Need Business

What GE’s contract settlement includes

General Electric Co. and its two largest unions, IUE-CWA and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE),  reached a new contract late Sunday that includes pay increases, a one-time cash payment, and a small increase in the amount that unionized workers pay for their health care coverage.

The contract, reached after four weeks of negotiations, calls for:

• A $5,000 cash payment in July;
• Wage increases of 2.25 percent in June 2012, 2.5 percent in 2013, and 3 percent in 2014;
• Eight cost-of-living increases worth $1.13 over the life of the contract;
• A 401(k) plan for new hires instead of the traditional defined benefit plan, with contributions from the company including a 50 percent match up to 8 percent of pay, and an automatic contribution of $600 plus 3 percent of pay from GE;
• An increase in contributions by employees toward health care coverage to 24 percent of costs from 21.5 percent currently. By

Read all post…

Tags: Includes

Posted in Business News Today | No Comments »

Metro Detroit gas prices inching back toward $4

After weeks of falling prices at the pump, $4-a-gallon gas returned to Metro Detroit this week.

By late afternoon Tuesday, prices across Metro Detroit ranged from $3.99 to $4.05 a gallon, according to the Michigan GasBuddy.com website, which publishes gas station prices from volunteer spotters. Gas prices in the Metro region and statewide surged 20 cents during the past week, settling Tuesday at an average of $3.77 a gallon in Metro Detroit, AAA Michigan said.

The recent rise is being fueled by refinery problems in Ohio and Indiana as well as concern that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will cut oil production, said Patrick DeHaan, the Grand Rapids-based senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.com. Oil accounts for as much as 80 percent of the price of gas.

Read all post…

Tags: Metro Detroit, Prices

Posted in Business Titles | No Comments »

Most Small Businesses Don’t Use Social Media. Big Mistake.

From the buzz it generates, you’d think almost all small business owners would be actively involved in social media. But you’d be wrong.

This disconnect becomes clear in the latest Small Business Success Index survey conducted twice a year by Network Solutions (disclosure: they’re a client of mine) and the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. While the SBSI showed an “almost universal awareness among small business owners of Facebook and Twitter” only 27 percent of the entrepreneurs used Facebook for business purposes, and a mere 7 percent were Twitter users. Linked In garnered 18 percent.

Despite the tepid survey results, Network Solutions is a big believer in the power social media has to impact business.

Read all post…

Tags: Media, Social Media

Posted in Business Experience | No Comments »

Manchester firms help to design new arts centre

A design team which includes Manchester companies has been appointed to the task of dreaming up the £19m facility which will bring together the Cornerhouse and Library Theatre Company under one roof as part of the city’s First Street development.
Led by architects Mecanoo, whose high profile projects also include Manchester’s Co-operative Quarter, NOMA, the team also includes two practices with presences in Manchester – Buro Happold, who are multi-disciplinary engineers, and quantity surveyors and design manager Davis Langdon (AECOM), plus theatre planners theatreadvies bv.

Tags: Design, Design New

Posted in Business Titles | No Comments »

Hawaii’s average gas price slips to $4.04

Hawaii’s average price for a gallon of regular gasoline slipped 2 cents from last week to $4.04, according to the AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report and PBN research.

On Oahu, Honolulu’s average price for regular unleaded dipped by a penny from last week to $3.93 per gallon. Honolulu’s average price is 60 cents higher than during the same week a year ago.

On the Big Island, Hilo’s average price per gallon dropped 2 cents from last week to $3.99, which is 57 cents higher than last year.

On Maui, Wailuku’s average price slipped 1 cent from last week to $4.43 per gallon. Wailuku’s average price is 67 cents higher than a year ago.

The AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report is a nationwide fuel price survey that is updated daily, with more than 100,000 self-serve stations surveyed.

Tags: Hawaii’s Average, Price

Posted in Business News Today | No Comments »