Older Workers

Mass layoffs, downsizing, buyouts ... whatever you want to call them, dismissals by large corporations have become commonplace. Getting fired doesn't come with much stigma anymore and perks like severance payments, benefit extensions and the use of "outplacement" firms can help. But with retirement, health care and other essential benefits still linked to jobs, it's as important as ever to get back in the saddle. Keeping cool and rational is a good place to start, experts say. The more tenure you've had at a company and the smaller the number of firings, the more negotiating room you have when talking severance.

One of the toughest decisions faced by thousands of workers each year is whether to accept an employer's buyout offer. Is a lump sum of cash, perhaps amounting to tens of thousands of dollars, worth giving up a regular paycheck and company benefits? Will workers lose their job anyway if they don't take a buyout? Or will the company come back with an even sweeter package if they hold out? Companies sometimes offer buyouts after mergers to get rid of duplicate positions. But these enticements to leave the job often come from businesses financially ailing and looking to cut costs.

The wave of federal workers originally hired to spy on the Soviet Union, launch the Great Society and regulate everyone from polluters to drugmakers in the 1960s and 1970s is beginning to age out of the work force, an exodus that some officials say could drain expertise and diminish the quality of service. The numbers point to what some call a "retirement tsunami": 60 percent of federal workers are older than 45, and many could retire now if they wanted to, compared with 31 percent in the private sector, according to one think tank.

CHICAGO - Management finally blinked in the 24-day game of chicken between Boeing Co. and its biggest union. Faced with escalating costs and the potential for damaged customer relationships, Boeing and the Machinists union tentatively agreed Friday to end a strike that idled more than 18,000 workers and shut down commercial airplane production for almost a month. The deal, which is subject to a union ratification vote Thursday, gives the Machinists what they wanted most - better pension benefits, no increase in out-of-pocket health care costs and more rights for senior workers.

ABOUT HALF of American workers are over 40 years old, a proportion that is not expected to change anytime soon as even the youngest baby boomers are a long way from retirement. With more workers changing jobs more frequently throughout their careers, the chances that they will encounter some form of age discrimination are high. That's reason enough to hail the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last week making it easier for older workers to bring age-bias lawsuits against offending employers.

The Supreme Court broadened job protections for the fast-growing ranks of older Americans in the work force yesterday, ruling that employers can be held liable for age bias even if there is no proof of intentional discrimination. With roughly half of all U.S. workers over 40, and covered by the federal law barring age-based discrimination, labor lawyers said the decision could open the door to significantly more claims from employees who felt wronged but lacked explicit evidence of bias.

In The Region Md. coal producer sets its IPO price at $22 per share Foundation Coal Holdings Inc. said yesterday that it has priced its initial public offering of 23.6 million shares of common stock at $22 a share. The common stock will begin trading today on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "FCL." Morgan Stanley & Co. and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. are managing the IPO, and UBS Securities, Bear Stearns & Co., Credit Suisse First Boston, Lehman Brothers Inc., ABN AMRO Rothschild LLC and Natexis Bleichroeder Inc. are co-managers . Linthicum Heights-based Foundation Coal, the fourth-largest coal producer in the nation, has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 3.5 million shares at the public offering price.

As hundreds of people seeking work wandered through the rows of tables yesterday at a job fair in Timonium, one common thread tied them together: They were all over the age of 50, an increasing segment of Maryland's work force. But what made them different from those who came to the senior job fair in years past is that many have been forced into retirement and must find jobs, said Patti Madigan, employment and housing manager for the Baltimore County Department of Aging, one of the job fair's sponsors.

David Barnes is losing hope. After sending out resumes, applying for work and submitting online job applications, Barnes has gotten few bites and no job offers. "I've gotten less and less picky as I've looked," said a frustrated Barnes, 17, who estimated he has put more than 25 hours into his job search. "No one replies to what I send out." Barnes was in the top 5 percent of his graduating class last month at Long Reach High School in Columbia and will attend George Washington University in the fall.

David Barnes is losing hope. After sending out resumes, applying for work and even submitting online job applications, Barnes has gotten few bites and no job offers. "I've gotten less and less picky as I've looked," said a frustrated Barnes, 17, who estimated he has put more than 25 hours into his job search. "No one replies to what I send out." Barnes was in the top 5 percent of his graduating class last month at Long Reach High School in Columbia and will attend George Washington University in the fall.