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Show Saturday, March 11, 2006 ” DAILY Clinton hire an outside firm to track the Continued from D6 HERALD law helped stall Wal-Mart's efSeusree nin te aty, even th recent indicate a majority of New Yorkers would intense scrutiny for its labor practices — from its serto the lack of affordable healt! coverage for employees, “gits Stiff resistance to unionization. tured relationships with Wal- ton, a conservative Republican and by far Arkansas’ most ‘Among oerngs Hilary mong other things, Hi Clinton sought Walton’s help in 1983 forBill Clinton's so-called Blue Ribbon Commission on Education, a major effort to improve Arkansas’troubled public Is. The overhaul became a centerpiece of Clinton's governorship. And Wal‘Mart’s Made in America , Which for years touted the company’s sales of American products in its stores, was launchedafter Bill Clinton persuaded Walton to help save 200 jobs at an Arkansas shirt manufacturing plant. The Made in America campaign has virtually vanished in recentyears, as the company's manufacturing has gradually moved overseas — another pointofcriticism by manyantiWal-Mart activists. TheClintons also benefited financially from Wal-Mart. Hillary Clinton was paid $18,000 each yearshe served on the board,plus $1,500 for each meeting she attended. By 1993 she had accumulated at least $100,000 in Wal-Mart stock, accordingto Bill Clinton’s federal financial disclosure that year. The Clintons also flew for free on Wal-Mart corporateplanes 14 times in 1990 and 1991 in preparation for Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential bid. Wal-Mart has little to say about Hillary Clinton’s board service, and will not release minutes of the company’s board meetings during her tenure. Lorraine Voles, Clinton's communications director, turned downa request for an interview with the senator. Still, details have come to light overthe years. Bob Ortega,authorof “In Sam WeTrust,” a history of ‘Wal-Mart, said Clinton used her Position to urge the company to improveits gender and racial diversity. Because of Clinton’s prodding, Walton agreed to ‘She's aacould definitely get things company fort to enroll more workersin a new,low-premium health plan. yy will also trim the : The waiting period for part-time employees to become eligible for challenged Walton on the comcoverage. pany’s lack of female managBut Hillary a who as ers, he assured them the record first pr wide-rangwas improving “now that we ing but ultimately aenena havea strong-willed young lady -plan to reshape the nation’s onthe board.” health care system, has had Clinton was particularly volittle to say about Wal-Mart’s cal on environmental matters, health care record. pressing the company to boost “That was a long time ago,” its sale anduse of recycled - materials and other “green” products. Garry Mauro, who served pe while she served onits anefact, Clinton proved to be such a thorn in Walton'sside that at Wal-Mart's annual meeting in-1987, when shareholders with Clinton on a Wal-Mart environmental advisory committee, pointed to many successes, such as persuading the companyto establish recycling centersandsell productslike recycled oil and long-life light bulbs. “Hillary hadreal impact — whenshe had an idea, things got moving,” he said. “When she resigned from the committee,it stopped having any inno- vative ideas and stopped being effective.” Still, critics say there was little tangible change at Wal-Mart during Clinton's tenure, despite her apparent prodding. re’s no evidence she did anything to improvethe status of women or makeit a very different place in ways Mrs.Clinton's Democratic base would care about,” said Liza Featherstone, authorof “Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Worker's Rights at Wal-Mart.” The Wal-Mart debate has been playing out in legislatures andcity councils around the country in the last year, even mite close to Clinton's adfed home. New YorkStatelegislators of bothparties are promoting bills requiring businesses including Wal-Mart to provide health coverageto their workers. Andin That comment was met with disbelief from Jonathan Tasini, a longtimelabor organizer mounting a long-shot challenge to Clinton in New Bees Democratic Senate primary. “Voters wouldfind it a strained ar; it to believe that the senator who prides herself on intelligence and knowledgeofdetail can’t recall any details in this case.It just strains credulity,” Tasinisaid. Nonetheless,Clinton and her advisers continuetoinsist that Wal-Mart has fundamentally change since her tenure on the Wal‘Mart was different companythen and the country was not facing the same health care challenges weface today,” communications director Lorraine Voles said. EvenClinton’s decision to return Wal-Mart's campaign contribution illustrated the complicated role Wal-Mart st playsin herpolitical life. Wake-Up Wal-Mart posted several entries on its Web log applauding the decision, but oth- ers complained that the move seemed hypocritical and oppor- tunistic given herhistory with the company. Meanwhile, Republican National Committee spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt