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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Employees at a Starbucks store in New Orleans voted to form a union, becoming the first of the coffee giant’s locations in Louisiana to unionize.

Ballots were cast Friday and Saturday 11-1 in favor of joining Workers United, which represents the unionized Starbucks stores, WWNO-FM reported. Two ballots were challenged, the station said.

The New Orleans vote is the latest in a series of wins for labor at Starbucks stores across the nation, and comes about a week after workers in Birmingham, Alabama, voted 27-to-1 to become that state’s first unionized Starbucks.

Barista Caitlyn Pierce and others wanted to unionize because of regular shifts where they were overworked and understaffed, the station reported.

“I’m feeling amazing,” Pierce said. “This is something we worked so hard for and it’s just great to finally get here.”

Starbucks has fought unionization efforts, saying its 9,000 company-owned U.S. stores function best when Starbucks works directly with employees, which the company calls “partners.”

In a statement Sunday, Starbucks said it was “listening and learning,” and added, “We respect our partner’s right to organize.” The statement didn’t say whether the company would challenge the vote.

Billie Nyx, lead organizer of the union campaign, said she was fired in mid-May for closing the store early without permission from higher management. Nyx is contesting the dismissal, saying it was in retaliation for union advocacy.

Nyx said they will meet with their lawyer and gather those still working at the store to solidify specific demands for the contract negotiations.

To win the changes they seek — like better pay and more reliable schedules — unionized stores must still sit down with Starbucks and negotiate a contract. It’s a painstaking process that can take years.

A Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, became the first in the United States to unionize late last year. Based in Seattle, the company has more than 34,000 stores worldwide.

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BERLIN (Reuters) – Russia’s sanctions against Gazprom Germania and its subsidiaries could cost German taxpayers and gas users an extra 5 billion euros ($5.4 billion) a year to pay for replacement gas, the Welt am Sonntag weekly reported, citing industry representatives.

In May, Russia decided to stop supplying Gazprom Germania, which had been the German subsidiary of Gazprom, after Berlin put the company under trustee management due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Since then, the Bundesnetzagentur energy regulator, acting as trustee, has had to buy replacement gas on the market to fulfil supply contracts with German municipal utilities and regional suppliers.

The economy ministry estimates an extra 10 million cubic meters per day are required, said a ministry spokesperson, confirming a number cited by the newspaper.

“The quantities are procured on the market and at market prices. No information can be given on the exact amounts due to commercial confidentiality,” said the spokesperson in an emailed response.

Welt am Sonntag said the current cost would be about 3.5 billion euros a year and that further costs could arise from the filling of the Rehden natural gas storage facility which Economy Minister Robert Habeck ordered on Wednesday, it said.

The paper also said the additional costs would be passed on to energy suppliers and end customers in the form of a gas levy from October.

The ministry spokesperson said supplies were not at risk.

($1 = 0.9330 euros)

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Mark Potter and Raissa Kasolowsky)

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By Marianna Parraga and Matt Spetalnick

HOUSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Italian oil company Eni SpA and Spain’s Repsol SA could begin shipping Venezuelan oil to Europe as soon as next month to make up for Russian crude, five people familiar with the matter said, resuming oil-for-debt swaps halted two years ago when Washington stepped up sanctions on Venezuela.

The volume of oil Eni and Repsol are expected to receive is not large, one of the people said, and any impact on global oil prices will be modest. But Washington’s greenlight to resume Venezuela’s long-frozen oil flows to Europe could provide a symbolic boost for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The U.S. State Department gave the nod to the two companies to resume shipments in a letter, the people said. U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration hopes the Venezuelan crude can help Europe cut dependence on Russia and re-direct some of Venezuela’s cargoes from China. Coaxing Maduro into restarting political talks with Venezuela’s opposition is another aim, two of the people told Reuters.

The two European energy companies, which have joint ventures with Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA, can count the crude cargoes toward unpaid debts and late dividends, the people said.

A key condition, one of the people said, was that the oil received “has to go to Europe. It cannot be resold elsewhere.”

Washington believes PDVSA will not benefit financially from these cash-free transactions, unlike Venezuela’s current oil sales to China, that person said. China has not signed onto Western sanctions on Russia, and has continued to buy Russian oil and gas despite U.S. appeals.

The authorizations came last month, but details and resale restrictions have not been reported previously.

Eni and Repsol did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

OTHERS EXCLUDED

Washington has not made similar allowances for U.S. oil major Chevron Corp, India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC) and France’s Maurel & Prom SA, which also lobbied the U.S. State Department and U.S. Treasury Department to take oil in return for billions of dollars in accumulated debts from Venezuela.

All five oil companies halted swapping oil for debt in mid-2020 in the midst of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign that cut Venezuela’s oil exports but failed to oust Maduro.

PDVSA has not scheduled Eni and Repsol to take any cargoes this month, according to a June 3 preliminary PDVSA loading program seen by Reuters.

Venezuela Vice President Delcy Rodriguez tweeted last month she hoped the U.S. overtures “will pave the way for the total lifting of the illegal sanctions which affect our entire people.”

