Today’s News & Commentary — September 21, 2017
Yesterday, Washington’s State Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued The GEO Group, operator of one of the largest private immigration detention centers for paying thousands of detainees $1 per day instead of the minimum wage. The GEO Group claims the center, operating under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has a volunteer work program and rates specified by the federal government in 2011. The Washington Post reports.
U.S. jobless claims fell unexpectedly last week, but the short-term outlook for markets is unclear given the continuing impact of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Though claims shot up in Texas as Hurricane Harvey approached, last week, claims in Texas fell by 45% as people returned to work.
Six years ago, before Foxconn pledged to spend $10 billion and create 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin, Foxconn pledged to build plants and add jobs in Brazil. Though the Brazilian government expected an addition of 100,000 jobs, the area where Foxconn said it would build its plant has been abandoned and jobs have not been created. Foxconn’s attempts to replicate its factories’ success in China may require finding new ways to gain government support and subsidies. The New York Times reports.
The French CGT union has called for a second day of protests today after an initial protest on September 12. On Saturday, the far-left presidential candidate, Jean-Luc Melenchon will hold his own set of demonstrations, and on Monday, truck drivers will try to choke traffic and limit access to gasoline supplies. Information about the labor law was previously reported on the blog here.
