THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 24, 1996 TAG: 9605240710
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Business Briefs
LENGTH: 56 lines
General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers union are close to an agreement that would keep the automaker's Flint, Mich., truck plant open. GM has said it will close the factory, which makes crew-cab pickups and full-size vans within three years. Under a contract proposal being discussed, the company would begin making sport-utility vehicles or another truck by the end of the decade, union officials said. The three-year contract would include concessions from the plant's 2,700 UAW members.(Bloomberg Business News)
Paper companies receive
subpoenas for documents
Five paper companies that sell toilet tissue and paper towels to schools, hospitals and other institutions have received subpoenas seeking documents in connection with a federal antitrust investigation. Kimberly-Clark Corp., James River Corp., Fort Howard Corp., Chesapeake Corp. and Georgia-Pacific Corp. said the subpoenas are connected with a U.S. Department of Justice inquiry into the commercial tissue products industry. The department is looking at possible anti-competitive practices in the sanitary paper industry. Chesapeake Corp. and James River Corp. are based in Richmond. Kimberly-Clark Corp. said it agreed to sell Scott Paper Co.'s baby wipes business to Procter & Gamble Co. for $220 million to satisfy U.S. Justice Department requirements. (AP) Hampton Roads ports had cargo lag in April
Hampton Roads' three state-owned port terminals saw cargo shipments fall off 11 percent in April, according to Virginia International Terminals Inc. VIT operates the Virginia Port Authority's terminals in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News. The three marine terminals handled about 655,000 tons of cargo in April, compared to 736,000 tons last April. On the bright side break-bulk shipments, which have fallen throughout the port for years, rose 17.4 percent to about 54,000 tons. Tonnage volume year-to-date is still up 1 percent to 2.7 million tons. (Staff)
Passenger airlines won't
carry oxygen generators
Passenger airlines will be prohibited from transporting oxygen generators like the ones suspected in the ValuJet crash in Florida while investigators continue a safety review. The new rule will be effective immediately through the end of this year, said a senior official with the Transportation Department who spoke late Wednesday on condition that his name not be used. Current regulations allow airlines that are authorized to carry hazardous materials to carry the oxygen generators as cargo. Under the new regulation, even airlines authorized to carry hazardous materials could not carry the oxygen genera[tors, the official said. (AP)]
KEYWORDS: PORT OF HAMPTON ROADS CARGO by CNB