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South African businesses call for sacking of rail + port operator’s management: Business groups in South Africa are calling on Public Enterprise Minister Pravin Gordhan to let go of the senior management of Transnet, which handles the country’s harbor and rail system, Bloomberg reports. Transnet has been plagued by years of corruption and ineffective management, the outlet explains. The country has also been experiencing frequent power outages that last above 10 hours per day, impeding the movement of goods being imported and exported. This is further exacerbated by equipment failures at Transnet ports. Efficiency at the port has fallen significantly, lowering revenues for exporters and importers. The company “requires serious interventions,” Bloomberg quotes Gordhan as saying.
China appeals WTO ruling on tariffs against US products: China submitted this week an appeal with the World Trade Organization (WTO) challenging its decision to reject China’s tariffs on USD 2.4 bn worth of US goods, Bloomberg reports. The WTO had found that China violated its trade commitments by implementing the tariffs. China, on the other hand, says the tariffs were in response to the US imposing “unilateral and protectionist” steel and aluminum tariffs, according to a statement by the Chinese Commerce Ministry. Back in the early stages of former US President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, 25% tariffs were slapped on global steel imports and 10% on aluminum imports.
Amazon p lans to hire 250k logistics workers for the holidays, and to hike hourly wages for logistics personnel, Bloomberg reports. The company will increase the average pay of logistics personnel to around USD 20 per hour to recruit workers amid a labor shortage. The company usually boosts hiring ahead of the holiday shopping season, though it comes as a surprise this season, with holiday hiring projected to be the lowest since 2008, Bloomberg reports, citing data by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in which they anticipated that retail employers will add only 410k jobs in 4Q. They say that Amazon is continuing to benefit from consumers’ shift to online shopping.
