UP - United Professionals

‘OC Register’ Outsourcing Some Editing to India

June 28th, 2008

From Editor and Publisher:
“SANTA ANA An Indian company will take over copyediting duties for some stories published in The Orange County Register and will handle page layout for a community newspaper at the company that owns the Pulitzer Prize-winning daily, the newspaper confirmed Tuesday.Orange County Register Communications Inc. will begin a one-month trial with Mindworks [...]

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UP Statement of Purpose

June 25th, 2008

Background
United Professionals grew out of Barbara Ehrenreich’s 2006 book, Bait and Switch: the (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream, on white-collar unemployment.  On her book tour, Barbara met legions of people who had personally experienced what she had written about. They kept asking, “What can be done to protect the white-collar middle class from being [...]

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It really is the economy, stupid!

June 25th, 2008

Despite the unbridled (okay, barely bridled) glee on Wall Street at the Dow’s climb above 13000, the tide that’s raising some boats is swamping others and running a lot of dinghies aground. Let’s follow the money to a few ports of call that UP members care about.
Apparently, we’re not the only ones concerned about the [...]

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Transition Rights: the Evolution of Employee Rights

June 25th, 2008

What if losing your job wasn’t a big deal? What if you’re downsized, RIFed, outsourced, laid off, or just plain fired – and you don’t panic, feel like a total loser, get depressed, or go into debt? What if there was no negative stigma involved in losing your job – in fact, what if the [...]

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Enter the Entrepreneur

June 25th, 2008

As we find ourselves not-so-valued by Corporate America, with our jobs outsourced to who knows where, the vacuum left by the departure of other-created busy-ness may be filled with a rush of creativity. If your energy rush includes the thought that, hey, maybe companies will want to outsource jobs I can do to me if [...]

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A Supreme Court Victory for Older Workers

June 20th, 2008

From The New York Times: 
 ”WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled for older workers Thursday in a closely watched age discrimination case, placing on employers the burden of proving that a layoff or other action that hurts older workers more than others was based not on age but on some other “reasonable factor.” …
“[T]his decision, coming [...]

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EPI urges immediate action on unemployment benefits extension

June 10th, 2008

“This morning, EPI Vice President Ross Eisenbrey issued the following statement on pending legislation to extend unemployment benefits:
“For months, as the nation’s economy has deteriorated, members of Congress have tried and failed to push through a common-sense extension of unemployment insurance benefits. Now there is another chance. House leaders plan to vote as soon as tomorrow (Wednesday) on a stand-alone extension bill passed Monday by the House Ways and Means Committee. The extension, which adds 13 weeks of benefits to unemployed workers who have exhausted their benefits, might also remain attached to the emergency supplemental appropriations bill for war funding. Congress should use every possible vehicle to put this issue before the president.

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For Wall Street Workers, Ax Falls Quietly

May 17th, 2008

This is an excerpt from a New York Times story published May 16, 2008. Click on the link to read the entire article:

“People on Wall Street seem to be vanishing overnight.

JoAnne Kennedy was laid off by JPMorgan Chase while she was recovering from surgery.

Thousands are losing their jobs as hard-pressed banks cut deep. But while layoffs are nothing new in the financial industry (they come with almost every downturn), this round seems different: it is eerily quiet.

So quiet, in fact, that people refer to these cuts as stealth layoffs. Some bosses hardly say a word after people are fired. At Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, for example, the first clue that someone is gone can be e-mail messages that are returned to senders from a former colleague’s inactivated corporate address.

While the financial markets have found a bit of a footing lately, banks are pushing ahead with plans for some of the deepest job reductions in years. Since last summer, banks worldwide have announced plans to cut 65,000 employees. …”

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Got Fired, and Had to Pay Notary Fee Too

May 9th, 2008

Been a ’senior electronics technician’ for 35 years, the last 20 doing mostly PWB layout for several employers - 7 years, 3 years, 2 years & 8 years. The last job, the cheeses kept saying ‘times are tough’ for about 5-6 years yet no layoffs per se, while some temps have come & gone, the [...]

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Need a Job, but is 63 Too Old?

May 8th, 2008

I’m told that I still look “good” for my age, but age is what it is. At some point they will have to know the truth - when you complete paperwork for medical insurance or sign permission for a background check it all comes out. I come from a generation that looked up to and [...]

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