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Frustration is turning to anger in the ranks of hourly workers at General Motors Co.’s Lockport plant, formerly Delphi Thermal Systems.

The cause is GM’s attempt to gain contract concessions from the United Auto Workers union and its members.

“Definitely there is frustration on the floor. And some are angry, yes. We took a pretty good pay hit a couple years ago,” said Gordie Fletcher, president of UAW Local 686 Unit No. 1 at Lockport.

According to Fletcher, GM wants members to forego a 3.75 percent cost-of-living raise that was scheduled to go into effect in January but which has not been paid.

Also drawing workers’ ire are bonuses that the union says salaried workers have received.

“We don’t think that’s fair. They’re rewarding one group and taking away from another. There should be shared sacrifice,” Fletcher said.

Increasing the frustration is the absence of any new work being assigned to Lockport.

“We want work brought into the plant and aren’t seeing it. Nothing is being said other than that we could have the opportunity to bid on new work – nothing, though, about when or anything else,” Fletcher said.

“That adds to our immense sense of frustration,” he added.

Simmering situation

Anger reportedly is simmering in the ranks of the UAW at the four former Delphi Corp free credit report online. plants that, like Lockport, reverted to GM in 2009 as part of Delphi’s restructuring out of bankruptcy protection.

Much of the opposition comes from workers at plants in Lockport and Rochester, and Saginaw and Grand Rapids, Mich., where UAW members say they are being pushed to renegotiate a contract that included concessions they signed only last year.

“We haven’t seen anything in writing yet, but we know they’re coming for us again,” a GM worker from Grand Rapids recently told a Detroit-based freelance reporter. “We also know they want a ‘no strike’ clause.”

Negotiations (on the concessions) are continuing at each of the plants “a couple times a week and sometimes daily – but there has been very little headway. Actually, I’d classify it as no headway,” Fletcher said.

Unlike previous years, when plants were covered by an industrywide contract negotiated with the Detroit automakers, each former Delphi plant now is responsible for its own labor agreement. The current contract expires in 2011.

A GM spokesman said discussions between GM and the UAW are ongoing and further details are unavailable.

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Australia may resume leading the world in raising borrowing costs, increasing the benchmark interest rate for the fourth time in five meetings, economists say. Traders aren’t so sure.

Governor Glenn Stevens will boost the Reserve Bank of Australia’s overnight cash rate target to 4 percent from 3.75 percent, according to 14 of 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Futures traders estimate a 54 percent chance of an increase when the decision is announced at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow in Sydney.

Australia’s economy probably grew the most in 1 1/2 years in the fourth quarter, a separate analyst’s survey ahead of a report on March 3 shows, boosted by A$22 billion ($20 billion) in spending by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on roads and schools. Concerns about sovereign debt in Europe and financial markets turmoil may prompt Stevens to wait another month, some economists say.

“Tomorrow’s decision is close to a coin toss,” said Stephen Walters, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Sydney and the only analyst surveyed by Bloomberg who correctly predicted Stevens’ first rate increase in October. “Rates need to go up, but if they don’t it’s because there’s uncertainty about how the consumer will hold up, sovereign debt, and weak data out of the U.S.”

Group of 20

Boosting the benchmark rate tomorrow would make Stevens the first central banker from a Group of 20 economy to raise borrowing costs this year. He was the first in the world to increase rates three times last quarter, when he raised the key rate in three quarter-point steps to 3.75 percent from a half- century low of 3 percent.

By contrast, the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said last week the world’s largest economy is in a “nascent” recovery that still requires low interest rates. The Fed has kept its benchmark rate close to zero since late 2008. The European Central Bank’s rate is at a record low of 1 percent.

A rebound in Australian consumer confidence, higher business optimism, surging house prices, a drop in unemployment, and signs of an investment boom in resources projects such as Chevron Corp.’s Gorgon natural gas field off Western Australia are forecast by the central bank to fuel an acceleration in Australia’s economy, one of few to skirt last year’s recession.

