Monthly Archives: <span>December 2017</span>

Unions Sees Worker Growth Potential in California’s Marijuana Industry

Unions have caught a whiff of a rare opportunity to organize a whole new set of workers as recreational marijuana becomes legal in California. The United Farm Workers, Teamsters and United Food and Commercial Workers are looking to unionize the …

Obamacare Enrollment Down Only 4% Despite GOP Sabotage Campaign

Slightly fewer Americans have enrolled for insurance through the federal Obamacare marketplace compared to a year ago, the government said on Thursday, but the number was higher than expected in light of steps taken by President Donald Trump and Congress …

Multiple Homes Damaged in Delaware Fire

Multiple homes have been severely damaged by fire in Delaware. News outlets report a Monday night fire in Slaughter Beach left at least two houses destroyed, and caused damage to multiple others. An assistant state fire marshal with the Kent …

Typhoon Tembin Leaves Trail of Death, Destruction in Philippines

A powerful storm that left a trail of death and destruction in the Philippines was downgraded to a tropical depression Tuesday [Dec. 26] and failed to make landfall in Vietnam. Hundreds of thousands of people in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta had …

Starr Cos., China’s PICC Health to Provide Insurance for Belt & Road Project Workers

Starr Cos. announced it is working with China’s PICC Health Insurance Co. Ltd. to provide insurance for Chinese company employees working overseas in Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) countries. The companies are providing a specialty accident and health offering jointly …

Judge Nixes $150M Damages Against Testosterone Drugmaker AbbVie

A U.S. judge on Friday overturned a $150 million verdict against AbbVie Inc. that was the first to result from lawsuits claiming that the company fraudulently misrepresented the risks of its testosterone replacement drug AndroGel. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly …

Self-Driving Technology Being Developed to Enable Driving on Snowy Roads

Self-driving cars may be the future, but relinquishing control of the wheel certainly takes some getting used to. It’s one thing to go (slowly) with the flow on well-marked city streets, for which many self-driving cars were initially developed and …

New York State Employers Must Comply With New Paid Family Leave Law

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed into law a phased-in system of paid family leave that will become effective on January 1, 2018, for New York employers. On the state level, New York becomes the fifth state (joining California, …

ArcelorMittal Subsidiary to Pay $1.5M in Pennsylvania Coke Plant Lawsuit

A subsidiary of European steel giant ArcelorMittal has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit over allegations that its western Pennsylvania coke plant had violated emissions requirements over soot and other pollutants almost daily, according to a proposed …

UnitedHealth to Acquire Banmedica in Chile for $2.8B

UnitedHealth Group Inc said on Friday [Dec. 22] it signed a definitive agreement to buy Chilean healthcare company Banmedica SA for $2.8 billion, expanding the health insurer’s footprint in South America. Banmedica operates health insurance, clinics and other services. UnitedHealth …