Job Security

BAGHDAD — Protesters scuffled with riot police and marched along sewage-filled streets in demonstrations across Iraq yesterday to demand better utilities and job security from their government. Authorities estimated several thousand protesters turned out in Baghdad, Basra, Ramadi, Mosul, and a small town in Iraq’s Diyala Province. Galvanized by popular uprisings across the Middle East, they repeated longstanding complaints about Iraq’s limited electricity, shoddy water and sewage services, and potential layoffs in government jobs.

Nothing like a deep recession and weak recovery to focus workers on a key question: What can I do to stay employed? The answer for many: Get an advanced degree. Most local universities offer part-time programs that allow workers to pursue studies while holding down a job. The combination can be grueling, but a master's degree or higher can act as insurance against potential layoffs, offer a ticket to promotions and raises, or provide an advantage over job-seeking rivals without such credentials.

DETROIT - The 1970 United Auto Workers' strike against General Motors Corp. went on for 69 days and helped push the nation into a recession. This time, industry watchers predict the current strike will be a short one. Both sides have something the other desires - the workers want job security, GM wants to make retiree healthcare a union burden - and that's the stuff that agreements are made of. "The UAW and GM understand that a strike is a lose/lose proposition," Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache said yesterday in a note to investors.

YOUR FEB. 12 editorial "Tim Murray's patronage politics show deeper problem in Mass. " and Lawrence Harmon's Feb. 11 op-ed "A visit to the ‘friends and favors' office" combine to make a convincing case that the problems with political patronage in Massachusetts extend to the governor's office. I strongly agree with your editorial's conclusion that the present system of rewarding political supporters, friends, and family members with state agency jobs "simply shouldn't happen. " While legislation could prohibit candidate "referrals" from the governor's office, there is no...

DETROIT - As they assembled cars yesterday, workers at Chrysler's Sterling Heights assembly plant were talking about their new labor contract, wondering whether Wednesday's six-hour strike was enough to get a good deal from the company. Even as they waited to hear the details, industry analysts were predicting cross-town rival Ford will try to get more concessions than Chrysler. Some workers were skeptical about job security promises, one worker said. "A lot of people are sort of surprised that we only stayed out that long," said Brett Ward, a forklift operator at the plant and a...

Connecticut’s two U.S. senators say a blueprint for national defense programs, approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee, is good for the state’s defense industry and could mean additional jobs. In a conference call on Friday with reporters, Sens. Joseph Lieberman and Richard Blumenthal said jet engine maker Pratt and Whitney, submarine builder Electric Boat and helicopter maker Sikorsky Aircraft all fare well in the $683 billion spending plan. Lieberman said the funding for key programs, such as more than $3 billion to procure Sikorsky helicopters, means job...

SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo Inc.’s chairman, Roy Bostock, sought to defuse speculation about chief executive Carol Bartz’s job security at the Internet company’s annual shareholders meeting yesterday, only to have it ignited again at the end of the session by an exasperated investor. After Bostock opened the meeting with an endorsement of Bartz’s performance, the unhappy investor ended it with a five-minute condemnation of Yahoo’s CEO and directors. The investor identified himself as someone who personally owns some Yahoo stock and advises funds that own several million of the company’s...

IT'S GOOD to finally see in print an honest tally of what an individual's background — class, privilege, parents' financial and job security — can contribute to one's future success ("A self-made man? Romney may have made his own fortune, but he had a big head start," Op-ed, Jan. 31). The playing field is not level and it's high time we acknowledged it. My father came to Boston from Italy at 16 years of age, eventually graduated from MIT, and became an architect. He always said, "If it weren't for the opportunities in this country, I'd never be where I am today.

The power of technology revolutions can overturn entire industries and the lives of many thousands who work in them. It can convince 45,000 employees to walk out on strike in the midst of an stalling economy that may tip into recession. A kind of technology revolution most of us hold in our hands every day - the explosion of wireless communications - and a steady decline in the old ways of staying in touch are at the heart of the strike by Verizon Communications Inc. employees, now nearly a week old. All of those employees who went on strike work for the part of Verizon that manages wire-line...

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff NEW YORK — Terry Francona announced that John Lackey will pitch on Sunday against Ivan Nova. The manager said he talked to a lot of different people and that he felt starting Lackey was "the right thing to do. " Also: ߦ Clay Buchholz threw two simulated innings inside. The first was 17 pitches without the hitters swinging. The second inning was 23 pitches with the hitters swinging. Francona said the next step for Buchholz would be to pitch in a game.

