Things To Do In SW Florida

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS (AP Business Writer)

NEW YORK (AP) — Auto workers held waves of walkouts. Hollywood actors and writers picketed for months. And healthcare, education and hospitality employees also withheld their labor while calling for improved pay and job conditions.

The number of U.S. workers on strike more than doubled last year. According to an annual report from the Labor Action Tracker, a collaboration between researchers at Cornell University and the University of Illinois, those involved in work stoppages climbed 141% in 2023 to a total of 539,000 striking workers — up from 224,000 in 2022.

This jump can be largely credited to big, high-profile work stoppages, the Thursday report notes. Strikes from unions such as United Auto Workers, Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions and United Teachers Los Angeles accounted for nearly 65% of the striking workers.

Johnnie Kallas, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois who founded the Labor Action Tracker in 2021, noted that the U.S. hasn’t seen this many striking workers for several years — and pointed to 2023’s strength across the private sector, in particular. read more

It’s a good week to buy big ships as Royal Caribbean Group announced it had ordered a seventh Oasis-class ship to be constructed following the debut this year of the Port Canaveral-bound Utopia of the Seas.

“While we eagerly anticipate the debut of Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas this summer, we’re already dreaming up her sister ship and the next installation in the brand’s extremely popular Oasis Class,” said Jason Liberty, president and CEO of the parent company to Royal Caribbean International as well as the Celebrity and Silversea cruise bands.

It’s the second major ship announcement this week following Carnival Corp.’s order of a fourth Excel-class ship for Carnival Cruise Line.

Carnival Cruise Line to get 4th Excel-class ship, sister to Canaveral’s Mardi Gras

Royal executives in the last year have hinted that Oasis class ships might not be done despite the introduction this year of Icon of the Seas, the first of three in the larger Icon class.

Now the yet-to-be-named sister ship to the five existing Oasis-class ships as well as the under construction Utopia of the Seas  will be constructed at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France with an expected completion in 2028. The announcement is contingent on securing financing for the order, but is expected to be complete later this year, according to the cruise line group. read more

By TOM KRISHER (AP Auto Writer)

DETROIT (AP) — Last fall’s contentious United Auto Workers’ strike changed Ford’s relationship with the union to the point where it will “think carefully” about where it builds future vehicles, Ford’s top executive said Thursday.

CEO Jim Farley told the Wolfe Research Global Auto Conference in New York that the company always took pride in its relationship with the UAW, having avoided strikes since the 1970s.

But last year, Ford’s highly profitable factory in Louisville, Kentucky, was the first truck plant that the UAW shut down with a strike.

Farley said as the company looks at the transition from internal combustion to electric vehicles, “we have to think carefully about our (manufacturing) footprint.”

Ford, Farley said, decided to build all of its highly profitable big pickup trucks in the U.S., and by far has the most union members — 57,000 — of any Detroit automaker. This came at a higher cost than competitors, who went through bankruptcy and built truck plants in Mexico, he said. But Ford thought it was the “right kind of cost,” Farley said. read more

By MATT OTT (AP Business Writer)

Fewer Americans filed for jobless claims last week as the labor market continues to show resilience in the face of elevated interest rates intended to cool economic growth in the U.S.

Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 8,000 to 212,000 for the week ending Feb. 10, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The four-week average of claims, which quiets some of the week-to-week noise, rose by 5,750 to 218,500, up from 212,750 the previous week.

Weekly unemployment claims are seen as a proxy for the number of U.S. layoffs in a given week. They have remained at extraordinarily low levels despite efforts by the U.S. Federal Reserve to cool the economy.

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate 11 times beginning in March of 2022 in an effort to bring down the four-decade high inflation that took hold after the economy roared back from the COVID-19 recession of 2020.

Though inflation has eased considerably in the past year, the Labor Department reported earlier this week that consumer prices remain well above the Fed’s 2% target. read more

Q: Our condominium association recently passed a rather large special assessment to get some work done that we do not have enough money in reserve to cover. Times are tight, and some of our neighbors will have trouble paying. What happens if someone is unable to pay a large special assessment? — Wilmena

A: Many community associations have passed special assessments recently due to delayed maintenance and underfunded cash reserves. A special assessment is an expense charged to a homeowner by their association to cover unexpected expenses or to fund upcoming repairs or improvements. These assessments are typically levied in addition to regular monthly dues and can be significant. Depending on the community’s governing rules, they are typically voted on and approved by the association’s board of directors or the membership.

Ask a real estate pro: How can we find out about upcoming assessments before we buy a condo?

Homeowners in a community association, such as an HOA, condo, or co-op, who do not pay their regular or special assessments risk losing their home to foreclosure and having a personal money judgment against them. If their community takes legal or collection action, the homeowner will have to pay those costs, which include attorney fees, interest, and administrative expenses, on top of the assessment amount. These costs can be very high, and I have seen many cases where they are much higher than the unpaid assessment. read more