OUTREACH TO CARACAS

The Biden administration held its highest level talks with Caracas in March, and Venezuela freed two of at least 10 jailed U.S. citizens and promised to resume election talks with the opposition. Maduro has yet to agree on a date to return to the negotiating table.

Republican lawmakers and some of Biden’s fellow Democrats who oppose any softening of U.S. policy toward Maduro have blasted the U.S. approach to Venezuela as too one-sided.

Washington maintains further sanctions relief on Venezuela will be conditioned on progress toward democratic change as Maduro negotiates with the opposition.

Last month, the Biden administration authorized Chevron, the largest U.S. oil company still operating in Venezuela, to talk to Maduro’s government and PDVSA about future operations in Venezuela.

About that time, the U.S. State Department secretly sent letters to Eni and Repsol saying Washington would “not object” if they resumed oil-for-debt deals and brought the oil to Europe, one of the sources told Reuters.

The letters assured them they would face no penalties for taking Venezuelan oil cargoes to collect on pending debt, said two people in Washington.

CHEVON CONSIDERATION

Chevron’s request to the U.S. Treasury to expand its operations in Venezuela came as the State Department issued the no-objection letters to Eni and Repsol. The person familiar with the matter in Washington declined to say whether Chevron’s request remained under consideration.

The U.S. oil major did receive a six-month continuation of a license that preserves its assets and U.S. approval to talk with Venezuelan government officials about future operations.

It was not immediately clear if Washington had okayed the prior crude-for-fuel swaps European companies conducted with PDVSA until 2020, exchanges that provided relief to gasoline-thirsty Venezuela.

China has become the largest customer for Venezuelan oil, with as much as 70% of monthly shipments destined for its refiners.

(Reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; writing by Gary McWilliams; Editing by David Gregorio)

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NEW YORK (AP) — The high-flying “Top Gun: Maverick” continued to soar in its second weekend, dropping just 32% from its opening with $86 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Paramount Pictures release, with Tom Cruise reprising his role from the 1986 original, is holding steadier than any film of its kind has before. Its modest drop — 50-65% is more typical for blockbusters — is the smallest decline for a movie that opened above $100 million. “Top Gun: Maverick” debuted with $124 million last weekend, scoring Cruise’s biggest opening yet.

Overseas, director Joseph Kosinski’s film is performing even better. In 64 overseas markets, “Top Gun: Maverick” dipped only 20% in its second weekend with $81.7 million.

Riding stellar word of mouth, terrific reviews and a global promotional tour, “Top Gun: Maverick” has already grossed $548.6 million worldwide, making it easily one the biggest hits of Cruise’s career. In domestic ticket sales ($291.6 million thus far), the “Top Gun” sequel already ranks as the 59-year-old’s best performer.

While “Top Gun: Maverick” is unlikely to match the $1.89 billion worldwide of Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” the biggest box-office smash of the pandemic, Cruise and company have been hailed for leading the final push in the recovery of movie theaters. Paramount delayed its release two years.

But whereas “No Way Home” had little-to-no big-budget competition through January, “Top Gun: Maverick” kicks off a string of more closely packed summer movies. Next weekend, Universal Pictures debuts “Jurassic World: Dominion,” the culmination of the dinosaur franchise trilogy of sequels. The week after that, the Walt Disney Co. releases “Toy Story” spinoff “Lightyear,” the first Pixar release to open in theaters in more than two years.

“Top Gun: Maverick,” which actually added screens in its second week to extend its record total to 4,751, will soon find itself in more of a dog fight for audience attention.

“Jurassic World: Dominion” got a head start over the weekend in 15 international markets, where the Colin Trevorrow-directed film grossed $55.5 million. Universal said that was in line with the previous franchise entries. “Jurassic World” made $1.67 billion in 2015, while its 2018 follow-up, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” grossed $1.31 billion.

In U.S. and Canadian theaters, no new wide release challenged “Top Gun: Maverick.” “Vikram,” an Indian Tamil-language action thriller, opened with $1.8 million in 460 theaters.

Fresh off its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future” opened with $1.1 million in 773 theaters. The Neon release, starring Viggo Mortensen, Lea Seydoux and Kristen Stewart, is the Canadian auteur’s first film in eight years.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “Top Gun: Maverick,” $86 million.

2. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” $9.3 million.

3. “The Bob’s Burgers Movie,” $4.5 million.

4. “The Bad Guys,” $3.3 million.

5. “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” $3 million.

6. “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” $2 million.

7. “Vikram,” $1.8 million.

8. “ Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” $1.7 million.

9. “The Lost City,” $1.4 million.

10. “Crimes of the Future,” $1.1 million.

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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Air Canada is expecting a demand for flights between Canada and the Asia-Pacific to recover to a near pre-pandemic level by December next year, a top regional executive said on Saturday.

Currently, the routes between Canada and the Asia-Pacific run at 30% of the 2019 capacity, but the capacity is expected to double by the end of December, said Kiyo Weiss, the airline’s sales director for the Asia-Pacific.

