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New legislation in California and other states aims to stop big firms using the pandemic to dismiss long-serving employees

Policy makers can start thinking now about how to prepare for the reopening of businesses and the rehiring of workers. Care must be taken to ensure that older workers, displaced due to COVID-19, can reenter the workforce.

“Are you going to be able to keep what you have? Are you going to be able to sit at the table as one?” NAACP National President Derrick Johnson asked UAW members, as he urged them to avoid division based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender.

"GM needs to pay more attention to relationships on the Hill," said U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, who described GM recently as the “most disliked company in Washington."

Commentators questioned the wisdom of inflicting further austerity on a nation where more than 1.3 million are out of work, salaries have been cut by an average 25%, and poverty has been imposed on more than a third of the entire population.

IBM, the world’s largest computer-services provider, began cutting jobs in the U.S. and around the world Wednesday as part of a global restructuring plan announced in April, IBM acknowledged and workers reported. Based on data gathered from around the world, Alliance at IBM estimates several thousand cuts already have been made or are planned.

PARIS — French labor unions and business leaders struck a deal to overhaul labor laws. The changes include more flexibility for employers to reduce hours to prevent lay offs in times of "economic distress." Employers will pay a higher tax for using temporary labor. In exchange for flexibility, unions secured improvements to unemployment benefits and health insurance, as well as seats on the board of large companies.