Australian manufacturing expanded last month at the fastest pace in more than two years, a report showed today. The performance of manufacturing index increased 2.8 points from January to 53.8, Australian Industry Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers said.

‘Gentle Retreat’

Gross domestic product probably rose 0.9 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous three months, when it gained 0.2 percent, according to the median estimate of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The economy probably expanded 2.4 percent from a year earlier, they said. The figures will be released at 11:30 a.m. on March 3.

“With the shrinking unemployment rate and the likely rebound in December-quarter GDP, we are convinced that another gentle retreat from the accelerator is required,” said Annette Beacher, an economist at TD Securities Ltd. in Singapore.

A report published last week showed business investment jumped in the fourth quarter at almost three times the pace predicted by analysts as companies raised their forecasts for investment plans to the highest level in five years.

Chinese Demand

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, said last month it will increase capital spending on iron-ore mines and oil fields by 63 percent next year to $20.8 billion from $12.8 billion this year.

Rising Chinese demand for Australian iron ore and coal is stoking a record boom in mining investment that may last more than a decade, central bank Deputy Governor Ric Battellino said on Feb guaranteed online payday loans. 23. Investment in new mines, ports and infrastructure may reach 6 percent of GDP, more than double the amount spent during the last resources boom in the late 1970s, he said.

Chevron, Exxon Mobile Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have this year begun construction on the A$43 billion Gorgon natural- gas venture, the nation’s single-biggest investment project that is forecast to generate as many as 10,000 jobs.

The economy has less scope than previously expected for “robust” growth that doesn’t stoke inflation, Governor Stevens told a parliamentary committee in Canberra on Feb. 19. “Monetary policy must therefore be careful not to overstay a very expansionary setting.”

House Prices

While inflation in Australia cooled in 2009 amidst the global recession, the central bank has pointed to accelerating house prices as a key reason for boosting borrowing costs last quarter.

House prices jumped 11.8 percent in the year through January, according to a Feb. 26 report by real-estate monitoring company RP Data-Rismark, whose figures are used by the central bank in its quarterly monetary policy statement.

Retail sales rose 0.5 percent in January after falling in December for the first time in five months and building approvals gained for a third straight month, according to Bloomberg surveys of analysts ahead of reports to be released tomorrow.

“Australia’s economy is in much better shape than was anticipated when rates were cut to a generation low a year ago,” said Rory Robertson, an economist at Macquarie Group Ltd. in Sydney. “I’ll be very surprised if the Reserve Bank doesn’t decide to continue its ‘normalization’ process” tomorrow.

“After all, it has already paused for nearly 90 days having hiked three times in just 60 days,” he said.

Not Convinced

Still, not all investors are convinced that Stevens and his board will boost borrowing costs in tomorrow’s announcement.

Traders are betting there is a 54 percent chance of a quarter-percentage-point rate increase, according to Bloomberg calculations based on interbank futures on the Sydney Futures Exchange at 8:55 a.m.

Reports published late last week have stoked speculation that the global recovery will be hampered by weak growth among the world’s biggest economies.

Confidence among households and companies in the 16-nation euro economy fell and bank loans to the private sector declined for a fifth month, plus Standard & Poor’s said Feb. 25 that it may soon downgrade Greece again as the country grapples with the region’s largest budget shortfall.

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance unexpectedly rose last week, the Labor Department said in Washington.

That contrasts with Australia where reports published last month showed business confidence rebounded and employers added 194,600 jobs in the five months through January, the biggest increase in more than three years that has cut the unemployment rate to an 11-month low of 5.3 percent.

“If anyone is going to boom, surely it’s Australia,” Gerry Harvey, chairman of Australia’s largest electronics retailer Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd., said in a Feb. 26 interview. “We never really went into a recession at all. Our unemployment rate was projected to reach 7, 8, 9, or 10 percent, but it never even got to 6 percent.”

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Elizabeth Washko has been named managing shareholder at the Nashville office of labor law firm Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC.

