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Show Financial Markets B6 Mutual Funds B7-B- 8 Local Business B8 ! Th Wednesday, April 17, 1996 Htrald Daily April 16, 1996 NYSE DOW(Industrials) SAP MidCap AMEX S4P500 By DONALD W. MEYERS The Daily Herald NASDAQ NYSE 1,335 New highs Declines; 1.033 New lows 7 Total Issues: 3.131 Volume: 1 139 763 Unchanged; Workers at Longview SPANISH FORK Fibre's box and paper bag company will have a second chance to decide if they w ant to be represented by a union. The National Labor Relations Board has ordered another election to be held April 25 to determine w hether the firm's 85 w orkers w ill be represented by the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers after determining that the company interfered with a June 8, 1995. vote on the same question. The union lost on the June ballot by three Kan Advances; 1995 avg. comp. vol.: 422.909.640 Local workers get second chance at union moaa off 540,283,870 watching employees distributing literature during nonwork time, warning an employee not to solicit signatures on authorization cards at break times, maintaining an overly broad rule during the union campaign and union literature from the employee removing strictly enforced, and employees were receiving union materials at the plant. "This was a technical violation, and the National Labor Relations Board can be very technical," Arkell said. "My point was that if I'm driving down the freeway at 80 and get pulled over. I could argue that the 65 mph speed limit is technical," Haen responded. The company, he said , is still fighting the union Employees are required to attend meetings at the plant on company tune videos and where they are shown receiv e literature designed to frighten them into thinking that the union will cost them their jobs or destroy the company. By contrast, the union holds voluntary meetings at employees' homes or in motel meeting rooms. bulletin board. In February, the NLRB ruled that the company did interfere with the election by enforcpolicy during the union ing a The ruled against the union NLRB campaign. Arkell said the company is not trying to intimidate workers into voting against the union "They are. as far as we are concerned, factual and present both sides so they can make an informed decision," Arkell said of the v ideos votes. AW'PPW Organier Jim Haen told The Daily Herald that the union filed a complaint w ith the NLRB alleging coercion by the company. Among the coercive methods were falsely n videos were NLRB proclaiming ductions, preventing employees from distributing union literature near the plant exit, closely anti-unio- NEW YORK Angered that losses, a mounting credit-carnumber of large U.S. banks are reporting strong or even record earnings for the first quarter, built on trading revenues and loans in developing countries. Chase Manhattan Corp., the d AT&T chief executive Robert Allen's pay rose as the company cut 40.000 jobs, some institutional investors will withhold support or of the oppose ny's directors. compa- The action at the annual meeting today won't be enough to oust the directors, but it is a rare public slap by investor groups that general!) w ield their considerable clout in nation's largest banking company, lost S89 million because of the onetime SI .65 billion cost of the Chemical Banking Corp. merger. No. 2 Citicorp's profits Rise 6.4 percent to $914 million. Banc One Corp. reported record results of $346 million. Wells Fargo & Co.'s earnings rose 22 percent to $264 million. Bankers Trust earned $138 million, compared with a loss a year ago. private. WASHINGTON (AP) The General Motors strike caused a 0.5 percent drop in U.S. industrial output in March, but discounting that, production grew 0.3 percent. The seasonally adjusted decline Tuesday by the Federal Reserve was the second in three months attributed to special factors and was the steeped decline since a similar 0.5 percent drop last October. WASHINGTON HILLS. Mich. (AP) Chrysler Corp. reported sur- prisingly high earn- ings, more than doubling last year's results on robust sales of minivans. sport utility vehicles and pickups. Chrysler earned just over $1 billion from January through March, compared with $496 million in the first three months of 1995. Revenue