• UAW: Millions Of Jobs Will Be Lost If U.S. Auto Industry Is Lost
• U.S. Steel Cutting 3500 Jobs As Jobs Hemorrhage Continues
• Wal-Mart Worker’s Family Sues In Black Friday Trampling Death
• Economic Report: U.S. Service Sector Posts Worst Slump Ever

Economic Report:

The U.S. service sector posted its worst job slump in recorded history. The index compiled by the Institute for Supply Management fell from 44.4 in October to 37.3 in November. According to the organization an index under 50 means the sector is contracting. The service sector accounts for 80 percent of U.S. economy so the number is startling to economists. Hotels, restaurants, banks, retail and more make up the sector.

The family of a Wal-Mart contracted worker trampled to death in shopping the day after Thanksgiving is suing asking unspecified damages for wrongful death. New York City’s Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union has called the incident a “tragedy” and is calling for an investigation of the company’s safety protocols.

On the heels of new numbers showing a drop of 250,000 jobs in the United States in October through November, Wednesday brought yet another day of mass layoff announcements. Jesse Russell reports:

According to the ADP National Employment Report 250,000 U.S. jobs were lost in the United States from October to November. Since August 2006 the construction industry alone has shed 521,000 jobs. So it didn’t come as a surprise Wednesday when the country’s largest steelmaker, U.S. Steel, announced plans to cut 3,500 salaried and union jobs. There has been a major drop in steel orders as new home construction continues to stall and the auto watches sales plummet. The layoffs amount to 13 percent of the company’s North American workforce. The job cuts will come at three locations: one in Minnesota, another near Detroit, and a third near St. Louis.

By Doug Cunningham

On the verge of collapse, the U.S. auto industry returns to Congress seeking more than $30 billion in emergency federal loans to survive into the New Year. It’s a high-stakes drama for domestic autoworkers and the millions of U.S. jobs dependent on the auto industry.

[Gettelfinger]: “Millions of jobs will be lost in this country if we lose this industry.”

That's United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger in an emergency meeting of the UAW in Detroit where the union is considering more concessions to get those federal loans for the auto industry. GM, Ford and Chrysler employ roughly 250,000 people. And m ore than a million retirees get auto company pension checks. Gettelfinger says these federal bridge loans are critical to the industry's survival in the United States. And he says workers and their unions are not to blame for the auto industry’s crisis.

• UAW Considers More Concessions To Get Auto Industry Loan
• SPEEA Members Ratify Boeing Contract Agreement
• IBEW Hosts “Solar Industry Night” In Vermont To Grow Green Jobs
• Obama Meets With Governors Asking For $100 Billion In Aid

Forty-eight Governors met with president-elect Barack Obama in Philadelphia on Tuesday, asking for $100 billion in aid to help navigate choppy recession waters. New York Governor David Paterson said his state was having an especially hard time as the epicenter of the nation’s financial crisis. He said 20 percent of his state’s resources are “derived from Wall Street” and as jobs are lost, spending continues to decrease.

By Doug Cunningham

With America poised to enter an era of Green Economics, IBEW Local 300 in Vermont is holding a Solar Industry Night in Vermont to help educate business owners about renewable energy training for electricians. IBEW Local 300’s Matt Lash says this open-house style event is about jobs as the union reaches out to both business and environmental groups.

[Lash]: “Our hope is to really train our electrician members how to install solar panels, because we've been told by a lot of the solar contractors already in business here in Vermont that there is a definite need for trained installers. So we're really stepping up to the plate here to train our people to do this type of work and hopefully create some green-collar jobs in Vermont."

A second big contract has been approved at Boeing. Jesse Russell reports:

Boeing has reached its second labor agreement in two months, starting four years of no labor negotiations. Engineers and technical workers represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace approved a four year agreement with the company that includes a pay raise that will average 20 percent of the life of the contract. The 79 percent approval of the contract means no strike for the SPEEA members like the one by the International Association of Machinists that halted jet production for 57-days earlier this year.

By Doug Cunningham

The UAW is considering more concessions in return for getting the government loan for the auto industry. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers meanwhile says autoworkers should not have to suffer “draconian and punitive” measures in return for the $25 billion federal loan for automakers. IAM President Tom Buffenbarger says UAW Detroit Three workers have been the victims of a campaign of lies and half-truths. The IAM says Congress should give the auto industry the same kind of quick and unconditional support it gave the financial industry.