She replaces Tom Davis, who had held the position for five years.

“As managing shareholder, I look forward to growing the Nashville office and continuing to provide our clients with the best and most responsive legal services.” Washko said in today’s announcement.

In addition to representing employees, Washko has helped companies create employment policies, conducted harassment investigations and provided training on employment issues.

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Call it financial literacy for the rich.

Bank of Montreal’s private banking division will start offering cross-Canada seminars next month specially designed for affluent adults, including those who marry into money.

The invitation-only program enables a high net-worth client to enrol a spouse or another adult relative in a financial boot camp of sorts that teaches the basics of money management and keeping the family fortune intact.

BMO’s "Financial Focus" part-day seminars tackle a variety of day-to-day issues such as budgeting, mortgages, banking, cash-flow management, credit, investing and estate planning.

It launched the program at the urging of its well-off clients. Many believe a spouse or an adult family member lacks experience with personal finances, said Sara Plant, vice-president and national director of wealth services with BMO Harris Private Banking.

"We’re often having very personal discussions with them about their families. And in those discussions, it comes to light that our clients are experiencing some kind of change or transition," Plant said.

"There may be a marriage, a divorce, a death in the family, an inheritance or selling a business, a retirement – these are sort of transitional changes that we find our clients up against."

A high net-worth client is someone with investable assets of at least $500,000. The new spousal seminars are the latest evolution of a program the bank launched last year to educate rich youth, aged 18 to 25, on money management.

Its staff had received a flood of requests for training. Some clients worried their children would squander inheritances, while others believed their offspring were "under the influence" of an untrustworthy person such as a devious spouse or business partner.

"Individual clients have said, `I know you’ve got one for young people, but do you have one for adults to deal with the issues that we face?’" Plant said.

The bank held a pilot version of its new adult course in Toronto on Nov. 3. Women mostly attended but the seminar is geared toward both sexes. Sessions will be held in major cities from February to April cash advance payday loans.

BMO is not the only bank coaching clients on coping with the pressures of being rich. TD Waterhouse Private Client Services offers special seminars for wealthy women called "Securing Your Future" and a guide book for the children of prosperous clients.

Its high net-worth planning group, meanwhile, provides a "Monte Carlo" analysis to clients – a computer simulation that outlines the trade-offs between short-term wants and long-term capital preservation.

"The first million dollars seems like it will last forever, which isn’t true," said Dave Kelly, group head of the Private Investment Counsel at TD Waterhouse Private Client Services. "For anyone who is new into wealth – whether that’s a lottery win, inheriting or marrying into – … the concept of $5 million, $10 million, $20 million is awfully hard to appreciate when you haven’t had it before."

Last month, RBC Private Banking launched a financial literacy kit for clients’ children, in addition to individual education sessions. "One of their top concerns is preserving wealth for future generations," RBC says.

The Bank of Nova Scotia’s Private Client Group, meanwhile, held a one-day money management pilot program called "Let’s Talk $" for its clients’ adult kids, aged 22 to 27, in November. It will hold at least two more seminars this year and one will be in Toronto.

A number of foreign banks, including Citigroup, JP Morgan and UBS, are also offering so-called "affluenza" courses. Those programs teach skills such as distinguishing between gold diggers and true friends, according to press reports.

Barron’s, meanwhile, ran a 2005 story stating the "Brat Patrol" was the new "battleground" for private bankers. "Among wealthy parents and their bankers, the rallying cry is: `Don’t let the kids become the next Paris Hilton,’" the article said.

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Return policies aren’t what they used to be in the days of Timothy Eaton’s "goods satisfactory or money refunded."

Leon’s Furniture Ltd. has a policy that all sales are final on appliances and electronics products, as Bryan Richards found when he brought back his mother’s Toshiba TV within two weeks.

"The channels would not change, the screen would go blank and the controls would freeze," he said.

While he was told the return policy was printed on the back of the invoice, he said it wasn’t displayed prominently in the store or explained to him before the purchase.

