43,000 jobs are eliminated in latest wave of U.S. layoffs

It was a bleak start to the workweek for thousands of American workers.

Several corporations said Monday morning that they would cut a total of 43,000 jobs in an attempt to slash costs to survive a recession that has taken a toll on new orders, profits and companies' outlooks for growth.

The cuts announced Monday included 20,000 jobs at the heavy-equipment manufacturer Caterpillar; 8,000 at the wireless provider Sprint Nextel, and 7,000 at Home Depot and 8,000 from the expected merger of the pharmaceutical makers Pfizer and Wyeth. Some smaller layoffs were also announced.

President Obama cited the layoff announcements in remarks Monday morning urging Congress to approve an $825 billion economic stimulus package of tax cuts, emergency benefits and public spending projects.

"These are not just numbers on a page," Obama said. "As with the millions of jobs lost in 2008, these are working men and women whose families have been disrupted and whose dreams have been put on hold. We owe it to each of them and to every single American to act with a sense of urgency and common purpose. We can't afford distractions and we cannot afford delays."

Monday's announcements were only the latest in a grim parade of job cuts from employers from Wall Street to wireless providers to computer companies to retail stores.

The United States economy has shed some 2.59 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007, and unemployment rose to 7.2 percent last month. Economists worry that the economy could now be shedding as many as 600,000 jobs a month, and they said Monday's layoff announcements served to underline the stricken state of the labor market. Last week, the government reported that first-time unemployment claims had risen to 589,000 for the week ending Jan. 17, tying an all-time high set in December.

"This is a big deal," said Dean Baker, a director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "We're losing jobs at an incredibly rapid rate, and even with that, I'm worried they're accelerating. We're seeing a much more rapid rate of layoff announcements."

Caterpillar, which has been hurt by falling orders for construction and mining machinery, said Monday morning that it would cull 20,000 workers through layoffs and buyouts. It said it would make "sharp declines" in overtime and eliminate scores of temporary and contract jobs.

The company said 2009 would be one of its weakest years since World War II.

"These are very uncertain times," the chief executive, James Owens, said in a statement. "While it's painful for our employees and suppliers, it's absolutely necessary given economic circumstances. We expect to have most of the actions needed to lower employment and cost levels in place by the end of the first quarter."

"We were whipsawed in the fourth quarter as key industries were hit by a rapidly deteriorating global economy and plunging commodity prices," Owens said.

The wireless provider Sprint Nextel said its 8,000 job cuts were part of a plan to trim labor costs by $1.2 billion, and said most of the cuts would be completed by March 31. About 850 of the job cuts are expected to come through buyouts, which will cost the company $300 million in severance costs and related expenses.

"Labor reductions are always the most difficult action to take, but many companies are finding it necessary in this environment," Sprint's chief executive, Daniel Hesse, said.

Home Depot, the country's largest home-supply chain, said it would cut 7,000 jobs, about 2 percent of its work force, and close its high-end EXPO home design stores.

Roadway to close most of local facility

Tannersville terminal to lose estimated 143 jobsRoadway Express will close most of its Tannersville terminal by March 1, transferring or eliminating an estimated 143 jobs as part of a nationwide consolidation of the trucking company's operations.

The move will affect 55 drivers, 42 transfer dock workers, 25 mechanics plus other employees. Most of those jobs will be moved to other facilities.

Just a few jobs related to pickup and delivery will remain in Tannersville; the exact number is unclear.

"Tannersville will be a much smaller operation than it is today," said Mike Smid, president of YRC North America. YRC owns Roadway Express and Yellow Freight and is combining the companies. According to Smid, integration of the Yellow and Roadway will create the largest trucking operation in North America.

At the Yellow location in Allentown, 19 jobs will be gained, while Roadway in Allentown will lose 37 jobs.

Roadway's Tannersville location has experienced several staff reductions in the last few years. In recent weeks some Tannersville workers have been furloughed because of the season and economics.

Of the Tannersville workers affected "most will have opportunities to follow work to locations that are gaining work," Smid said. Those locations have not yet been determined. First, a change-of-operations hearing must be held with the Teamsters union, which represents the workers. That will happen in January, but the exact date and location has not been determined.

The "change of operations" is a document for the union which states the intentions of a company.

"It's a massive change. Probably one of the biggest I've ever seen," said a business agent who declines to give his name at Local 229 Teamsters in Scranton, the home union for Tannersville Roadway employees. Yellow and Roadway job transfers and work-force reductions are planned across North America.