rose 10 percent to $15 billion from $13.6 billion a. year ago. high-prof- it NEW" YORK (AP) il affairs. "There is too much value RJR Nabisco, too locked much value being denied its stockholders, for anyone to be content with business as usual." LeBow said at a hastily arranged New York press conference. up in Nevertheless, investment pais questioned how effective LeBow 's available options will prove to be. Together w ith Carl Icahn. he controls more than IS million RJR Nabisco shares, worth more than S5(X) million. It s the second largest block of company stock outstanding. The problem is that RJR Nabisco management has let it be know n it has no use for LeBow. and a shareholder vote to be announced today will also demonstrate he lacks the backing of his fellow shareholders. bly cannot surv ive as an independent company and should merge or ally with another carrier, union representatives said. Stephen M. Wolf told union members and managers that the carrier may buy nations another airline or merge w ith a larger one. Michael Gearing, spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association's USAir div ision. said Tuesday. fifth-large- Despite "He's the DEARBORN. Mich. (AP) Ford Motor Co.s profits dropped 58 peaent in the first quarter on slower auto sales and high costs of introducing redesigned models. Ford said today that it earned $653 million in the first three months of the year, or 54 cents a share, compared with its stmng showing of $1.55 billion, or $1.44 a share', in the first quarter of holder, Performance of key stock markets Amsterdam Brussels 1.0V Revenues were up 4 percent at $36.3 billion from $34 .8 billion in the same period a year ago. in part because of a streng showing by Ford's financial sen ices opera- ' I high-prof- Paris Ford cars may pose fire hazard 0.8. Sydney cost-cuttin- g The U.S. LONDON (AP) 108.39 at was trading currency Japanese yen. up from 108.25 late Tuesday. Earlier in Tokyo, the dollar was at 108.42 yen. up 0.26 yen from Tuesday's close and also above its late New York level at 108.15 yen overnight. Other dollar rates in Europe compared with late Tuesday: 1.5091 German marks, down from 1.51 15; 1.2291 Swivs francs, down from 1.2308; 5.1263 French francs, down from 5.1280; 1.6881 Dutch guilders, up from 1.6879; 1.576.25 Italian lire, up from 1.576.00; 1.3578 Canadian dollars, up from 1.3573. The British pound was quoted at $1.5065, down from $1.5073 late Tuesday. The Mexican peso wax at 7.4300. down from 7.4450 Zurich- London A 3790 5 ' 9. t I Sng I ; CSS-MHn FrmnMun OAX lonoon SrY FT Onnv Mm M8 n m 100 Pan 2cft vimw - ' 3589 6 0.5 M 70 frutM products: Non-tobac- co Ondy. gum. nuts: BeectvNut. Bream Sawrs BuDDte Yum. Caiwf fee. Font Stripe Gum. Life Savers Now and Later. Planters. Ses m b,3on$ $10 Cookies, cereal, crackers: Angel Pjfs Barnum s Animals. Crxps Anoy'. V Conv; DeiKjW. Cream of Wheat. Doo Dads. Honey Ma-d- Mster Salty. Newlons. Niiia Nutter Sorter. Oeo. 6 . 4 2 Scenes, 0 G'a-.am- 1991 92 93 s. Saacwei!'s. Tnscut Waverty Ritz. 95 94 i.l Daily stock prices Teddy WN?at Thins C Condiments: f A Is 1 B'ue Bonnet. .. Brer RaDM, CcVye Inn, Comet, Craoer Meal Davis. Easy Cheese. 29 .... . M.rcft-9- v . Apr wST- -. ! FietscnrnarvVs, Gre Poupon. Mr Ptiipps. Ortega. Reoma. Btva! Tcas!er;es fcVe'inont Maid Wight's "Barbarians al 'hi' selling wasn't Gate," entirely unsuccess fill. RJR Nabisco, to combat LeBow. hiked its dividend, imtiaied a program and an eventual to pledged, haily. AAA report: Gas prices up 6 cents CAC-4- C thtrm gwwal Hoinj Kong Hang tyo Nmi Sun ! t-- AP Tuesday. London dealers fixed a recommended gold price of $391.40 per ounce at midmorning. down from the closing price of $392.50 bid Tuesday. In Zurich, the bid price was $391.25. down from $393.00 late Tuesday. Earlier in Hone Kong, gold fell $2.30 to close at $391.35. Silver traded in London at $5.29 a troy ounce, down from $5.42 late Tuesday. NONFF.RROUS METALS NEW YORK (AP) Aluminum - 70.9 cents per lb, London Metal Exch. Tuc. Copper $1.2300 Cathode full plate. U.S. destinations. Copper $1.1880 per IK NY Merc spot Tuc. Lead 52 rents per lb. Zinc -- .5072.5226 per lb, delivered . made from I9S4 to IW may catch fire without warning, USA Today reported today. The paper said a potentially faulty