The airline is also considering adding flights to a new destination in the Asia-Pacific in the near future to cater for pent-up demand in leisure travel, she said.

“Probably we’ll make a decision within a month or so,” Weiss said, without providing further details.

Canada’s largest carrier is seeking to augment its presence in the region to meet high demand, particularly from Southeast Asian countries, as the area recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The airline on Saturday resumed direct flights between Montreal and Tokyo’s Narita airport that had been disrupted by the pandemic.

(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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(Reuters) – Abbott Laboratories said on Saturday that it has reopened its baby formula production plant in Sturgis, Michigan, taking a step toward alleviating an acute nationwide shortage that has sent parents scrambling for supplies.

The company said it will begin production of EleCare and other specialty and metabolic formulas, with initial EleCare product release to consumers beginning on or about June 20.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has met with Finland’s prime minister and spoken to Turkey’s president as he seeks to overcome Turkish resistance to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.

Stoltenberg, who visited Washington this week, tweeted late Friday that he met with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin while there and discussed “the need to address Turkey’s concerns and move forward” with the Finnish and Swedish membership applications.

Russia’s war in Ukraine pushed the Nordic countries to apply to join NATO, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Sweden and Finland of supporting Kurdish militants deemed by Turkey to be terrorists.

Stoltenberg said he had a “constructive phone call” with Erdogan, calling Turkey a “valued ally” and praising Turkish efforts to broker a deal to ensure the safe transportation of grain supplies from Ukraine amid global food shortages caused by Russia’s invasion. Stoltenberg tweeted that he and Erdogan would continue their dialogue, without elaborating.

Erdogan’s office released a statement in which it said the president had emphasized that Sweden and Finland should “make it clear that they have stopped supporting terrorism,” have lifted defense export restrictions on Turkey and are “ready to show alliance solidarity.”

The Nordic states, among other countries, imposed limitations on arms sales in the wake of Turkey’s 2019 military incursion into northern Syria.

The NATO chief’s diplomatic efforts came before a gathering of senior officials from Sweden, Finland and Turkey next week in Brussels, where NATO is based, to discuss Turkey’s opposition to the applications.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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(Reuters) -American Airlines Group Inc shares fell 7% on Friday as investors looked past the carrier’s upbeat revenue forecast and instead focused on its warning of a hit from higher fuel costs and staffing problems.

A steady surge in fuel prices due to geopolitical tensions and a chronic labor shortage are threatening to upset a nascent recovery in the airline industry.

“There’s going to be cost pressure. And that will, I think, have an impact on regional carriers and other carriers that rely on lower cost labor,” American Airlines Chief Executive Officer Robert Isom said at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference on Friday.

American Airlines said it expected fuel expenses to average between $3.92 and $3.97 per gallon in the second quarter, up from its previous forecast of $3.59 to $3.64 per gallon.

The carrier also said it expected capacity in the quarter to be at the low end of its prior outlook range.

To get more planes in the air and counter job attrition, American Airlines said it was planning to hire 2,000 pilots.

The airline also flagged that it had almost 100 aircraft that were not productive right now.

The Fort-Worth, Texas-based airline said it was expecting revenue for the three months ending June to rise between 11% and 13% over pre-pandemic levels, compared with its prior view of a 6% to 8% increase.

That, in turn, should, offset increased costs, it added.

“We’ve never seen a revenue environment like this, led by the domestic leisure business,” Isom said.

(Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni and Anil D’Silva)

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FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — American Airlines on Friday raised its forecast of second-quarter revenue, joining a growing list of airlines expecting demand this summer to top previous forecasts as the travel industry recovers from the pandemic.

American predicted that revenue will rise 11% to 13% above the second quarter of 2019. That easily beat the airline’s earlier forecast of a 6% to 8% increase over 2019.

Still, shares of Fort Worth, Texas-based American fell more than 8% in midday trading amid a drop in broad market indexes.

Delta, Southwest, JetBlue and others have raised revenue forecasts recently, as the number of people flying in the United States creeps closer to pre-pandemic levels. At the same time, airlines are offering fewer flights than they did in 2019, which is helping them push average fares much higher.

American said revenue per seat will jump by up to 22% compared with 2019, easily beating an earlier forecast of up 14% to 16%.

“That revenue is offsetting some real cost pressures out there,” CEO Robert Isom said at an investor conference.

Airfares are up nearly 50% from this time last year, according to figures from banking firm Cowen.

The airline said costs excluding jet fuel will rise by up to 11% per seat, which is a slower increase than Delta. American expects to pay nearly $4 a gallon for fuel, nearly double the price it paid three years ago.

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(Reuters) – Marriott International Inc said on Friday it will suspend its operations in Russia after more than 25 years.

The company on March 10 decided to pause the opening of upcoming hotels and all future hotel developments and investments in Russia, following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We remain focused on taking care of our Russia-based associates,” Marriott said.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc in March suspended all new development activity in Russia and closed its corporate office in Moscow.

(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

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