NATION

NATION

Chinese workers exposed to mercury, report says

HARTFORD, Conn. — A new report says a Chinese factory that makes light bulbs for General Electric Co. subjects many of its employees to 64-hour work weeks and many are exposed to mercury.

Cleveland-based Policy Matters Ohio accuses Xiamen Topstar Lighting Co. Ltd. of violating China’s labor laws and GE’s own corporate policies. Xiamen Topstar is a joint venture between Topstar in China and Fairfield, Conn.-based GE. The plant in Xiamen, Fujian Province, in southern China makes energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs that contain mercury.

The report says exhausted employees do not know they are working with a toxic substance, and it calls on GE to stop abusing workers and maintain a U.S. work force to make energy-efficient products. Kim Freeman, a spokeswoman for GE Consumer & Industrial in Louisville, Ky., says the company cannot comment immediately because officials are reviewing the report.

FDIC to add workers to handle bank failures

WASHINGTON — Anticipating a surge in troubled financial institutions, federal regulators will increase by 60 percent the number of workers who handle bank failures.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. wants to add 140 workers to bring staff levels to 360 workers in the division that handles bank failures, John Bovenzi, the agency’s chief operating officer, said Tuesday.

“We want to make sure that we’re prepared,” Bovenzi said, adding that most of the hires will be temporary and based in Dallas.

Associated Press