Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 8, 1994                   TAG: 9407080080
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN BUSINESS

The International Union of Electrical Workers said Thursday its members have ratified a tentative three-year contract agreement with General Electric Co.

The IUE represents about 900 nonsalaried workers at GE Drive Systems in Salem. The union and GE agreed on the contract June 26, the company said.

The IUE, the largest of 15 unions that bargained collectively with GE for the contract, said its members voted for it by a 3-to-1 margin.

The contract provides for pay increases totaling 8.5 percent, six additional cost-of-living increases and a special trades increase, the union has said. The pact also has an early-retirement option that allows workers age 55 with 25 years of service to retire in November with full pensions.

The collective bargaining committee now will focus on working out new contracts with Westinghouse and Martin Marietta.

- Staff report

Briefly ...

Leed's Music Center today opens its new Roanoke store at 4600 Brambleton Ave. The 7,000-square-foot building consolidates the company's showroom, warehouse, teaching studios and offices. The new store, managed by Don Clifton, replaces one at Oak Grove Plaza. The retailer of musical instruments, school band instruments, sheet music and accessories also operates stores in Blacksburg, Lynchburg, Martinsville and Danville.

Old Dominion Electric Co-op has asked the State Corporation Commission to include the co-op in its investigation of the relationship between Virginia Power and its parent company. The Henrico County-based co-op filed Wednesday with the SCC seeking to become a participant in the proceedings, said Ken Schrad, an SCC spokesman. Old Dominion arranges wholesale power supplies for about 350,000 customers served by 13 co-ops in Virginia and two other states. About 275,000 of those customers depend on Virginia Power's transmission system for access to power supplies.

Cato Corp., a women's apparel retailer, will open a Cato/Cato Plus store July 14 at Spartan Square Shopping Center, Salem. The Charlotte, N.C., company operates about 500 stores in the South and Midwest.