Leon’s spokesman Bruce Bergeron said the store succeeded in getting a replacement through Toshiba.

"Thanks for your intervention," Richards said.

"We have learned a valuable lesson, which I will pass along to friends and relatives."

Peter Coutts was helping his parents with a Sealy mattress bought at Leon’s last year.

"I successfully got Sealy to replace one mattress because the defect met their criteria (a measured amount of sagging)," he said.

A few months later, the replacement was also sagging. His parents couldn’t get a good night’s sleep.

Bergeron said Sealy had agreed to "look after the consumer and offer a reselection," even though the second mattress did not meet the terms for replacement.

Coutts said his parents would follow through on the exchange of the old mattress, even though they had lost confidence in Sealy products.

"I would rate Leon’s a five out of 10 in after-sale service," he said. "They don’t provide direct numbers for service representatives (you must go through the main switchboard), nor do they provide email addresses."

Sandeep Nigam wrote to me when he was denied a refund of a $20 prepaid Rogers card that he purchased at a No Frills grocery store quick guaranteed personal loans.

The cashier had scanned the card – thereby activating it – after it had fallen onto the conveyor belt in error.

He did not want a Rogers card and did not notice the charge on his grocery bill until after he got home.

Although he came back within a half hour, No Frills said he had to deal with Rogers.

Meanwhile, Rogers said the prepaid cards were nonrefundable and he had to take it up with the store manager.

Things were resolved quickly when I forwarded his email to Loblaw Cos. Ltd., which owns No Frills.

"We have offered the customer a $20 gift card and he is returning the Rogers card," said spokeswoman Karen Gumbs.

Anne Hamilton asked for help with Air Miles.

Her father had booked a free flight to Phoenix this Christmas, but did not realize that he had a conflict with his curling team’s final games.

When he called to reschedule, he was told he’d have to pay a $209.50 change fee to the airline and declined to do so.

"Given that he has a personal commitment that cannot be moved to another date, Air Miles will absorb all the change fees charged by the airline so he is able to attend his event," said Shawna Rossi, a spokeswoman for the loyalty program.

Before you buy, always ask: Can I return this? Is there a deadline? Will I get a full or partial refund? This can help avoid surprises later.

Write to onyourside@thestar.ca or check the On Your Side blog at www.ellenroseman.com

eroseman@thestar.ca

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After a day of rumors, Apple Inc. confirmed late Friday that it has bought online music service Lala.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Palo Alto-based Lala’s backers include Boston-based Bain Capital Ventures, New York-based Warner Music Group and Bellevue, Wash.-based Ignition Partners.

Lala lets users listen to any song once without paying and pay 10 cents to be able to stream the music online, or 89 cents for most songs that can be played on a portable music player.

Cupertino-based Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), by contrast, charges 99 cents for most songs through the iTunes store.

Apple isn’t saying what it will do with Lala.

Mountain View-based Google Inc paperless payday loans. (NASDAQ:GOOG) provided a big boost to Lala’s traffic in November when it started directing music searches to the company’s site when users were looking for songs. But that also appeared to tax Lala’s capacity with previous users complaining of the service slowing down.

Palo Alto-based Facebook Inc. also began allowing its users to purchase songs as gifts to send to their friends on the social network.

But the New Yorks Times reported Friday night that the Apple deal was triggered when Lala executives determined that they could not make a profit in the near term and approached the iTunes owner.

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The Obama administration threatened on Monday to punish mortgage lenders with fines unless they speed up efforts to give hard-pressed homeowners a permanent break on monthly payments.

With foreclosures still rising and roughly 375,000 borrowers seen as eligible for permanent loan modifications by year-end, the U.S. Treasury and Housing and Urban Development departments want to make sure that banks come through on the promise of lower payments.

“Banks should be moving more rapidly and more efficiently to decisions once documents are in and we will have more detailed metrics on that in coming months,” Assistant Treasury Secretary Michael Barr said during a conference call.

