Australia said on Thursday that it would make pension contributions for workers who take paid parental leave, the latest effort by the centre-left Labor government to address gender imbalance in the workplace.
Under the new policy, the government will contribute 12% of a worker's wages into their pension fund, known in Australia as superannuation, on top of their government-funded parental leave. The policy will start in July 2025, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said in a statement.
"The data is clear - that when women take time out of the workforce to raise children it impacts their retirement incomes with women retiring, on average, with about 25% less super than men," Gallagher said, referring to superannuations.
Currently, new parents on government-paid leave do not benefit from any pension contributions.
AustralianSuper, the country's biggest pension fund, said it welcomed the move, which it said would add about A$7,000 ($4,594.10) per parental leave period for members at retirement.
"This boost to the retirement savings for those receiving the Commonwealth Parental Leave Pay will be particularly beneficial for low paid and vulnerable workers," AustralianSuper Chief Executive Paul Schroder said in a statement.
Employers are required by law to pay workers 11% of their salary as a pension contribution.
Addressing gender inequality in the workplace has been a key policy focus for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese' Labor government.
Despite years of commentary by governments and companies, there is still a gap between what men and women earn at some of Australia's biggest employers. A first of its kind report released last month showed the national gender pay gap was at 19%.
Rocket maker SpaceX is being accused in a new lawsuit of refusing to promote a female production worker, paying her less than male colleagues and retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment by her manager.
Michelle Dopak, a production coordinator at SpaceX headquarters in California, said in the lawsuit filed in state court on Tuesday that company officials including president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell have ignored complaints by her and other employees of widespread bias against women.
Dopak also said her married supervisor pressured her into having a sexual relationship that resulted in a pregnancy. He offered her $100,000 to have an abortion, which she declined, and then SpaceX allowed him to transfer $3.7 million in stock options out of his name to avoid paying child support to the plaintiff, Dopak claims.
The lawsuit claims SpaceX is attempting to force Dopak to quit by overloading her with work, despite accommodations she is entitled to in order to address work-related stress.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Dopak is accusing SpaceX of discrimination, harassment, retaliation and paying her less than men with comparable jobs in violation of California law. She is seeking unspecified damages.
The lawsuit comes as SpaceX is already fighting a proposed class action filed in October claiming it pays and promotes women and minorities less than white men. Meanwhile, a California civil rights agency is investigating complaints by a group of former engineers claiming that the company tolerates rampant discrimination and harassment against female employees.
SpaceX is also facing a separate case before a U.S. labor board claiming those same engineers were unlawfully fired for circulating a letter accusing founder and CEO Elon Musk of sexism.
The company has denied wrongdoing, and has filed a lawsuit seeking to block the case by claiming that the labor board's structure and in-house enforcement proceedings violate the U.S. Constitution.
Japan's largest industrial labour group said on Thursday that 25 of its member unions have so far had their wage demands met in full from management, agreeing to raise full-time workers' pay 6.7% during annual wage talks that end next week.
The pay hike was the biggest since the UA Zensen, an umbrella group that represents 2,237 unions, was established in 2012, likely adding to the momentum of the ongoing negotiations. Strong wage growth is expected to pave the way for the central bank to normalise monetary policy.
Speculation persists that the Bank of Japan may lift negative interest rates at its policy-setting meetings at either its March 18-19 or April 25-26 meetings.
UA Zensen seeks a total wage increase of 6%, 4% of which are to be in base pay hikes, at this year's Japan's wage talks negotiations between blue-chip companies and unions.
Last year, Japanese firms offered workers the highest wage hikes in 30 years. Average Japanese workers' wages had remained stagnant since the asset-bubble burst in the early 1990s.
UA Zensen represents 1.8 million workers in the service, textiles, distribution and other sectors, making it Japan's largest sector-to-sector union.
For the second straight year UA Zensen's pay demand exceeded that of Rengo, Japan's largest trade union confederation, which called for pay hikes of 5% or more this year.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) said that more than 30% of workers at a Toyota Motor (7203.T) Missouri factory are seeking to join the union.
Toyota, which employs more than 1,000 wokers at the plant that produces more than 2.6 million cylinder heads for engines annually, opposes union membership.
The company "has no way to verify or determine the accuracy of the statements made by the UAW," a spokesperson said Wednesday. "We do not believe a third party at our manufacturing facilities would enhance the results, stability or team member experience that we have achieved together. We are confident that with all of the facts, our team members would not choose union representation."
It was not clear when the UAW might seek a vote but it has said previously it wants to see support from 70% of a plant's workforce before pushing for a vote of employees on whether to join the union.
In November, the UAW said it was launching a first-of-its-kind push to publicly organize the entire non-union auto sector in the U.S. employing about 150,000 hourly workers, after winning record new contracts with the Detroit Three automakers.
The UAW said last week a majority of hourly workers at a Mercedes Benz (MBGn.DE) Alabama factory have signed union authorization cards.
Mercedes Benz did not say whether it would recognize the union or contest the effort ahead of a potential vote. The company said it has a strong record of success in more than 25 years of operations in Alabama and believes "open and direct communication" with its employees "is the best path forward to ensure continued success.
About 6,000 workers are employed at the German automaker's Alabama plant that builds the GLE and GLS.
Last month, the UAW said a majority of workers at Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly plant have also signed union cards.
The UAW has for decades unsuccessfully sought to organize auto factories operated by foreign automakers. Efforts to organize Nissan Motor (7201.T) plants in Mississippi and Tennessee failed by wide margins, and two attempts to organize VW's plant in Chattanooga narrowly failed. In 2019, VW workers at the plant rejected union representation in an 833-776 vote.
Fund management giant Fidelity International is planning to cut around 1,000 jobs globally in 2024, equivalent to around 9% of its headcount, according to an internal company memo seen by Reuters.
The company, which manages $776 billion of client assets, said the job cuts were part of a broader cost reduction programme expected to save around $125 million a year.
The cuts come at a bruising time for the wider fund management industry, which has struggled to retain client cash through a period of turbulent markets and higher interest rates that have driven investors into lower-risk or passive alternatives.
Other fund managers are also pursuing cuts, including the world's largest asset manager BlackRock, which said in January it would cut about 3% of its workforce.
The memo was signed by Fidelity International president Keith Metters, who was appointed last week to head the business and succeed Anne Richards, who Fidelity announced in November was stepping down as CEO.
The memo also said the fund manager would push out timelines on non-core projects and focus investment in areas that delivered most value to clients.
A Fidelity International spokesperson confirmed the contents of the memo to Reuters.
"In this more challenging economic environment, as any other business would, we are taking a sensible approach to evaluating our cost base," the Fidelity International spokesperson said in a statement.
"Our overriding objective will continue to be prioritising and protecting areas focused on client retention and satisfaction," the statement added.
The job losses would be spread across all business lines and regions, Fidelity said. The company operates in more than 25 countries.