GM, Chrysler offer buyouts and early retirement to workers
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Tuesday, February 3, 2009
General Motors NYSE: GM (GM) and Chrysler have both begun to offer layoff packages to their workforces.
The automobile manufacturers have been hard hit in the recent economic downturn and have been forced to seek federal aid from the U.S. government. Reports say that GM’s package includes a $20,000 cash payment and a $25,000 new vehicle voucher. Chrysler will offer a $25,000 vehicle voucher and $50,000 with healthcare and $75,000 without. Both will offer the deal to most United Auto Workers (UAW) union members – 62,000 at GM, which is seeking to cut 31,500 jobs by 2012.
The two companies have received $13.4 billion in federal loans to keep them operating, but Congress required them to produce viability plans to demonstrate they were making significant cost cuts and labor concessions in return for the money. UAW workers in Detroit earn $28 an hour; their replacements will earn about half that. The UAW’s “jobs bank”, a system where workers without duties are still paid, has stopped at both companies.
GM is also attempting to engineer a debt-for-equity swap, reducing its liabilities from $27.5 billion in unsecured debt to $9.2 billion. It is also seeking to sell a truck manufacturer, the Delco Electronics parts group and the Hummer and Saab Automobile vehicle brands.
The entire motor manufacturing sector has suffered under the economic downturn, with the Ford Motor Company NYSE: F announcing a $14.6 billion annual loss, although it has not sought federal aid. GM and Chrysler both ran out of operating funds in December, leading to the federal bailout.
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How can IFA s use seminars to promote their services?
by
Glynis Shaw
Seminars, conferences and information events are proving to be a highly effective way of generating new business for Independent Financial Advisers (IFA s) in the UK.
Financial advice and planning seminars usually focus on one key issue, or a group of issues relevant to specific demographic such as those approaching retirement, wealthy investors, small business owners etc.
Often held at an easily accessible hotel, the events may comprise just one keynote speaker or a series of sessions from different advisers from the same partnership or IFA s who have come together to help build new business. Attendance is usually free, although in some cases a modest attendance fee can help attract more serious and focused attendees. The most common form of promotion is though deirect marketing to quality mailing lists.
If you are an IFA, there are many benefits to be derived from speaking at a seminar. You can meet potential clients face to face and allow them to see you in action, which immediately builds confidence and trust that would be hard to gain through any other method. If you are willing to stand in front of an audience and talk with authority on a subject your audience will automatically grant you the kudos of being an expert.
Many attendees, especially older people, may be reluctant to have an IFA visit them in their own home, but are much more comfortable about visiting an event or seminar.
Plus, the fact that the attendee is willing to give up their time to come and listen means they are far more likely to convert into a lead or client.
What topics can be covered in a financial seminar?
The themes of seminars broadly fall into two main areas; events aimed at affluent and often older consumers, and those aimed at small business owners.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaqikbPqlUg[/youtube]
Seminars aimed at consumers and wealthy individuals can be used successfully to promote a range of financial products including:
Retirement planning, especially for those approaching retirement age and looking to maximise on the opportunities available.
Investments including identifying and assessing new opportunities, learning the secrets of successful investors, and also finding out which investments to avoid.
Tax reduction and discovering the latest ideas for legitimately reducing you potential tax liability.
Home Equity Release schemes, including what options are available and what are the pitfalls to avoid.
Inheritance Tax (IHT) information, including how to limit tax liabilities, plan for the future and protect estates for family members.
Seminars aimed at small business owners can be used to address other important financial planning issues:
Business Protection including partnership insurance, keyman insurance and shareholder protection.
Employee pension plans for companies with five or more employees.
Tax Advice to help stay on top of ever changing legislation and obligations.
Incentive Schemes to help retain and motivate staff in a tax efficient way.
How to attract delegates to financial seminars
There are numerous way to promote your financial seminar. However care needs to be taken over the targeting of potential attendees, especially if the event is free.
For example you will want to make sure the people invited are the right target market for the topic you are planning to discuss, so that the event is more relevant for them, and also more successful for you in generating enquires. You also need to target potential attendees geographically.
Because of the need for targeting, direct marketing is a particularly powerful companion to seminars. Direct marketing techniques such as direct mail or telemarketing are all highly targeted to specific individuals, about whom much information can be gathered in advance.