Some 650,000 borrowers have completed trial modifications under the Home Affordable Modification Program that was initiated by the Obama administration earlier this year.

The $75 billion taxpayer-financed program is aimed at slowing the pace of foreclosures. But there are frequent complaints that loan servicers are slow and lose or misplace paperwork that people have sent in.

Rick Mullen, a Valencia, California, homeowner told Reuters he had delivered documents four times to three different addresses while seeking a modification from Chase Home Mortgage.

His monthly payment was reduced more than $1,000 on a trial basis several months ago but the document requests continue.

“The bottom line is, I figure if I keep making my payments they are not going to throw me out of my house,” he said.

ANYTHING HELPS

Industry observers offered mixed praise for the Treasury’s efforts, commenting that the administration seemed overwhelmed by the rising volume of troubled loans but at least it was trying to get the system performing better.

“It’s good they are doing this,” said Thomas Lawler, founder of Lawler Economic & Housing Consulting in Leesburg, Virginia. “It’s hard to tell if the HAMP is delaying a horrible problem or is working.”

A slumping housing sector was at the center of the financial crisis that struck in 2007, dragging the U.S. economy into a deep recession that has pushed jobless rates to their highest in nearly 30 years and piled pressure on homeowners.

The Treasury and HUD want lenders to step up now to make sure trial modifications are converted into permanent cuts in monthly payments. The federal agencies are setting performance standards to make sure banks do so or explain why not.

Mortgage servicers will have to submit plans saying how they would decide whether a loan will be permanently modified. If a bank fails to meet guidelines set in an agreement with the Treasury, it would face “consequences which could include monetary penalties and sanctions,” the Treasury said.

But Barr refused to offer any details on how large fines might be or what potential sanctions banks might face. 

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Immigrants face lower wages and are more likely than Canadian-born workers to be forced into temporary or part-time jobs, according to a new study.

The report from Statistics Canada, made public Monday, also found newcomers tend to end up in jobs for which they are overqualified.

Immigrants who landed in Canada 10 years ago or more tend to fare better, with their work experience more closely resembling that of people who were born here.

The report, based on data from last year’s labour market, found that the average weekly hours worked by immigrants in their main job was 38.3, only slightly higher than the 38.1 hours of Canadian-born workers.

The average hourly wage of a Canadian-born employee aged from 25 to 54 was $23.72, compared with $21.44 for an immigrant worker, a difference of $2.28 an hour, Statistics Canada noted.

The widest gap, $5.04 per hour, involved immigrants who had landed within the previous five years, the paper said, but the overall wage gap existed "regardless of when the immigrants landed." It narrows to $1.32 for immigrants in Canada for a decade or longer.

The difference in wages between immigrant workers and Canadian-born colleagues was widest among those with university degrees, with immigrants earning an average of $25.31 an hour, about $5 less than Canadian-born counterparts.

Immigrants with multiple jobs worked an average of 50 hours per week in 2008, about 2.3 hours longer than Canadians who hold down more than one job, StatsCan said.

Among part-time workers, 38 per cent of newcomers said working part-time was involuntary, higher than the 30 per cent of Canadian-born workers who agreed. Last year, 9.7 per cent of newcomers were in temporary positions, slightly more than the 8.3 per cent of Canadian-born employees.

The report also found 42 per cent of immigrant workers 25-54 had a higher education level for their job than normally required, while 28 per cent of Canadian-born workers were similarly overqualified.

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Swiss food giant Nestle may consider a bid for Britain’s Cadbury to challenge a hostile 9.9 billion-pound bid by Kraft Foods Inc and a potential move by Hershey, Bloomberg reported on Sunday.

Nestle was still weighing its options and could decide against a bid, Bloomberg said, citing two unnamed people with knowledge of the matter.

Nestle declined to comment on Sunday.

Italian chocolate maker Ferrero and U.S.-based Hershey, have teamed up and said on Wednesday they were reviewing a possible offer for Cadbury.

Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore has reported that Hershey executives will go to Italy to hold a definitive meeting with Ferrero in the coming days.

