The daily business briefing: September 5, 2017

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1. Protesters make Labor Day call for raising minimum wage
2. Nikki Haley says North Korea is 'begging for war'
3. Oil prices rise, gasoline falls as refineries start up again after Harvey
4. UTC to buy Rockwell Collins for $30 billion
5. Tronc to buy New York Daily News

published 5 September 2017

1. Protesters make Labor Day call for raising minimum wage

Activists calling for minimum-wage hikes held Labor Day rallies in several cities across the U.S. on Monday. In Las Vegas, fast-food workers gathered outside a McDonald's restaurant calling for wage increases to $15 an hour. Nevada's last minimum wage hike, in 2011, raised the wage to $8.25 an hour or a dollar less if workers get health insurance. Fast food worker Harold Carnes said families struggle to get by on low salaries. "We work so hard, we don’t get to spend enough time with our children," said lunch truck worker Sandra Rojas at a San Francisco Bay Area rally, one of 300 planned around the nation. "Everything is getting more expensive, but the wages are staying the same."

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Monday urged the U.N. Security Council to enact "the strongest sanctions" against North Korea in response to its latest weapons test. "Enough is enough," Haley said at the emergency meeting. She said that Kim Jong Un is "begging for war" and the stakes "could not be higher." The meeting was called after North Korea conducted a test Sunday of what appears to have been a hydrogen bomb. Both President Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have called for sanctioning countries that do not cut business ties with the defiant Hermit Kingdom. South Korea said Tuesday that North Korea appeared to be moving an intercontinental ballistic missile, possibly preparing for another in a series of test launches.

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U.S. oil prices edged higher early Tuesday as Gulf Coast refineries started cranking up again after being forced to close due to Hurricane Harvey. The return of many of the refineries ended fears of fuel shortages across the country, sending gasoline futures sinking after a storm-induced jump that pushed up pump prices. "Gasoline fell as refineries in Texas began to reopen," said William O'Loughlin, investment analyst at Rivkin Securities. Along with refineries, shipping channels and oil pipelines in Texas also started operating again on Monday.

Aerospace supplier United Technologies Corp. has agreed to buy aircraft parts maker Rockwell Collins Inc. for $30 billion in a deal that will create one of the world's largest makers of civilian and defense aircraft components. United Technologies will pay $140 per share, two-thirds in cash and the rest in stock. The price represents an 18 percent premium over Rockwell's price before news of the talks was first reported a month ago. "Together, Rockwell Collins and UTC Aerospace Systems will enhance customer value in a rapidly evolving aerospace industry by making aircraft more intelligent and more connected," UTC's chairman and chief executive officer, Greg Hayes, said in a statement.

Tronc, which publishes the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, announced Monday that it had acquired the New York Daily News, a tabloid long considered a voice for New York's working class. The Tribune reported that Tronc was paying $1 for the 100-year-old tabloid, and taking on its operational and pension liabilities. Tronc, formerly known as Tribune Publishing, has been exploring mergers since technology entrepreneur Michael Ferro became its largest shareholder and chairman in February 2016. "We think this is a great deal for the paper and for us," said Justin Dearborn, Tronc's chief executive officer. "We expect it to benefit greatly from becoming part of the Tronc ecosystem."

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.