called the move “standard operating procedure” for Clinton. “When push comes to shove, the senatorallowspolitics to stores to pay most workers a health care benefit worth an es- trump principle every time,” timated $2.50 to $3 an hour. The -Schmitt said. October, New York City passed a law,aimed squarely at WalMart, requiring large grocery Utah County Local Businesses Jobless Fees Continued from D6 re! counsel sought from him. Consulting deals also may prevent departing executives from going to work for rival firms. But since top executives ina consulting capacity since tend to be supremely confident, it’s hard to imagine most new managementteams calling upon these voices of experience for much advice. One telling detail is that while some consulting contracts are contingent on services actually being rendered before the executive gets paid, others don’t hew to the basic notion of compensation: a day's pay for a day’s work. Fote’s agreement with First Data does not appear to stipulate any time require- ment.Instead, it specifically limits the amount of work that can be requested to “twenty percent his business timein any given calendar month,” according toa recent filing. The company did not respond to queries seeking confirmation of the contract's terms or whether Fote has performed A Pfizer spokesman said that Steere “has been veryactive his retirement.” Whitacre and Steere have served their companies for decades,so it’s fair to say their rasp ofinternal operations and their respective industries could prove handy.But their consulting arrangements stand out by contrast to the deals negotiated by other departing veterans.At Citigroup Inc., for example, Sanford I. Weill is slated to retire as chairman in April, at which time he will be undercontract to provide consulting services as needed for 10years. But there's no guaranteed pay under the deal, which says he can be called upon up to 45 days per year at a rate of $3,846 per day. Likewise, at Aetna Inc., the insurer has agreed to retain Chairman John W. Rowe as a consultant for three years when he retires later this year. The deal specifies that Rowewill be any work thus far. paid $4,000 a day for up to 25 daysof service per quarter spell out a minimum time com- More impressively, Rowe's agreement contemplates that AT&Tsaidit also does not mitment underits consulting deal with Whitacre, 64, who received more than $50 million in compensation the past three years. Now that AT&Tis planning to acquireBellSouth Corp.for $67 billion, the com- panyhas asked him to stay onin his currentposts until March 2008. If there was any doubt about the driving factors behind Galvin’s pact, one need only read this clause from a companyfiling: “Motorola has also agreed that,in the event of Mr.Galvin’s death prior to his retirement, his spouse will be entitled to hiseo: bonus and consulti AtPfizer Inc.,‘the:‘drug maker has beenjpaying $50,000 ayear since 2001 to former chairman. onc CEO William Steere under that could ahd indefinitely. Steere, 69, who draws an annu_ al pension of roughly $7 million according to one compensation expert, is paid regardless of whether he putsin any time as aconsultant or company “1 resentative in external activities and events.” The $50,000 covers up to 30 days of service from Steele, “subject to his reale availabilit Steerestill sits on Pfizer's boardof directors, a service for which he was paid he maynot need to put ina full day of consulting on every occasion, and therefore stipu- lates that he be paid $2,000 for a half day's work. If there's truly a shareholder benefit to be reaped from these post-employment consulting deals, there’s no reason why the arrangementcan't be structured as legitimate business transaction where actual workis rewarded with compensation. Continued from D6 The fresh snapshot oflabor % activity comes as President Bush continues to cope with sagging job-approval ratings. Just 37 percent approveofhis overall performance, the lowest level of his presidency, according to an AP-Ipsos poll. Economists said the employment report and other economicdata buttress their belief that the economy has snapped out of an end-ofyear funk. Analysts predict the economyis growingat a brisk pace of 4.5 percentor higher in the January-to-March quarter. That would mark an energetic rebound from the lethargic 1.6 percent growth rate logged in the final quarter of last year. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.L., called the payroll gain in February “welcome news”but added: “The labor marketis not yet backto full strength.” He worried that some workers’ paychecksare being stretched thinner by expensive energy bills and health carecosts. Employees’ average hourly earningsrose to $16.47 in February, a modest 0.3 percentincrease from January. That was in line with economists’ expectations. However, compared with February oflast year, average hourly earningsincreased by 3.5 percent — the biggest 12-month gain since September 2001. Mountain West Foot & Ankle Institute Brandt R. Gibson, DPM ¥ Specialized Foot & Ankle Care PROVIDING STATE-OF-THE-ARTPATIENT CAREIN NEW FACILITY. 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