Ferrero was not available for a comment.

Meanwhile, Cadbury’s Chairman Roger Carr told the Sunday Telegraph his group would prefer a merger with U.S. chocolate maker Hershey rather than Kraft. But he added both bids could fail should they not be generous enough.

COMPETITION HEADACHE

Analysts had been viewing Nestle as a potential suitor for Cadbury. But such a deal may face some antitrust hurdles.

Nestle said in October it was likely to exercise its option beginning in January 2010 to sell its remaining 52 percent stake in Alcon, potentially raising up to $28 billion, so it could easily afford big buys fast payday loans.

The Swiss giant has declined to comment on Cadbury so far. It has said it does not plan any big acquisitions this year or next, but will focus on a strategy of “bolt-on” buys.

Due to competition issues, analysts had speculated that the Swiss company might consider a joint offer with U.S.-based Hershey Co, with the U.S. group seeking Cadbury’s chocolate interests and leaving Nestle with the Trident chewing gum business.

But Nestle has been silent since Hershey and Italy’s Ferrero said separately on Wednesday they were considering a bid.

Some market players have suggested Nestle could still help Hershey fund a bid by buying its U.S. license for the KitKat brand, potentially worth around $3 billion to 3.5 billion.

The Cadbury riddle is a difficult one to solve as virtually all players would face antitrust issues if they move, said an M&A expert who declined to be named.

(Writing by Lisa Jucca and Emma Thomasson; additional reporting by Jo Winterbottom in Milan; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

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Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday struck a cautious note on the U.S. economy, citing high unemployment, heavy reliance on government support and commercial real estate woes as hurdles to recovery.

Speaking less than a week after the Fed left interest rates unchanged at near zero, a trio of top officials — San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Janet Yellen, Atlanta Fed chief Dennis Lockhart and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren — said the economy was still vulnerable.

“The strength and durability of the expansion is in question,” Yellen said in Phoenix, Arizona. “High unemployment, weak job growth and paltry wage increases are a recipe for sluggish consumer spending growth and a tepid recovery.”

The Fed chopped overnight interest rates to near zero in December and it has pumped more than $1 trillion into the economy to spur a recovery from the deepest downturn since the Great Depression.

Last week, it reaffirmed its commitment to keep borrowing costs ultra-low for “an extended period,” and financial markets will be listening to Fed officials closely to try to gauge when they may finally move to withdraw their economic support.

The latest remarks eased investor’s worries about higher interest rates, helping support prices for U.S. government debt.

Yellen and Lockhart are among the voters this year on the Fed’s policy panel, while Rosengren will move into a voting slot in 2010. While Yellen and Rosengren are seen as Fed “doves” on inflation, Lockhart is considered more of a hawk.

“It’s a question of timing,” Rosengren told a seminar in London when asked how the Fed planned to exit from its extraordinarily supportive policies no credit check payday loans. “We’re not there yet.”

SELF-SUSTAINING RECOVERY QUESTIONED

Yellen said it remains to be seen whether the private sector can carry the load once supportive fiscal and monetary policies fade. Meanwhile, Lockhart said that while a recovery was under way, growth would be “relatively subdued” in the medium term.

“The situation is much improved, but there are sobering aspects of the economic picture,” he told a conference in Atlanta, adding data on bank failures, foreclosures, unemployment and personal income “continue to disappoint.”

The U.S. economy grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter, snapping four consecutive down quarters and likely ending the recession that began in December 2007.

But labor market conditions remain dismal. The unemployment rate surged to a 26-1/2-year high of 10.2 percent in October, and a Reuters poll on Tuesday showed economists expect it to hit 10.5 percent in mid-2010 before subsiding.

High unemployment is one factor expected to keep the Fed on the sidelines. The central bank said last week that economic slack, subdued inflation trends and stable inflation expectations argued for a prolonged period of low rates.

“At this juncture, it’s hard to be encouraged about a fast rebound in job growth,” Lockhart added. 

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