UAW-GM update

GM furloughed (temporarily laid off) ~400 factory workers Monday as the UAW strike entered its fourth week - the world’s largest automaker has furloughed more than 10,000 non-UAW workers in North America since the strike began. GM submitted a new contract proposal to the union yesterday morning.

Syrian situation

On Sunday, the White House released a statement addressing Turkey’s planned military operation against the Kurds in northern Syria. A senior administration official on a call with reporters late last night said that special operations troops in northern Syria were ordered to relocate ahead of Turkey’s impending attack.

All rise…

Today, the Supreme Court will consider whether federal law protects LGBTQ employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The court will hear three cases, two on sexual orientation and one on gender identity - decisions are expected in mid-2020.

Up in smoke

Kroger and Walgreens are discontinuing the sale of e-cigarettes, joining other retailers like Walmart (who stopped selling e-cigs in September) and Rite Aid (April). Both companies cited questions around impending regulation, as well as health concerns following the nationwide spread of a mysterious vaping related illness.

Unicorn sighting

Startup Next Insurance, which sells insurance products to small businesses, announced the closure of a $250 million Series C funding round led by German reinsurer Munich Re. The round values the three-year-old U.S. based startup at more than $1 billion.

Pension plan pare back

GE announced it is freezing its pension plan for about 20,000 U.S. employees and offering buyouts to 100,000 former employees in a bid to reduce the company’s pension deficit of $27 billion. The conglomerate is still responsible for the pensions of 600,000 retirees, and the changes won’t affect retired workers or those currently receiving pension payments.

The City of Angles

Google’s autonomous driving unit Waymo announced it will be bringing its self-driving vehicles to Los Angeles, the country’s second most populated city. The company will begin creating a detailed map of the city this week prior to deploying its driverless vehicles.

Animal accountant

According to his mom, Alex Seidleck – now 16 – possessed a soft spot for animals ever since he was a baby. So when he heard that a donation box meant to support a local animal shelter had been stolen, he was so distressed he couldn’t keep it off his mind. He brought it up with his mom, telling her he wished he had the money himself to replace the stolen cash. That’s when his mom suggested a fundraiser.

So Alex got to work. He set up a GoFundMe page where he described what had happened, and his vision for the kind of people who would step in and right the wrong – the kind of people he was sure lived in his community. And sure enough, donations began pouring in. Before he knew it, Alex had exceeded his fundraising goal by 30 percent.

On his mom’s birthday, they went together to present the money to the shelter. Alex said it felt so good to know that the shelter would have what it needed to care for its animals, and that the support for the cause so greatly outweighed one unfortunate incident. After the visit, Alex and his mom decided to take it one step further – they’re going to adopt a rescue from the shelter. Happy endings all around!

A case of the Blues

Laila Anderson is 11 years old and loves hockey. Like, really loves hockey - her favorite team is the St. Louis Blues. So when she was diagnosed with a rare auto-immune disease after months of invasive tests, her mom knew exactly how to cheer her up – visits from her favorite Blues players.

Those visits helped change Laila’s outlook, her mom said. They showed each other their scars, and the guys told Laila that she was tough, just like them. It helped her stay motivated to fight the illness. And when she needed a bone marrow transplant, the team set up a Be The Match drive at their games to help find someone for her – and it worked. She's now on the road to recovery, and was even feeling well enough to join in on hoisting the Stanley Cup in the locker room with the team after their historic championship run.

But last week, Laila got her biggest surprise yet when two of her favorite players stopped by her house for a visit. She was overjoyed just to see them, but then they handed her a box... inside was a Stanley Cup Championship Ring. The guys said they wanted her to have one, too, because of the inspiration she’s been to the team. Laila burst into happy tears.