ignition switch makes the vehicles susceptible to catching fire even w hen parked and shut off, but that Ford says there's little chance of that happening. However, it said the com- 8V MARKET Food Tobacco Magna. More, NOW. Sa.em. Sterling, Vantage. Winston hole. The spinoff idea found early fav or among many on Wall Street, when LeBow and Icahn proposed it last fall. And LeBow 's daring raid on the company, whose previous leveraged buyout inspired the best- - GasoWASHINGTON t AP) line prices are at their highest level since the start of the Persian Gulf War in ls91. according to the American Automobile Association. The AAA's monthly price survey released Tuesday found the ice reguaverage cost of self-selar unleaded was SI 24 a gallon up 6 cents from March and II cents from February The Energy Department forecast last week that prices would peak early in the summer travel season and then begin to drop. The AAA report said mid grade gas was selling for SI. 47, up 4 5 cents, and premium is up 4 cents to $1.57 on a national average. The West was the most costly ice regarea to drive, w ith self-se-n ular going for SI. 32 a gallon, up 7.2 cents. It is least costly in the Southeast at SI 8. up 6.5 cents. ARLINGTON. Va(AP) As many as 23 million Ford Motor Co. cars and trucks it p Food business growing. tobacco shrinking Tobacco products: C Cigarettes: Camel. Century. Doral. RJW Satxsco. Soo?c$ Hoov' o' Arrwrcan Hjmot-c- : book - share-repurcha- se 8nnes APM'ti J Castetto spinoff. But in the end. LcBow's effort 'ake control was ultimately tor- pedocd by the alway controersul LeBow himself, analysts -- said. The price of gas Gas guzzlers Gasoline prices have surged to ther Ngtiest levei since the GuH Mileage costs for some popular 1 996 American models War. m.' srr nut? n Tokyo Hong Kong 0 Fmanoer Bennett LeBo failed to force RJR Natsco to split into separate food and tobacco producers. LeBow and his investment partner Cart Icahn control nearty 7 percent of RJR stock.. "1 w cray 23 million 1 Frankfurt l wouldn't go TvR Food and tobacco stay together st share- Milan tion. On Tuesday. Chrysler Corp. reported its profits more than doubled in the January-Marc- h quarter on strong sales of minivans and light trucks. While Ford's profits were down sharply, they exceeded the 33 cents per share that Wall Street analysts had been expecting. Ford Chairman and Chief Executive Alex Trotman said the efforts company's w ill soon. off to begin pay I t ul n anti-unio- Previous close Percent change 1995. but second-bigges- ! l. n. Financier Bennett MIAMI LeBow formally acknowledged defeat in his bold bid to take con-taof RJR Nabisco on Monday and added that he's not about to butt out of the tobacco giant's The ARLINGTON. Va. ( AP) new chairman of USAir is telling employees that the airline proba- Chry sler Chairman Robert Eaton soul the prospect for the second quarter also looked good. The rosy outlook and profit news, which exceeded Wall Street expectations, lifted Chrysler's stock Tuesday. tooth-and-nai- over that." said Lawrence Adel-mawho followed the battle for Dean W itter. "I asked at the press conference how he would exert influence. He had no answer." Although the official tally won't be announced until Wednesday, at RJR Nabisco's annual meeting in North Carolina. LeBow conceded that the dissident slate of directors he nominated for the company's board won't be elected. Had they been elected, the directors had pledged to execute the plan L.eBow outlined for RJR Nabisco: to divide the company into two. one part being the Nabiswhose co Brands food unit includes pavduct lineup cupboard staples such as Oreo cookies and and R.J. Ritz crackers Reynolds, the nation's second-largetobacco firm and parent to Camel and Winston cigarettes. Individually, they argued, the two parts are worth more than the By GREGG FIELDS Knight-Ridde- r Newspapers spending habits, criticized in a draft report last month, and said it has kept costs under control despite an increased workload. In a letter to the General Accounting Office, which recommended that the Fed keep a tighter reign on its purse strings. Greenspan said the Fed "has been very effective" at keeping control of its operating expenses. AUBURN firM-quart- Fed- (AP) d 1 LeBow admits defeat in