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Democratic and White House negotiators resumed discussions over a sweeping coronavirus relief deal Thursday, but gave no indication they were closer to a breakthrough in resolving deep-seated disputes that led President Trump to end the negotiations earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported. Few on Capitol Hill were optimistic that Congress and the White House would reach an agreement before the Nov. 3 election. Still, negotiations that had been frozen showed signs of life after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) yesterday ruled out moving forward with special support for the battered airline industry without a broader agreement. In a call yesterday afternoon, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made clear that Trump was interested in reaching an agreement on a broader bill, according to Pelosi’s spokesman, Drew Hammill, and an administration official. The White House has gone back and forth on how broad a deal to pursue. After ruling out more talks on Tuesday afternoon, Trump said Tuesday evening and reiterated in recent days that he would support individual relief bills, including aid for airlines and another round of direct checks. The two sides have been at odds over how much money to spend, as well as how to allocate it. Democrats last week passed a $2.2 trillion bill, down from a $3.5 trillion bill passed in May, while Mnuchin had last week proposed a $1.6 trillion offer. White House spokeswoman Alyssa Farah said yesterday that Trump was interested in legislation that included checks, as well as assistance for small businesses and airlines, but not a larger package. Later, she said the White House was “open to going with something bigger” but not the $2.2 trillion package Democrats proposed. Trump had faced pushback from Republicans who said it was a mistake to abandon efforts to mitigate the health and economic blows of the pandemic, especially on the eve of an election where control of both the White House and Senate are at stake. Pelosi, too, has been under pressure from Democratic lawmakers to remain at the negotiating table, amid signs the labor market recovery is stalling.

U.S. government-supported passenger railroad Amtrak said yesterday that without a new government bailout it could be forced to cut more spending and train services, which could lead to the loss of another 2,400 jobs, Reuters reported. Amtrak last month told Congress it needs up to $4.9 billion in government funding for the current budget year, up from the around $2 billion in annual support it usually receives. The railroad, which said last month it was cutting 2,000 jobs, said on Thursday that without more support from Congress, reduced capital spending would result in the loss of 775 jobs, and further reductions in train service by state partners would likely result in 1,625 job losses. Without the new funding, Amtrak chief executive Bill Flynn said, “We will be unable to avoid more drastic impacts that could have long lasting effects on our Northeast Corridor infrastructure and the national rail system.” 

The Conference Board released survey results showing that only 28 percent of all workers expect they'll be working in person by the time 2021 rolls around, The Hill reported. The survey found that 8 percent of the workers surveyed had remained at their workplace through the pandemic, 11 percent had already returned and 9 percent expected they would be back in the last quarter of the year, accounting for 28 percent. Another 30 percent anticipated they would return to work by March, and 7 percent said they would be back between April and September. The survey was conducted online with 1,135 U.S. workers across a range of industries, taken from Sept. 16-25, and sheds light on how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the economy. Only 17 percent of workers said they would be very comfortable returning to their workplace. Nearly a third said they weren't comfortable at all.

U.S. airlines were again holding out hope for another $25 billion in payroll aid after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin yesterday discussed the possibility of standalone legislation for the struggling sector, Reuters reported. Their conversation was the latest in a series of turbulent developments on relief prospects in recent weeks for airlines, which last week began the furlough of tens of thousands of employees. Airline shares jumped on Wednesday after sinking abruptly a day earlier on remarks by President Donald Trump that his administration would abandon talks with congressional Democrats over a major stimulus package until after the Nov. 3 election. Airlines’ relief request enjoys wide bipartisan backing, but House of Representatives Transportation Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio failed last week to win approval of a standalone bipartisan measure for airlines by unanimous consent after some Republicans objected. Pelosi asked Mnuchin by phone on Wednesday to review DeFazio’s bill “so that they could have an informed conversation,” her spokesman, Drew Hammill, wrote on Twitter. They spoke again yesterday evening for 20 minutes and agreed to continue discussions today, Hammill said. A separate Republican-led attempt to pass standalone legislation in the Senate also failed after opposition from three Republican senators, including Rick Scott of Florida. The Republican bill proposes taking unspent money from a first COVID-19 relief package, while the House Democrats’ proposal does not include any cuts to existing spending to fund the program.

