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Business & labor at a glance

Greece’s Tsipras tries to rally for austerity deal

ATHENS, Greece – Greek lawmakers braced for an all-night parliament session Friday as the country’s prime minister, Alexia Tsipras, sought to rally support for tough austerity measures designed to win approval for a third bailout.

The proposed measures, including tax hikes and cuts in pension spending, are certain to inflict more pain on a Greek public who just days ago voted overwhelmingly against a similar plan.

But the new proposal, if approved by Greece’s international creditors, will provide longer-term financial support for a nation that has endured six years of recession.

Data breaches can hurt in the future

NEW YORK – The revelation that the data breach at the U.S. government’s personnel office was actually much worse than the government originally thought is following a familiar script.

That’s been the case in many recent high-profile hackings at major U.S. companies. Target, Home Depot and TJX all had to announce additional bad news weeks after going public with their breaches.

The Obama administration said Thursday that hackers stole Social Security numbers from more than 21 million people and took other sensitive information when government computer systems were compromised. That’s up from the 14 million figure investigators gave The Associated Press last month.

Farewell flight for US Airways

DALLAS – The last flight for US Airways will take place this fall, and one more name in airline history will disappear.

The farewell flight for US Airways will be a red-eye – Flight 434 is scheduled to leave San Francisco around 10 p.m. and land in Philadelphia after 6 a.m. on Oct. 18.

The Associated Press

Business & labor at a glance

Dominion’s Standard Choice Offer rates drop

WARREN – July rates for Dominion East Ohio’s Standard Choice Offer / Standard Service Offer are down 42.2 percent from a year ago.

Effective July 14, the SCO/SSO rates will be be $2.793 per thousand cubic feet (mcf). The revised rates are 4.2 cents, or 1.5 percent, lower than the June SCO/SSO rates of $2.835 per mcf, and $2.037 lower than the July 2014 SCO/SSO rates of $4.830/mcf.

Last month, rates were down 43.9 percent compared to June 2014. The company has attributed the continued low prices to high levels of shale energy production.

No change in local stocks

First Niles Financial Bank remained at $9.15 a share at closing on Thursday, while Cortland Bancorp closed at $14 a share.

Creditors urged to help

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico’s governor said Thursday that creditors are responsible for helping the U.S. island out of its economic crisis because they lent money knowing the government was running a deficit.

Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said he wants to talk with creditors about how to boost the economy.

Staff, wire reports

with the money they are owed to help generate enough revenue to make payments under new terms.

Garcia has been meeting this week with government officials, business leaders, legislators and unions in a bid to create a long-term economic and fiscal reform plan to help get the U.S. territory out its slump.

Business & labor at a glance

3,000 baby floats recalled because they can deflate

NEW YORK – About 3,000 inflatable baby floats are being recalled because they can deflate, posing a risk that a child could drown.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday that the seams on the floats, distributed by Otteroo Corp. of San Francisco, can leak air. There have been 54 reports of broken seams but no reports of injuries, the CPSC said.

The recalled float is a round ring that fastens around a baby’s neck. Otteroo is printed on the top of the float. They were sold on Otteroo.com, Amazon.com and Zulily.com between January 2014 and July 2014 for about $35.

Customers should stop using the float and contact Otteroo for a replacement, the CPSC said.

Local financial stocks show mixed results

First Niles Financial Bank stood pat in trading Wednesday to close at $9.15 a share. Cortland Bancorp stocks dropped another 15 cents, after losing 20 cents earlir this week, to close at $14.00 a share.

Milwaukee bus drivers strike, scrambling commute

MILWAUKEE – Hundreds of Milwaukee County union bus drivers went on strike early Wednesday, leaving tens of thousands of commuters scrambling to make alternative plans to get to work and elsewhere.

The roughly 750 drivers walked off the job at 3 a.m. and began picketing at the Milwaukee County Transit System garages after contract negotiations between union leaders and transit officials broke down. The sides met with a federal mediator Tuesday in a last-ditch effort to avoid a strike.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 leaders said the strike would last until Saturday. It is the first strike by MCTS drivers since 1978, when union members stayed off the job for 39 days.

Union President James Macon said drivers are getting support from the public, who waved or honked their horns at picketing drivers on a major Milwaukee street.

The system’s 450 buses are parked in MCTS garages throughout the city and bus service is shut down, transit system spokesman Brendan Conway said.

Conway said the transit system is fielding “a lot of concerns and complaints.”

Staff, wire reports

People have told us they don’t know how they’ll get to work. … And we agree, we understand. We wish there were more that we could do.”

The transit system offered concessions Tuesday, including a cap on the number of part-time drivers it would hire. But the union pushed for higher wages that would have cost $8 million more a year, according to transit officials.

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele accused the union of “punishing” people who rely on buses to get around. Abele said the county transit system made its best offer Tuesday.

“Anything more than this is unsustainable in our County budget and would be irresponsible to the taxpayers we serve,” Abele said in a statement.

Local 998 vice president Rick Bassler said the union didn’t want to strike but that transit system negotiators were “forcing things down our throat.”

Transit system officials want to hire a limited number of part-time drivers to cut overtime hours for full-time union members. Union leaders said part-time drivers would have no health or pension benefits. Drivers are paid an average hourly wage of $23.78. The latest transit proposal would increase wages to $24 an hour in 2016 and $24.45 in 2017.

The transit system serves about 150,000 passengers a day, with an additional 20,000 or more daily during the Summerfest lakefront music festival, which ends Sunday.

A 2015 study commissioned by Milwaukee County estimated 5,000 people would eventually lose their jobs if they couldn’t rely on the transit buses. The MCTS amounted to a $342 million a year benefit to the metropolitan area because of savings from taxi fares, travel time, parking, fewer accidents and not owning a vehicle.

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