Prospective delegates can then be mailed with an introductory letter and invitation to your seminar, and can also be followed up by telephone if appropriate. Provide a response mechanism on your mailer so that it is easy for people to sign up.
High quality direct marketing lists of potential attendees are widely available and can be easily rented for an affordable fee, but you need to ensure you purchase data from a reliable and reputable supplier and that the list is appropriately targeted.
For example, one leading supplier of lists to IFA s for promoting seminars is Selectabase. They provide many lists suitable for use in this context, and have found proven results from two in particular.
The Silver Prospects list from Selectabase contains the details of mature and affluent UK consumers, who can be selected based on many different criteria such as their life stage and financial situation. The Silver Prospects list is used frequently by IFA s to identify potential clients in their geographic area.
IFA s have also used another Selectabase list very successfully to target small business owners who may be interested in attending business financial planning events. The Startupsplus list from Selectabase provides details of new business start ups and also businesses which have relocated or are under new management, all in a strictly defined geographic area.
Using this combination of direct marketing with financial seminars can prove very successful, even with the cost of hiring a venue and other marketing costs.
For example, a Financial Services adviser in Devon recently used Silver Prospects data to invite consumers to an Inheritance Tax seminar. They reported that from a list of approximately 2,700 names we had 120 high net worth attendees – this represented a response rate of more than 4.4%, at least double what we had hoped to get .
An adviser based in London representing a nationally known financial services provider had a good response to a seminar, and an even better follow up , reporting that there were 85 attendees, and in the first week I have had 5 meetings – I am confident that over time I will gain some excellent clients from this list.
Other IFA s have confirmed the positive return on investment which can be achieved from seminars promoted by direct marketing, with one Selectabase client claiming their mailings and events have provided a return of 20 times capital expenditure! .
Written by Steve Sellwood, Joint Managing Director of http://www.selectabase.co.uk who provide quality direct marketing and mailing lists for use by IFA s. Lists include Silver Prospects data of older consumers and Startupsplus new business owners from your local area. Selectabase also provide many other b2b and b2c lists for use in marketing financial services, and a range of affordable list cleaning products to keep valuable in house data current and up to date. Contact Selectabase on 0130 4382211 or visit http://www.selectabase.co.uk.
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Asbestos controversy aboard Scientology ship Freewinds
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Friday, May 16, 2008
Controversy has arisen over the reported presence of blue asbestos on the MV Freewinds, a cruise ship owned by the Church of Scientology. According to the Saint Martin newspaper The Daily Herald and the shipping news journal Lloyd’s List, the Freewinds was sealed in April and local public health officials on the Caribbean island of Curaçao where the ship is docked began an investigation into the presence of asbestos dust on the ship. Former Scientologist Lawrence Woodcraft supervised work on the ship in 1987, and attested to the presence of blue asbestos on the Freewinds in an affidavit posted to the Internet in 2001. Woodcraft, a licensed architect by profession, gave a statement to Wikinews and commented on the recent events.
According to The Daily Herald, the Freewinds was in the process of being renovated by the Curaçao Drydock Company. The article states that samples taken from paneling in the ship were sent to the Netherlands, where an analysis revealed that they “contained significant levels of blue asbestos”. An employee of the Curaçao Drydock Company told Radar Online in an April 30 article that the Freewinds has been docked and sealed, and confirmed that an article about asbestos ran in the local paper.
Lloyd’s List reported that work on the interior of the Freewinds was suspended on April 27 after health inspectors found traces of blue asbestos on the ship. According to Lloyd’s List, Frank Esser, Curaçao Drydock Company’s interim director, joined Curaçao’s head of the department of labor affairs Christiene van der Biezen along with the head of the local health department Tico Ras and two inspectors in an April 25 inspection of the ship. “We are sending someone so that they can tell us what happened, where it came from, since when it has been there,” said Panama Maritime Authority’s director of merchant marine Alfonso Castillero in a statement to Lloyd’s List.
The Church of Scientology purchased the ship, then known as the Bohème, in 1987, through an organization called Flag Ship Trust. After being renovated and refitted, it was put into service in June 1988. The ship is used by the Church of Scientology for advanced Scientology training in “Operating Thetan” levels, as well as for spiritual retreats for its members. Curaçao has been the ship’s homeport since it was purchased by the Church of Scientology.