Millions of U.S. workers have lost their jobs to the pandemic, but in the auto industry, suppliers are scrambling to find enough people to staff production lines, resorting to such approaches as rewards for good attendance and at-work teachers to lure job-seekers, Reuters reported. At auto parts maker Mobex Global, Chief Executive Joe Perkins said he is boosting pay and offering bonuses to help fill 80 job openings. His engineering and machining company is running more overtime to meet rising demand. "It is the most critical issue in our company," said Perkins, whose firm has 12 U.S. plants and counts General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. among its customers. The U.S. auto industry usually is the first in and the last out of an economic slump. The coronavirus crisis is different. Demand for new vehicles has rebounded. But fears of catching COVID-19 and problems caring for school-age children are keeping many workers at home, compelling employers to raise pay despite the high national jobless rate, industry executives said. Many suppliers are dealing with absenteeism rates of 10-15 percent, said Brian Collie, head of Boston Consulting Group’s global auto practice. That has led the United Auto Workers to give the Detroit automakers more latitude on using temporary workers to cover for absent full-time employees, union President Rory Gamble told Reuters. 

President Trump pulled the plug on ongoing bipartisan coronavirus relief talks in an abrupt move that jolted Wall Street and surprised lawmakers of both parties, but hours later called on Congress to approve a bill providing another direct check to many Americans, the Wall Street Journal reported. “I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill,” Trump wrote earlier yesterday on Twitter. Trump’s tweets appeared to end the long-running effort between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to negotiate an agreement on another trillion-dollar-plus coronavirus relief deal. But later yesterday, Trump appeared to backtrack, calling on Congress to approve some additional assistance for airlines and a small-business aid program. He also tweeted that Congress should pass a bill providing another direct check to many Americans. “If I am sent a Stand Alone Bill for Stimulus Checks ($1,200), they will go out to our great people IMMEDIATELY. I am ready to sign right now,” Trump tweeted. Trump also called on Congress to quickly extend $25 billion in new payroll assistance to U.S. passenger airlines furloughing thousands of workers as air travel remains down sharply amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to Reuters. Democrats have largely resisted passing piecemeal bills, pushing instead for an overall agreement. Stocks turned lower yesterday on Trump’s tweets regarding the talks. Read more. (Subscription required.) 

In related news, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell yesterday reiterated his belief that the U.S. economy needs more fiscal support even though the recovery from the “natural disaster” of the coronavirus pandemic so far has been strong, MarketWatch.com reported. Powell argued in a speech that it was better for Congress to provide too much fiscal support than the reverse. “Too little support would lead to a weak recovery, creating unnecessary hardship for households and businesses,” Powell said. This would lead more businesses to declare bankruptcy and for households to run into severe economic distress. On the other hand, even if policy actions are more than is needed "it will not go to waste,” Powell said. “The recovery will be stronger and move faster if monetary policy and fiscal policy continue to work side by side to provide support to the economy until it is clearly out of the woods,” the Fed chairman said. Read more.

The four spending bills that Congress passed earlier this year to address the coronavirus crisis amounted to one of the costliest relief efforts in U.S. history, and the undertaking soon won praise across the political spectrum for its size and speed, according to a Washington Post commentary. The $4 trillion total of government grants and loans exceeded the cost of 18 years of war in Afghanistan. “We’re going to win this battle in the very near future,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said after the Senate approved the CARES Act, the largest of the four measures. Six months later, however, the nation’s coronavirus battle is far from won, and if the prodigious relief spending was supposed to target the neediest and move the country beyond the pandemic, much of the money missed the mark. The legislation bestowed billions in benefits on companies and wealthy individuals largely unscathed by the pandemic, according to a Washington Post analysis, while at the same time allowing special aid for unemployed workers to expire over the summer and leaving some local public health efforts struggling for money to conduct testing and other prevention efforts. The relief packages amounted to a massive economic Band-Aid for what is fundamentally a health crisis, and much of the relief consisted of economic measures similar to those that have worked in previous recessions. But by failing to focus on containing the virus and the particular harms of the pandemic, the relief packages distributed money to those with little need for it while allowing the illness, which is now more widespread than when the bills passed, to outstrip the aid, according to the commentary. Read more.

