After yesterday's call by two German politicians that Greece sell off islands, historic buildings and artworks before receiving aid, the German tabloid Bild has written an open letter to the Greek prime minister George Papandreou: Dear prime minister, If you're reading this, you've entered a country different from yours. You're in Germany. Here, people work until they are 67 and there is no 14th-month salary for civil servants. Here, nobody needs to pay a €1,000 bribe to get a hospital bed in time. Our petrol stations have cash registers, taxi drivers give receipts and farmers don't swindle EU subsidies with...
ATHENS—The Greek government has decided to move ahead with steep cuts in civil service salaries and entitlements, as well as raising Greece's sales tax by two percentage points, a government official said Wednesday. The measures, decided at a cabinet meeting earlier in the day, effectively include slashing one month's pay for public-sector workers by cutting 30% of their current Christmas, Easter and holiday bonuses, the source said. Greek civil servants get an extra salary at Christmas and another through bonuses during the Easter holiday and the month of August. "The measures are expected to yield the state more than €4...
Legacy journalism is seeing some hard times, as the situation at ABC illustrates: its news division has announced it is going to close all of its brick and mortar bureaus around the nation (except the one in Washington DC) and will cut half of its domestic correspondents. Those who are left will be asked to work out of the local ABC affiliates. [ABC News President David] Westin said the network would cope with the reduced manpower on breaking news stories by hiring freelance crews and making use of its expanded team of digital journalists, staffers who would be able to...
As North Highline fire chief, Scott LaVielle oversees two stations and 35 employees and last year earned more than Gov. Chris Gregoire. LaVielle's pay of $186,370 even outpaced the salary of Seattle Fire Chief Gregory Dean, who made $173,709 for managing 32 stations and 1,155 employees. Now, as LaVielle prepares to leave the job, he is set to receive more than $300,000 under a severance package that includes one year's pay plus about $115,880 for unused sick leave, vacation and compensatory time. David Lawson, a former North Highline fire commissioner and now chief financial officer of Federal Way-based South King...
General Motors Co. CEO Ed Whitacre will receive a salary of $1.7 million this year, plus stock awards that will bring his total pay package to $9 million at a later date, the automaker said Friday. In a surprise announcement, GM also said former CEO Fritz Henderson has been rehired as a consultant. Henderson, who was forced out of the job in December, will work 20 hours a month and will be paid $59,090 a month, the company said.
Greek fuel supplies run dry as strike over harsh austerity measures bites Published Date: 20 February 2010 By MARGARET NEIGHBOUR PETROL stations ran dry in Greece yesterday as a customs strike over government austerity measures began to bite. Customs staff initially walked out for three days on Tuesday over salary freezes and cuts in bonuses. But their union announced on Thursday three 48-hour rolling strikes that will keep customs offices shut until next Wednesday, when all workers are being asked to join a general strike. The customs walkout has hampered imports and exports, but the supply of fuel has been...
Right on cue, the letters, comments and e-mail came flooding in. All after a report that a Madison bus driver, of all people, earned the most of anyone employed by the city of Madison last year. John E. Nelson, a Madison Metro veteran, compiled nearly $110,000 in overtime on top of his regular $49,000-plus salary. Another driver, Greg Tatman, with his overtime pulled down $125,598. Both those figures eclipsed the salaries of many city department heads, including the mayor himself. Nelson even earned more than the chiefs of the fire and police departments. As expected, many citizens were outraged. Some...
The oppressed masses in the Rose Tree Media Education Association -- the union the covers teachers, school nurses and guidance counselors in the Rose Tree Media School District (PA) -- voted to strike Wednesday. Obviously, the working conditions in the district must be horrible for these caring professionals to take the drastic step of harming a child's education. And they are! Consider the plight of Springton Lake Middle School physical education teacher Stephen Adams. His salary was $87,329 in 2009. And that was for 195 days grueling days of teaching gym class. Granted, he also gets benefits but can't you...
47. Ari Tai: Good work sir. We’re fortunate you’re in the ring standing up to these bullies (and those that either know better and are crooks, or those who don’t that are seeking a religion to fill their empty lives – and live to seduce others). Isn’t it striking how the elites demand billion-dollar double-blind testing regimes for new drugs, yet accept with little argument the (clearly conflicted by an avarice for financial support well beyond tenure and salary – which is supposed to be enough to insure impartiality) claims of 2nd and 3rd rate schools’ academics. Shades of Laetrile....
February 12, 2010 Blackwater 'Defrauded US By Billing For Prostitute In Kabul' Tim Reid The controversial American security firm Blackwater is facing new allegations of gross misconduct after two former employees said the firm repeatedly defrauded the US Government, including billing it for the use of a Filipina prostitute in Afghanistan. In a federal lawsuit Melan Davis, one of the former employees, accused the security firm of employing the prostitute in Kabul, and billing the Government for her aircraft tickets and monthly salary under the “morale welfare recreation” expenses category. The lawsuit also accuses the firm, which has since been...
Saturday, March 6, 2010
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