Time USA - 11.11.2019

12 Time November 11, 2019

TheBrief News

NEWS

TICKER

Boeing CEO

testifies on

‘mistakes’

Dennis Muilenburg,

CEO of Boeing, testified

before Congress on

Oct. 29, his first such

appearance since

two Boeing 737 Max

aircraft crashed and

killed 346 people.

He acknowledged

that flight-control

software was involved

in the accidents, and

said the company

“made mistakes.”

39 found dead

in U.K. truck

On Oct. 23, the bodies

of eight women and

31 men were found in

a refrigerated truck in

Essex, east of London.

U.K. police have not

named the victims

but initially believed

they were Chinese

nationals who had

been smuggled into the

country. The driver was

charged on Oct. 26

with manslaughter and

conspiracy to traffic

people.

VA fails to

establish

accountability

The Department of

Veterans Affairs’

Office of Accountability

and Whistleblower

Pro tection is actually

endangering whistle-

blowers, an Inspector

General’s report found

on Oct. 24. Established

in 2017 under the

Trump Administration,

the office was meant to

improve accountability

in a department previ-

ously beset by scandal.

AfTer 40 dAys on The pickeT line,
General Motors autoworkers voted Oct. 25
to accept a new contract that offers salary
increases and other concessions. The agree-
ment may offer relief for more than 48,
United Auto Workers (UAW) members after
the longest nationwide strike against GM in
nearly 50 years, but the standoff cost both
the company and its workers dearly.

CHANGING GEARS The new contract scraps
the company’s bisected salary structure,
under which workers hired after 2007 were
paid less and had no way to reach the top
salaries of longer- serving employees. The
company will also invest $7.7 billion in U.S.
factories, including $3 billion at a Detroit
plant that had been scheduled to close in
early 2020. But not all workers came out
ahead. The agreement allows GM to close
three other plants— including one in Lords-
town, Ohio, that was the focus of a 2017
promise from President Trump that work-
ers’ jobs would be saved.

SLOW GOING The Detroit automaker is pay-

ing a hefty toll for the strike, with nearly

$3 billion in lost earnings for 2019. The past

weeks have been no picnic for workers ei-

ther, with their families living on meager

strike pay. Some worry that local economic

repercussions may still linger, especially in

Michigan, where GM is the state’s largest

employer.

THE ROAD AHEAD GM continues to face

stiff competition from foreign manufac-

turers, many of which operate U.S. plants

that pay nonunion workers substantially

less. And the future may be tough for auto-

workers even if GM makes new gains. The

company has announced plans to transi-

tion to producing electric cars, which are

simpler to manufacture than gas- powered

cars and trucks. Union analysts believe that

means job cuts, but the larger forces behind

the shift are unlikely to reverse. Even with a

deal in hand, another fight awaits.

—AlejAndro de lA GArzA

THE BULLETIN

GM union members return to work,

but worries are far from over

RALLY ROUND An antigovernment demonstrator waves Lebanon’s flag over a pile of broken tents,
as protesters returned to Martyrs’ Square in Beirut after Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned
on Oct. 29. An Oct. 16 proposal for new taxes had prompted hundreds of thousands of people
from across sectarian divides to come together and voice discontent at corruption and economic
mismanagement; marchers welcomed the news of Hariri’s resignation but remained on the streets.

LEBANON: SAM TARLING—GETTY IMAGES; SEATTLE: ELAINE THOMPSON—AP