Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 24, 1994 TAG: 9403240079
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A bid by Teamster President Ron Carey to replenish the union's depleted strike-payment fund with a dues increase apparently is falling on deaf ears.
With about 10 percent of the ballots counted, a proposal to raise dues 25 percent was trailing by nearly a 2-1 margin, the Teamsters said Wednesday.
"Of the small sample of ballots counted so far, about 65 percent are opposed and about 35 percent are in favor," the union said. The early returns were from locals in the Eastern and Southern conferences.
A final tally is expected Friday.
A favorable vote would give Carey both greater leverage and a war chest as the union enters the final week before expiration of its National Master Freight Agreement with major less-than-truckload firms.
If the dues increase fails, the union claims to have an $80 million line of credit from the AFL-CIO and an unnamed financial institution that would fund strike benefits.
Union members have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if negotiators don't think they have an acceptable contract offer in hand by March 31.
- Journal of Commerce
Business optimism shows 5-point gain
An index monitoring business confidence rose 5 points in the first quarter, according to a report released Thursday by the Conference Board, a New York business research organization.
The board's Measure of Business Confidence was at 65 points at the end of March, up from 61 at the close of 1993 but down from 66 points at the end of last year's first quarter.
The index is based on replies from an undisclosed number of chief executive offices of U.S. companies. The new outlook is based on strong economic growth, rising productivity and low inflation, the board said.
- Associated Press
Macy's discloses reorganization plan
NEW YORK - R.H. Macy and Co. on Wednesday outlined its reorganization plan, which calls for an immediate payout to creditors of $3.6 billion and a later distribution of $500 million, "depending on the market value of Macy's stock."
The department-store chain said the second distribution would occur in July 1997 "contingent on Macy's equity securities achieving a public market trading value of at least $2.2 billion" before then.
The initial $3.6 billion payout will consist of $2.1 billion of cash and debt, and $1.5 billion of equity.
The plan would reduce Macy's debt to $2 billion and "create a capital structure capable of supporting the growth agenda in the company's 5-year business plan," Macy's said in a statement.
- Knight-Ridder/Tribune
Code of conduct in China studied
WASHINGTON - The Clinton administration is considering the establishment of a "voluntary" code of conduct for American companies doing business in China as one of several measures to back away from a threat to impose trade sanctions in June for human-rights abuses by Beijing.
U.S. business groups are incredulous about the idea and fear they will be asked to bear the blame for the administration's China policy dilemma.
"A code of conduct for China would send the wrong message - that there is a problem with the way American companies are operating in China," said Alman Cohen, vice president of the Emergency Committee for American Trade. "The problem is with the Chinese government."
The code would be similar in design to the Sullivan principles, six basic rules developed in 1971 to guide U.S. businesses with operations in South Africa.
The voluntary principles, eventually made mandatory by President Reagan, called for equal treatment and pay for all workers and for improving the living conditions of employees outside the workplace. A seventh principle added later called on American companies to oppose apartheid actively.
- Journal of Commerce
Briefly . . .
Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., Louisville, Ky. parent of Lewis-Gale Hospital in Salem, said Wednesday it has agreed to sell its 323-bed Medical Center Hospital of Huntsville, Ala., to the Healthcare Authority of the City of Huntsville.
NationsBank Corp. at the end of 1993 was nearly halfway to the goal it set in August 1991: to lend $10 billion during the next 10 years to borrowers with limited access to credit. In 1993, NationsBank lent $2.7 billion to poor and moderate-income home buyers, small businesses, family farms and day-care centers. It made $2.2 billion in similar loans in 1992.
by CNB