Archive for February 24th, 2009
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
A former junior minister in Northern Ireland died while on a diving holiday in Costa Rica, it was revealed today.
James Leslie, 50, an Ulster Unionist member of the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in 2002, is suspected to have suffered a heart attack.
The married father-of-one was holidaying in central America with friends.
A former Hong Kong banker, his passions included the environment, hill-walking and sailing.
The former North Antrim Assemblyman, whose father owned an extensive farm in the rural constituency near Ballymoney, was married to second wife Judena and they had an eight-year-old daughter.
He joined the Conservative Party in 2006 after claiming Northern Ireland politics had gone stale.
Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said: “The sudden passing of James Leslie has come as a profound shock to all involved in politics in Northern Ireland.
“As a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly and then as a junior minister in the Executive, James made a significant contribution to politics at a time of great challenge in Northern Ireland, as our society emerged from the pain of the Troubles.
“For James’ life to end at a time when he still had much to offer our society is a matter of profound regret.”
Mr Leslie first won his Assembly seat in 1998, briefly becoming a junior minister in 2002. He didn’t stand in the 2003 election and devoted his energies to bringing about stronger ties between the Conservatives and the UUP as well as his willow renewable business.
He was in the working party which spearheaded moves to bring the two parties together and stood unsuccessfully for the Conservatives in the 2007 Assembly elections in North Down.
Posted in Costa Rica News | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
After weeks of negotiations, some of the disgruntled employees from the recently defunct Domino’s Pizza chain in Costa Rica are finally getting their piece of the pie.
At least 17 employees, who were owed less than ¢200,000 (about $358), got paid in full last Friday by representatives of the Costa Rican franchise, said Labor Ministry spokesman Giovani Díaz.
On Jan. 30, the companies Grupo de Mozzarella and Senderos de Poás, owners of the country’s Domino’s Pizza restaurants, abruptly closed the nine pizzerias throughout the greater San José area, leaving more than 120 employees jobless and without any type of remuneration.
The owners gave employees less than a day’s notice before closing down the nine restaurants, allegedly citing a fabricated health hazard as an excuse to evacuate the premises so they could empty the locales. The restaurants were cleared out of all their equipment by the next day (TT, Feb. 20).
On Tuesday, 37 employees who are owed ¢200,000 to ¢400,000 (about $358 to $717) by the Mexican group are expected to receive their checks in their entirety.
For the remaining 60 employees, who are owed more than ¢400,000 (about $717 or more), they would receive their first payment instalment covering 50 percent of the total amount this Wednesday.
The payments being made to the employees include vacation time, aguinaldo (end-of-year bonus), severance pay and outstanding salary for the last two weeks worked.
The outstanding total owed will be made in two separate payments: one on March 27 and the final payment on April 27, said Henry Acuña, a former Domino’s employee who is acting as the representative for employees of the Escazú branch.
Posted in Costa Rica News | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
While some foreign companies in Costa Rica like Sylvania and Merck Sharp & Dome, are scaling down their operations here, others like Arcus is setting up shop, who yesterday announce the opening of a Near-Shore Solutions Centre in San José.
The company says it is investing more than us$2 million dollars to begin its operations in Costa Rica.
Arcus, an internationally recognized talent management solutions company, founded in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, announced today that it is finalizing its expansion plans to open its Latin American headquarters in ULTRAPARK, in Heredia.
As part of the Arcus commitment to Costa Rica and its people, the company has signed a five year lease for space in ULTRAPARK and has applied for Free Trade Zone status. “We opened our Latin American headquarters to provide additional resources for our talent management solutions,” said Douglas Firestone, President and CEO of Arcus.
Arcus is one of the 27 companies attending the bilingual job fair this weekend with its eyes on hiring a staff of 70 in areas of research specialist/recruiting assistant, recruiters, desktop support specialist, administrative assistant, call centre agents, sales representatives and project managers.
“I am extremely excited to be relocating to Latin America and play a role in the Arcus expansion plans as we seek to truly build and develop a team of professionals devoted to our near shore operations,” commented Steven S. Wolfe, General Manager. “I look forward to building a team that together, can play a significant role in the company’s overall success.”
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