The unions have opposed any increase in the value-added tax as well as any extension of the workweek, urging instead more temporary layoffs of workers.
Muzaffar A. Chishti, a director of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group, said, "If this is strictly enforced there could be massive layoffs of workers".
The move has brought impending bankruptcies, layoffs of workers, worries of a spoiled seafood supply and struggles for the neighborhood around the South Street Seaport, the merchants said.
Let other people worry about capital transfers, stock prices and the sadly inevitable layoffs of workers and contract terminations for musicians.
Mr. Rivera said one of his main goals would be to maintain job security language similar to that in the existing contract, which bars layoffs of workers hired before Sept. 17, 1992.
But he added that "we also recognize the other part of the story," saying the targets in the Kyoto treaty would "have a negative economic impact, with layoffs of workers and price increases for consumers".
This may create a possible selection bias when investigating firm layoffs of workers.
The Japanese consumer electronics industry continues to feel the squeeze in the economy, with mass layoffs of workers representing one of the more painful effects.
Other Kennedy ads centered on layoffs of workers at the Ampad plant owned by Romney's Bain Capital.