IT'S GOOD to finally see in print an honest tally of what an individual's background — class, privilege, parents' financial and job security — can contribute to one's future success ("A self-made man? Romney may have made his own fortune, but he had a big head start," Op-ed, Jan. 31). The playing field is not level and it's high time we acknowledged it. My father came to Boston from Italy at 16 years of age, eventually graduated from MIT, and became an architect. He always said, "If it weren't for the opportunities in this country, I'd never be where I am today.

Most of their fans and more than a few guys on the Baltimore Ravens' side of the ball spent the past week arguing over the strength of Joe Flacco's arm. Turns out they should have paid more attention to Billy Cundiff's leg. Their normally reliable placekicker trotted out toward the south end of Gillette Stadium early Sunday evening with 15 seconds left and a slight breeze in his face, eyeing a 32-yard field goal to force overtime against the...

NEW YORK — When it does end, the odds are it won't be pretty. Managerial changes seldom are. On very rare occasions a manager voluntarily leaves what he considers to be a good job in order to take what he considers to be a better one. It's so rare I can't even think of any. But I'm sure there's a baseball historian or two out there to set me straight. But the average managerial change takes place at a time when things have just gone wrong, perhaps even horribly so. We know that pretty well in Boston.

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff NEW YORK — Terry Francona announced that John Lackey will pitch on Sunday against Ivan Nova. The manager said he talked to a lot of different people and that he felt starting Lackey was "the right thing to do. " Also: ߦ Clay Buchholz threw two simulated innings inside. The first was 17 pitches without the hitters swinging. The second inning was 23 pitches with the hitters swinging. Francona said the next step for Buchholz would be to pitch in a game.

The power of technology revolutions can overturn entire industries and the lives of many thousands who work in them. It can convince 45,000 employees to walk out on strike in the midst of an stalling economy that may tip into recession. A kind of technology revolution most of us hold in our hands every day - the explosion of wireless communications - and a steady decline in the old ways of staying in touch are at the heart of the strike by Verizon Communications Inc. employees, now nearly a week old. All of those employees who went on strike work for the part of Verizon...

Claudia Slaney did something that many people would consider unthinkable in this economy: give up her paycheck. She did just that on Sunday when she walked off the job, joining about 6,000 Verizon Communications Inc. employees in Massachusetts after the unions and the company failed to reach an agreement on a new contract. The strike is unusual in its size - 45,000 people nationwide and one of the largest in a decade - and for its timing, during a period of historically high unemployment and concerns about another recession.

Actor Matt Damon (above), still hairless for the movie "Elysium," flew from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Washington, D.C., on Saturday to speak at a rally for educators hosted by Save Our Schools. Damon told the crowd about his great experience attending public schools in Cambridge and about his mother, Nancy Carlsson-Paige , who is a professor of early childhood education. Damon said, "I don't know where I would be today if my teachers' job security was based on how I performed on some standardized test.

YOUR FEB. 12 editorial "Tim Murray's patronage politics show deeper problem in Mass. " and Lawrence Harmon's Feb. 11 op-ed "A visit to the ‘friends and favors' office" combine to make a convincing case that the problems with political patronage in Massachusetts extend to the governor's office. I strongly agree with your editorial's conclusion that the present system of rewarding political supporters, friends, and family members with state agency jobs "simply shouldn't happen. " While legislation could prohibit candidate "referrals" from...

Actor Matt Damon (above), still hairless for the movie "Elysium," flew from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Washington, D.C., on Saturday to speak at a rally for educators hosted by Save Our Schools. Damon told the crowd about his great experience attending public schools in Cambridge and about his mother, Nancy Carlsson-Paige , who is a professor of early childhood education. Damon said, "I don't know where I would be today if my teachers' job security was based on how I performed on some standardized test.

SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo Inc.’s chairman, Roy Bostock, sought to defuse speculation about chief executive Carol Bartz’s job security at the Internet company’s annual shareholders meeting yesterday, only to have it ignited again at the end of the session by an exasperated investor. After Bostock opened the meeting with an endorsement of Bartz’s performance, the unhappy investor ended it with a five-minute condemnation of Yahoo’s CEO and directors. The investor identified himself as someone who personally owns some Yahoo stock and advises funds that own...