Show I The Herald Journal Logan Utah Thursday Juty 16 1998 — Pag 5 77 'M T -- f toi ( GM strike heads for arbitration '4' More labor troubles break out as automaker and union consider legal issues vgar:!' vS ('SaKV S - J w a— iW Lr - X' ‘iur-i- - FLINT Mich (AP) — The labor troubles at General Motors Corp are growing as the automaker and the United Auto Workers prepare for a hearing with an arbitrator over the legality of two devastating strikes Workers at GM's Saturn plant in Tennessee long portrayed as a model of cooperation because of its unconventional UAW contract will vote Sunday on whether to give union leaden permission to call a strike The dispute there is hugely over worker bonuses But it has been exacerbated by GM’s use of Japanese spark dugs in Saturn engines since one of the two Flint strikes cut off the supply of GM plugs last month And at GM's engine plant in Romulus outside Detroit workers disrupted production Wednesday to protest the use of the Jspanese NGK plugs there The Romulus plant makes engines for GM’s new generation of The strikes which began June 5 have cost the world's No 1 automaker at least $12 billion They have idled 23 assembly plants and more than 100 parts plants across North America as well as nearly 17900 workers High-levnegotiations to end the strikes resumed Wednesday for the first time since GM’s top negotiator walked away from the table Sunday They were to continue today union-manageme- nt 7m WW:" ': JrV Ut? -' 'V‘r C full-si- el along with AP photo Frank Jaworskl counsel tor General Motors comments outskto Federal Court in Flnt Mich on Wedneedey on Judge Paul Qadola's ruing that Ihe auto company and the United Auto Workers must schedule a meeting with an arbitrator aoon tions He predicted Roberts would rule the strikes are legal “The strikes here won’t be settled at the arbitration hearing" he said "They won’t be settled in the judge’s chambers The strikes will be solved at the collective bargaining table in discussions with the local committee talks plant-lev- el Shoemaker said there had been little progress Appearing in court Wednesday UAW the international union and upon approval by our membership" lawyers agreed to let an independent arbitrator decide whether the strikes are legal under the UAW-Gnational contract US District Judge Paul Gadola asked both sides to set a date with the arbitrator as soon as possible He asked the lawyers to return Tuesday to update him on their progress GM lawyers have said that if the arbitrator rules the strikes illegal the company likely The arbitrator will have to determine M ze pickups c 1996 to settle certain disputes as provided under their national contract The judge urged both sides to cooperate "in view of the veritable calamity (die strike) has caused not only in this community but across the nation" Shoemaker said preparations for the meeting would only delay progress in the negotia- 'America last’ strategy" “I think it's a total disservice to all of America for General Motors to be using Japanese spark plugs in their products’’ UAW Vice President Richard Shoemaker said "Again I think it lends validity to what we’ve been saying all along that they have an whether the reasons cited by the UAW for the strike are the actual issues that led to the walkout The contract allows strikes for a limited range of disputes over such things as health and safety violations some subcontracting issues and certain work standards le GM maintains the strikes are over issues" such as its capital investment plans the transfer of operations between plants and the potential sale of plants will seek monetary damages and an order forcing the 9200 Flint strikers back to work The arbitrator will be Thomas Roberts of California whom GM and the UAW chose in “non-strikeab- Hi gh ATM fees anger consumers WASHINGTON (AP) — ATM charges are continuing to rise even though consumers are getting wise and shifting to their own banks' machines to avoid being charged twice new studies show Sen Alfonse D’ Amato chairman of ihe Senate Banking Com- mittee seized upon the new surveys Wednesday in promising a Saute vote this year on legisla- tion to ban double charges on ATM transactions Y D’ Amato who is courting consumers in his bid made the pledge a day after he attended a rally of thouR-N- sands of credit union members from around the country continATM "double-chargin- g ues to spread like a plague across the country4 he said at a packed ' hearing of the banking panel "Consumers are getting wal loped" Surcharges paid to the bank SE Needham Jewelers operating an automated teller machine come on top of fees many customers pay their own bank when they use another bank's machine ATM surcharges now avenge $1 and 64 percent of the nation’s banks impose them according to a new study This Thursday Friday & Saturday ONLY! 10:00 am - 9:00 pm y congressional investigators i But another report by the Congressional Budget Office found that consumers have responded to ATM surcharges by using their Till UlItTl )(o own banks' terminals thereby “blunting the effects of high ATM fees" small and Moreover medium-size- d GLEARANGEIMERGHANDISE many banks have recently reduced the underlying fees they charge their own customers for using another bank's ATM the CBO report says Large banks oppose D Amato’s bill insisting that surcharge-ba- n ATM fees are clearly disclosed and consumers enjoy having the convenience Some small Marquise Diamond Wedding Ring Diamond Earrings reg 200 12 Carat Dinner Ring reg 495 $ Designer Dinner Ring 2 ct Diamond Tennis Bracelet rl9W0 re2?0 co- sponsors are Democrats and -- 7 D' Amato has tun into opposition from fellow Republicans on die banking panel Some of them such as Sen Richard Shelby have argued that the mea- J R-A- la sure would constitute Brass Carriage Clock and intrusion in the marketplace by the federal gov- price-settin- g ' ernment That view was echoed Wednes- - Miniafire Clocks 19 j ret 42" V-- - day by the American Bankers Association Men’s Diamond and Onyx Ring cus- tomers are driven to switch their accounts to a bigger bank rather than pay surcharges for using Us ATM D Amato has denounced ATM surcharges before — even threatening ATM networks with subpoenas in June 1997 if they didn't provide data on transaction costs All but two of the bill’s 15 ct reg '1000 24-ho- ur banks however say the surcharges put smaller banks and credit unions at a disadvantage to big institutions because 13 ct Princess Diamond Solitaire the industry’s Values up to 30 llZVf $ free-mark- &E29SCB TO $ biggest lobbying group "Price controls have no place in a et economy" Richard E Bolton Jt president and CEO of Charier Bank of Waltham Mass said to testimony prepared for die bearing on behalf of die ABA Bolton warned that a surcharge ban could lead banks to shut down thousands of ATMs The Republican opponents also say the issue touches on states’ rights because several states have enacted laws or issued regulations allowing AIM surcharges Large Selection of Mens ’Ladies1 Seiko Watches - 7 l:- - r mim& 141 N Main l nm 12 mviA hum 752-714- Fwe 9 Imhr I - ’ - |