*The views expressed in this commentary are from the author/publication cited, are meant for informative purposes only, and are not an official position of ABI. 

Southwest Airlines said yesterday that it is asking unions to agree to pay cuts in order to prevent furloughs and layoffs through 2021 as the industry struggles to stem losses from the coronavirus pandemic in the absence of more federal aid, Reuters reported. Unions represent about 83% of roughly 61,000 Southwest employees. Non-union staff salaries will be cut by 10 percent until Jan. 1, 2022, when they will return to the current level. “Our objectives are to make this quick and simple and avoid furloughs,” Chief Executive Gary Kelly said in an interview. The union representing Southwest pilots said that it had tentatively agreed to meet and discuss cost savings if a second COVID-19 relief package does not pass in Washington. The flight attendants and mechanics unions did not immediately comment. Rivals American Airlines and United Airlines began furloughing 32,000 employees last week when a ban on job cuts expired without another $25 billion in federal payroll support that airlines have been seeking. Read more. 

In related news, the Federal Aviation Administration aid yesterday it would extend temporary waivers of minimum flight requirements at some major U.S. airports through late March 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. Airlines can lose their slots at congested airports if they do not use them at least 80 percent of the time. The FAA said it would extend the waivers at New York’s John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport that were set to expire in October. At four other U.S. airports where the FAA has a formal schedule-review process - Chicago O’Hare, Newark, New Jersey, Los Angeles and San Francisco - the agency proposes to extend credits to airlines for flights that were canceled due to the coronavirus as though those flights were operated through Dec. 31. Major airline groups cited “historically low levels of bookings, with overall bookings down 82 percent year-on-year for 2020 compared to the outlook for 2019; consumer demand that continues to fall ... and the need for schedule flexibility to support sustainable loads.” Read more.

Nearly 300 people at a JBS meat-processing plant in Greeley, Colo., tested positive for the coronavirus, and at least six have died from it, according to data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the New York Times reported. Several families of JBS employees in Greeley are now seeking compensation for a death caused by COVID-19. The company has denied some families’ claims, according to lawyers representing the families who are now taking those claims to court. Those denials offered a view of the difficulties faced by families of essential workers who have fallen ill or died because of the coronavirus, many of whom are struggling to cover medical or funeral costs. Across the U.S., more than 100 meat-processing plants operated by different companies, including Smithfield and Tyson, have had outbreaks of COVID-19, in part because of crowded working conditions. So far, more than 44,000 meatpacking workers have tested positive for the coronavirus, and more than 200 have died, according to the Food & Environment Report Network, which has been tracking the outbreak. Workers’ compensation has traditionally been used to address on-the-job injuries — not fatalities tied to a pandemic that has disrupted millions of lives and killed more than 200,000 people in the United States. Tracing the exact origins of individual infections can be difficult, which appears to have given JBS an avenue to deny compensation claims on the grounds that the illnesses were not necessarily work-related.

More workers identified themselves as permanently laid off and unemployed for the long term in September, a sign that the labor market’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be slow and protracted, the Wall Street Journal reported. While millions of workers have returned to jobs that were suspended this spring due to the virus, those that weren’t called back face the rising prospect of prolonged joblessness and income loss. Those same challenges were a feature of the slow economic recovery from the 2007-09 recession. In April, the most severe month for job loss in the current downturn, 88 percent of those who recently lost jobs reported their layoff as temporary, meaning they expected to return to the same role within six months, according to the Labor Department. In September, the share of such optimists fell to 51 percent, Friday’s jobs report showed. Meanwhile, those reporting themselves as permanent job losers rose to 3.8 million in September, from 2 million in April. That figure could rise further in October as airlines and Walt Disney Co. informed thousands of workers this week that temporary furloughs will become permanent layoffs. Many of those who lost jobs are struggling to find other work. Last month, 58 percent of unemployed workers had been out of a job for at least three months, including 19 percent off the job for at least six, and who are considered long-term unemployed.