Mayor appointed to works council
Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly on Friday joined the Tennessee State Workforce Development Board, which provides leadership and guidance on workforce development strategies funded by the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
The governor-appointed 33-member board represents a diverse group of business and labor leaders, education and economic development professionals, and government officials. Kelly will serve as the city’s sole mayor on the state panel.
“Every day as Mayor, my focus is on creating new career paths and skill-building opportunities to prepare our local workforce to thrive in our growing and evolving economy, and I am honored that Governor Lee chose me to join the state workforce Development Board to support this work,” Kelly said in a statement. “Human resources development is the most important policy issue we are working on in the city because it is the most important strategy we have to fill the gaps in our to close the community.”
Disney is increasing pay to at least $18 an hour
Unions for service workers at Walt Disney World on Thursday reached a tentative agreement with the company that would raise the starting minimum wage from $15 to $18 an hour in a pact that lays the foundation for starting wages in central Florida’s sprawling tourism industry could.
Disney World service workers, who belong to the six unions that make up the Service Trades Council Union coalition, planned to vote on the contract proposal next Wednesday after rejecting an earlier offer last month that was below the $18 minimum wage per hour. The agreement covers approximately 45,000 service workers at the Disney theme park resort outside of Orlando. Hourly wages for workers could rise between $5.50 and $8.60 by the end of the five-year contract, if approved, union leaders said.
“Securing a minimum wage of $18 an hour this year, increasing the overall economic value of Disney’s original offering, and ensuring full wages are paid to every worker are the priorities union members were determined to fight for,” said Matt Hollis , leader of the trade union coalition . “Today we won this fight.”
Nuclear power plant hit by 2nd water leak
A nuclear power plant near Minneapolis has leaked water containing radioactive material for the second time and the plant is being shut down. However, there is no danger to the population, said the plant owner on Thursday.
A leak of what is believed to be hundreds of gallons of tritiated water was discovered this week during a temporary repair at the Monticello nuclear power plant, where 400,000 gallons of water containing tritium spilled in November, Xcel Energy said in a statement Thursday.
The facility, which is about 38 miles northwest of Minneapolis, was scheduled to shut down Friday to allow permanent repairs to begin, the company said.
There was a months-long delay in announcing the first leak, which raised questions about public safety and transparency, but industry experts said there never was a public health threat.
The new leak, which was announced a day after Xcel Energy announced it had been discovered, comes from a temporary resolution of the original leak, the company said in a statement. This time the leak is expected to be in the hundreds of gallons.
Chad nationalizes Exxon Mobil assets
Chad is nationalizing all assets of multinational oil giant Exxon Mobil, including its hydrocarbon and exploration permits, the government said.
“The finance and budget minister must ensure that the said decree is implemented from the date of its publication,” said Haliki Choua Mahamat, the government’s secretary-general for state media.
The nationalization of a private company means that all assets are now owned by the government. While this happened in the 1960s and 1970s, it hasn’t happened recently and doesn’t conform to the usual regulatory framework in the industry, energy experts say.
Chad began producing oil in 2003, and Exxon has operated in the country for several decades. She ran the Doba oil project in Chad.
The move could deter investors from West Africa at a time of rising global energy demand and a slowdown in foreign investment in the region, said Olufola Wusu, partner and head of the oil and gas desk at Nigeria-based Megathos Law Practice.
