Companies

Negotiations to resolve a three-week-old strike at General Motors for better pay, benefits and job security have taken "a turn for the worse," a top negotiator with the United Autoworkers Union said Sunday."After making some progress on important issues a couple days ago, the company has shown an unwillingness to fairly compensate the great workforce of the UAW," union vice president Terry Dittes said in a statement."These negotiations have taken a turn for the worse," he said.On Saturday evening, the union submitted an "extensive proposal package" that "was an effort to move this set of negotiations to the next step," Dittes said in a letter to Scott Sandefur, vice president of labor relations at GM."During your response" on Sunday, "you didn't even have a professional courtesy to explain why you could not accept or why you rejected our package proposal for each item we addressed," he wrote."We expect the company to respond and discuss the package proposal we presented yesterday. The … [Read more...] about GM strike negotiations take ‘turn for the worse’: Union

The United States-based retail store, Forever 21, has filed for bankruptcy. At the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, the retail company has listed assets and liabilities. Even though the company has received some funding, they will undergo restructuring. As a part of the restructuring process, many international sectors such as the Asian and European sectors will be shut down.Since its inception in 1984, Forever 21 had gained popularity in 57 countries and opened over 800 stores. However, competition from online stores has managed to slow down business for many retail stores which count on large malls for sales. Over the past couple of years, around 20 US-based retail stores have had to file for bankruptcy due to changing shopping experience preference of customers.Forever 21 joins Sears Holdings Corp. as one of the latest retail companies to have gone bankrupt. JPMorgan Chase Bank has lent $275m (£224m, €252m) to finance the restructuring. TPG Sixth Street … [Read more...] about Forever 21 joins the list of US retailers filing for bankruptcy

UL, a leading global safety science company, has announced that it officially opened its international headquarters in Singapore. Building on UL's more than 20-year presence in this nation and now serving as the international base for UL's operations and activities outside of the United States, the headquarters is an expansion of its current Solaris facility at One-North, a research and business park in Singapore which includes UL's Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. The expansion also added capabilities to UL's EMC-Wireless laboratory located at Kian Teck, an industrial estate in Singapore. The grand opening was graced by Dr Beh Swan Gin, chairman of Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), together with Keith Williams, UL's chief executive officer, Sajeev Jesudas, president of UL International, partners and employees. A significant driver of economic growth globally, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) continues to fuel innovation and increase manufacturing. That, … [Read more...] about UL establishes international headquarters in Singapore

Japan's SoftBank Group Corp, the biggest investor in WeWork owner The We Company, is exploring ways to replace Adam Neumann as chief executive of the U.S. office-sharing start-up, four people familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The rare showdown between SoftBank and one of its biggest investments comes after We Company postponed its initial public offering (IPO) last week, following pushback from perspective investors, not just over its widening losses, but also over Neumann's unusually firm grip on the company. This was a blow for SoftBank, which was hoping for We Company's IPO to bolster its profits as it seeks to woo investors for its second $108 billion Vision Fund. It invested in We Company at a $47 billion valuation in January, yet stock market investor skepticism led to the startup considering a potential valuation in the IPO earlier this month of as low as $10 billion, Reuters reported. Directors on We Company's seven-member board that are aligned with SoftBank are … [Read more...] about SoftBank turns against WeWork’s parent CEO Neumann

Reefknot Investments, a Singapore-based global Joint-Venture Capital Fund between Temasek and Kuehne + Nagel, has today announced the launch of the Centre of Excellence for Global Emerging Supply Chain Technologies (GESCT). GESCT aims to drive new business models and transformations in the supply chain and logistics industry. Founding members of this industry-leading Think Tank include global thought leaders in their respective fields - Steve Leonard, Founding CEO, SGInnovate; Simon Fich, Head of Global Corporate Development, Kuehne + Nagel; Marc Dragon, Managing Director, Reefknot Investments. Also signing on as individual members of the GESCT are Wolfgang Lehmacher, Former Director & Head of Supply Chain and Transport Industries, World Economic Forum, and Kong Wai Wei, Global Supply Chain Director, Starbucks Corporation. The GESCT is designed around an ecosystem approach which will drive rapid learnings and A Memorandum of Understanding between Reefknot Investments and the … [Read more...] about Reefknot Investments, SGInnovate and partners sign Global MoU