THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 TAG: 9611060570
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 48 lines
Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. and the United Steelworkers of America union said Tuesday they had reached a tentative agreement resolving all key issues in their long-running labor dispute. Details weren't disclosed. Union workers at the tiremaker have been working without a contract since a bitter 10-month strike ended in May 1995. The National Labor Relations Board postponed a hearing scheduled for Tuesday on the company's labor practices because of the tentative agreement, according to a union spokesman. (Bloomberg Business News) Ford September sales show disappointing hike
Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. vehicle sales rose 2.7 percent last month, about half what analysts expected, as rebates failed to entice consumers. Ford's poor results, coupled with a 7.5 percent drop by General Motors, slowed the industry's advance to just 2.2 percent, below the 7 percent increase analysts predicted. Ford and GM are confronting the same problem: The market has shifted toward trucks, minivans and sports utility vehicles. Ford's sales of those vehicles rose as consumers bought as many F-150 pickups and Expedition sports utility vehicles as Ford could build. (Bloomberg) Howmet's casting plant in Hampton rejects union
Howmet Corp. workers have rejected union representation at the company's casting plant in Hampton Industrial Park. Howmet workers voted last week on whether to be represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. The final vote was 513-202, said Doreen Deary, a spokeswoman for Howmet Corp. in Greenwich, Conn. Had the union won, the Machinists would have represented between 720 and 740 of the Howmet plant's 900 workers. Howmet has more than 30 plants worldwide, employing about 10,000 people. (Associated Press) Nasdaq may miss deadline for new trading rules
The Nasdaq Stock Market said it can't meet the Securities and Commission's deadline for complying with new rules on the way it lists stock prices. Meeting the SEC's Jan. 10 deadline requires changes in Nasdaq's trading system that can't be completed until the second quarter of 1997 at the earliest, Nasdaq President Alfred Berkeley said in an Oct. 28 letter to Richard Lindsey, director of market regulation at the SEC. The rules would force Nasdaq, the nation's second largest stock market, and other stock markets to display quotes from competing electronic trading systems, such as Reuters' Instinet. (Bloomberg) by CNB