According to his 2001 statement, Lawrence Woodcraft had been an architect in London, England since 1975, and joined Scientology’s elite “Sea Organization” (Sea Org) in 1986. He wrote that he was asked by the Sea Org to work on the Freewinds in 1987, and during his work on the ship “noticed a powdery blue fibrous substance approximately 1 ½” thick between the paint and the steel wall,” which he believed to be asbestos. He also discovered what he thought was blue asbestos in other parts of the ship, and reported his findings to Church of Scientology executives. Woodcraft discussed his experiences in a 2001 interview published online by the Lisa McPherson Trust, a now-defunct organization which was critical of the Church of Scientology.
| The Freewinds regularly inspects the air quality on board and always meets or exceeds US standards. | ||
Church of Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw responded to Radar Online about the asbestos reports, in an email published in an article in Radar on May 1. “The Freewinds regularly inspects the air quality on board and always meets or exceeds US standards,” said Pouw. She stated that two inspections performed in April “confirmed that the air quality is safe,” and asserted that the inspections revealed the Freewinds satisfies standards set by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the U.S. Clean Air Act.
Pouw told Radar that “The Freewinds will be completing its refit on schedule.” The Church of Scientology-affiliated organization Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) had been planning a cruise aboard the Freewinds scheduled for May 8, but according to Radar an individual who called the booking number for the cruise received a message that the cruise had been delayed due to ongoing work on the ship. Citing an article in the Netherlands Antilles newspaper Amigoe, Radar reported on May 6 that a team from the United States and supervised by an independent bureau from the Netherlands traveled to Curaçao in order to remove asbestos from the Freewinds.
| …if the Church of Scientology claims to have removed the blue asbestos, I just don’t see how, it’s everywhere. You would first have to remove all the pipes, plumbing, a/c ducts, electrical wiring etc. etc. just a maze of stuff. | ||
“I stand by everything I wrote in my 2001 affidavit,” said Lawrence Woodcraft in an exclusive statement given to Wikinews. Woodcraft went on to state: “I would also comment that if the Church of Scientology claims to have removed the blue asbestos, I just don’t see how, it’s everywhere. You would first have to remove all the pipes, plumbing, a/c ducts, electrical wiring etc. etc. just a maze of stuff. Also panelling as well, basically strip the ship back to a steel hull. Also blue asbestos is sprayed onto the outer walls and then covered in paint. It’s in every nook and cranny.”
Many Scientologist celebrities have spent time aboard the Freewinds, including Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Chick Corea, Lisa Marie Presley, Catherine Bell, Kate Ceberano, and Juliette Lewis. Now magazine reported that Tom Cruise has been urged to seek medical attention regarding potential asbestos exposure, however a representative for Cruise stated he has “absolutely no knowledge” of the recent asbestos controversy. Cruise, Holmes, Travolta and Preston have celebrated birthdays and other events on the Freewinds.
| There is not now and never has been a situation of asbestos exposure on the Freewinds. | ||
In a May 15 statement to the United Kingdom daily newspaper Metro, a representative for the Church of Scientology said that “There is not now and never has been a situation of asbestos exposure on the Freewinds.” The Asbestos and Mesothelioma Center notes that agencies have recommended anyone who has spent time on the Freewinds consult with their physician to determine if possible asbestos exposure may have affected their health.
Raw blue asbestos is the most hazardous form of asbestos, and has been banned in the United Kingdom since 1970. Blue asbestos fibers are very narrow and thus easily inhaled, and are a major cause of mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a form of cancer which can develop in the lining of the lungs and chest cavity, the lining of the abdominal cavity, or the pericardium sac surrounding the heart. The cancer is incurable, and can manifest over 40 years after the initial exposure to asbestos.
“This is the most dangerous type of asbestos because the fibres are smaller than the white asbestos and can penetrate the lung more easily,” said toxicologist Dr. Chris Coggins in a statement published in OK! Magazine. Dr. Coggins went on to note that “Once diagnosed with mesothelioma, the victim has six months to a year to live. It gradually reduces lung function until the victim is no longer able to breathe and dies.”
