11.   Sabena has not commented on the press reports of its layoff plans, saying it would not do so until the workers were officially briefed at a meeting Thursday.

12.   Shell Nigeria announced the layoff plan Friday and said it was part of an overall restructuring to improve performance.

13.   The company has cautioned that the order is not likely to alter its layoff plans.

14.   The company said in a statement that it submitted its latest layoff plan to the Ministry of Labor on Monday.

15.   The decision came amid a wave of layoff plans and stirrings of worker unrest in France.

16.   The Seoul subway workers walked off their jobs Monday to protest the layoff plan, but authorities mobilized nonunion workers and army engineers to keep trains running normally.

17.   The union will call a bigger strike next Monday unless the company retracts its layoff plans, labor leaders said.

18.   An IBM spokesman declined to comment to the Journal on layoff plans.