republicans to try to claw back funding.A top-line fiscal 2024 spending agreement is set to cut the original $80 billion in funds back to $60 billion.As congressional negotiators wrangle over another partial government shutdown deadline on Friday, in the midst of tax filing season, Werfel warned of potential disruptions for taxpayers in receiving refunds. He said the agency would "work within the law to keep as much open as we can, but we can't keep everything open."
Joann Inc., the Ohio-based fabric and craft retailer, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after 81 years in business.
The company made the announcement Monday, adding it could become privately owned as soon as next month.
Joann Fabrics and Crafts stores and website will remain open and continue operating as normal, according to a press release.
"There is no other retailer with the same ability to serve sewists, quilters, crocheters, crafters, and other creative enthusiasts as we have for the past 80 years, and we take great pride in seeing the passion and engagement of our millions of customers and our Team Members," Chris DiTullio, chief customer officer and co-lead of the interim office of the CEO, said in the release.
The company was founded in 1943 and operates 829 store locations across 49 states.
"This agreement is a significant step forward in addressing JOANN’s capital structure needs, and it will provide us with the financial resources and flexibility necessary to continue to deliver best-in-class product assortments and enhance the customer experience wherever they are shopping with us," Scott Sekella, Joann’s chief financial officer and co-lead of the interim office of the CEO, added.
Joann Inc. went private in 2011 before going public a decade later with an initial offering at $12 a share. The stock opened at 25 cents a share on Monday.
Joann Inc. has received about $132 million in commitments for new financing, and "expects to reduce funded debt on its balance sheet by approximately $505 million," according to the press release.