battle for RJR Nabisco eral Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan defended the Fed's The company's official position is that a union is not needed at the plant as the company provides givod benefits and wages. But union organizer Haen said Longview's in Spanish Fork plant is one of the lowest-paiAW at members PPW the company. Longvtew's main plant in nneview. Wash., make an average of 5! "S an hour, while the top wage at an hour. SI 1. Spanish fork The Spanish Fork workers only have one medical insurance program to choose trom. and it has a $250 deductible In Longview. workers have two health maintenance organizations to choose from, while Seattle paper mill have workers ai Longview three options "They exploit their workers, and I think it is because they can get away with it." Haen said If the pay inequity is not corrected, it will affect the Washington operation, as the compatah. where ny mav move more operations the workers are paid less. Hazen warned. The wages, combined with the company's desire to control employees, has led to high woiker turnover and low morale, Hazen said. "Our wages are higher in the Pacific Northwest than m the Intermountain West, or anywhere else Wi- pay wages based on competition in the marketplace." Arkell said As for the health plans, he said the program offered at Spanish Foik is the same one ottered to even employee, including the company's chief executive officer on four charges and set two aside after deciding on the nonsolicitation rule. "Under law. workers can post material on the union in a networking area." Haen said The-company said they could not post those things Robert Arkell. Longview 's vice president for industrial relations, said the NLRB's decision was accurate, but said the allegations of wrongdoing were not true. rule, he said, was not The recalled recently pany 24S'.(XX) vehicles with the switches in Canada and that L'.S. safety officials are inv estigating. "This is a very important investigation." the paper quoted Michael Brownlee of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as saying. "Fires are involved and it's a huge number of vehicles. There's a lot more at stake than in most of our investigations. Pie suspect sw itches are in alt I9S4-9Ford. Mercury and Lincoln models except Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable, the paper said. It says Ford has reported at least 8.0 fires among the 23 million vehicles sold in the United States. "At this time, the data regarding U.S. vehicles doesn't warrant a recall," the paper quoted Ford spokeswoman Francine Romine as saying. . S125 Era 1 15 ' i Ford Escort y Ford Taurus GL 1 095 16 Chevrolet Caprice 6.5 cmr Dodge Caravan SE 5.8 m 0 Dc. Jan. Fb. SX.T AM Usr. Apr AP multi-famil- 15 y single-- i family 3 slightly. economists said the grow ing economy is helping offset the effects of higher rates. "But I get nervous going forward." admitted David Lereah. an economist with the Moitgage Bankers Association. "Eventually, interest rates will win this war." Activity was mixed regionally, rising in the Northeast and Midwest and falling in the South and Some ;i3 III) 1 1 in U QnaannnnnDnnJ 1K$ "V 1.51 nt Housing starts drop in March 117 Feb it ' HousASHINGTON ( AP) 3 stans ing slipped percent in March, the steepest drop in a year, but construction activity still remained strong for the fifth straight month. Analy sts said much of the loss was in the sector and. despite nsing mortgage rates, housing dropped just 95 5.9 00 W Mar. 4.5 105 1 Housing hi LX 1 1 its ttar.tt 1.45) West. The Commerce Department said today that construction of new homes and apartments totaled .45 1 million at a seasonally adjusted annual rate the fifth straight month above a 1.4 million rate. Last month's total was down from a revised 1.51 million in February, when the rate was initially estimated to be 14 million. The drop, biggest since a 6.17 percent plunge in March 1995. was in line with analysts' expectations. 1 iSe February rate was the highest since 1.51 million in May 1994, Analysts said the 3.6 percent jump reflected builders' rush to pour foundations before rising rates priced buyers out of the market. But many analysts believe the hmjsing market has peaked now that financing has grown more expensive. |