"YRC is being forced to make changes in an attempt to cut costs. Unfortunately that will have some impact on our members. We will work tirelessly to ensure their contract rights are enforced and their seniority is protected," said Leigh Strope, a spokeswoman for the Teamsters.

Tannersville is one of 450 truck terminals in the United States owned by YRC North America.

Major Trucking Company Downshifting

Obama: Transportation can get economy moving

When President-elect Barack Obama says he wants to get the economy moving again, he means it quite literally.

Transportation will play a central role in Obama's first months in office, not just for policy changes aimed at improving highway, air and rail travel, but as a road toward economic recovery, energy independence and environmental protection.

Solve road congestion, Obama's reasoning goes, and you put people to work.

Use less gasoline and help clean the air.

Build better trains and move goods more efficiently.

Get people out of their cars and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"We will create millions of jobs," he said recently, "by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s."

This expansive approach contrasts with the Bush administration's policy that transportation - like other government functions - works best when it is in private hands, or at least in a public-private partnership.

Adopting a libertarian, smaller-government-is-better approach to repairing and modernizing the nation's transportation systems, Bush sought to shift more responsibility to state and local governments and encouraged the use of tolls and private enterprise to pay for it.

Obama is not necessarily against such arrangements. He just thinks the national government should play the leading role in a transportation network on which the country and its economy depends.

"Now is the time to invest in our future and strengthen our core infrastructure," Obama said in an October letter to a coalition of groups interested in transportation and environmental issues. "With unemployment rising, these investments are even more important."

Obama takes office as many critical transportation issues are coming to the fore, creating what some experts see as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to remake national policy.

"What's very hopeful about this president, when it comes to infrastructure, is he's prepared to think big," said Janet Kavinoky, chief transportation lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She said there is broad political support for major changes in transportation policy.

Obama's transition team is working with congressional Democrats on an economic aid bill that could total as much as $500 billion. The hope is to have it ready for the new president to sign when he takes office Jan. 20.

While details have not been finalized, the bill is expected to include tens of billions of dollars for highway, mass transit, airport, and intercity passenger and freight rail improvements.

Bush's transportation philosophy "seemed to be, `This is what the federal government should be responsible for and nothing else.' And the `nothing else' category was public transportation," said William Millar, executive director of the American Public Transportation Association, whose members include transit agencies.

Obama, on the other hand, has described himself as a strong advocate of mass transit.

While Bush proposed what some lawmakers described as "starvation budgets" for Amtrak, Obama has pledged support for the passenger rail carrier and for developing a national network of high-speed passenger trains.

The Bush administration has feuded bitterly with air traffic controllers since the Federal Aviation Administration imposed a contract in 2006. Obama has promised to appoint an FAA administrator who will work cooperatively with controllers.

Bush tried to ease cross-border trucking between the U.S. and Mexico, angering domestic truckers who fear the competition and say safety would be compromised. Obama promised the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to aggressively inspect cross-border trucks and buses and enforce safety regulations.

Obama's transportation goals face several potential roadblocks.

The federal program that provides aid to states for highway construction and transit expenses expires on Sept. 30, 2009. The current program was funded at $286 billion over five years. Its cost is mainly underwritten by the federal 18.4 cents-per-gallon gas tax, but revenues have failed to keep up with obligations.

Last January, a blue-ribbon transportation commission recommended increasing the gas tax as much as 40 cents a gallon over five years. The additional money would to help cover the federal share of an estimated $225 billion the commission says is needed each year to upgrade transportation systems.

Boosting the gas tax carries political risks. The last time it was raised, a backlash against Democrats in the 1994 elections helped Republicans capture control of the House and Senate. Obama has expressed concern about raising taxes in the current economic climate.

Even without an increase, Obama will have to deal with environmentalists who want to undo a bargain struck during the Reagan administration that funnels roughly 80 percent of gas tax revenue to highway projects and 15 percent to transit. They want to redirect money away from highways to alternatives such as transit and intercity passenger trains.

Obama's energy plan calls for saving as much oil as the U.S. currently imports from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 years, which is about 3.5 million barrels a day.

"That's going to require a pretty robust program to save oil, which means not just better vehicle technology and not just alternative fuels. ... Something will have to be done about transportation policy," said Deron Lovaas of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"The question is, does it make sense if energy security is an overarching national commitment to stick to ... a 25-year-old deal?" Lovaas said. "I think the answer is, `No.' That's going to be an enormous fight."