Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.law From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: law Wed, Apr 8 1992 Date: Wed, 8 Apr 92 05:46:40 EDT Message-ID: 04-08 0000 DECISIONLINE: Business Law USA TODAY Update April 8, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network CATERPILLAR OPENS JOBS: As it promised, Caterpillar Inc. began advertising jobs Tuesday in newspapers in Illinois to replace striking workers. The heavy equipment maker said it got an overwhelming response to the ads. Caterpillar said last week that it would begin filling the jobs held by 13,000 strikers if they did not return to work Monday. The company said only 400 workers returned Monday. (For more, see special Strike package below.) HELMSLEY LOSES BID: Leona Helmsley lost another bid to avoid prison Tuesday. New York federal judge Thomas Griesa reaffirmed his order that she report April 15 to begin serving a four-year prison term for cheating on her taxes. Helmsley, 71, said she was "feeling a lot worse" and "maybe I'll drop dead" before April 15. She was convicted of evading $1.7 million in taxes. ARBITRATOR RULES AGAINST AT&T: An arbitrator ruled that AT&T violated a union contract by laying off 1,500 technicians and may have to pay back wages for several hundred of them, it was announced Tuesday. The ruling could have a major effect on ATT's negotiations with the Communications Workers of America. ATT spokesman Jim McGann confirmed the ruling against ATT and says it likely has to rescind the layoffs. INTENT OF CONTRACT VIOLATED: The total cost of arbitrator's ruling against AT&T is estimated in the millions of dollars. Arbitrator Patrick Hardin reviewed the bargaining history of the 1989 agreement and found that the company had violated the spirit and the intent of a union contract after the union had rebuffed AT&T's efforts to negotiate a less restrictive seniority provision for one large group of technicians. FDIC DELAYS PREMIUM HIKE: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Tuesday delayed a hike in insurance premiums banks pay until next year. Some regulators pushed for an increase this year to avoid borrowing from taxpayers to cover any shortfall in the insurance fund. But banks and some Federal Reserve and Treasury officials say higher premiums could hurt their ability to make loans needed to stimulate the economy. NATIONAL UNION TRIAL NEXT WEEK: Three of four insurance companies agreed to a $19.45 million settlement with MGM-Pathe Communications Co. and former MGM owner Kirk Kerkorian, but the fourth insurance company, National Union, goes on trial next week. MGM is seeking reimbursement of $35 million it paid on behalf of its directors and officers to settle a class-action suit brought against MGM by disgruntled shareholders. TRADE COMMISSION TO PROBE CLAIM: SGS-Thomson Microelectronics Inc. said Tuesday the U.S. International Trade Commission will investigate the importation of telecommunication chips and products the firm says violate its patents. SGS-Thomson says three Taiwanese semiconductor firms as well as several importers of telecommunication products are in violation. It seeks an order barring importation of the products. IBM INJUNCTION DISSOLVED: A preliminary injunction that prevented Seagate Technology Inc. and one of its employees from using IBM trade secrets has been dissolved. In sending the injunction back to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the lower court had not sufficiently articulated the background, terms and conditions of the injunction. THREAT OF SUIT CITED: In Wallace, Utah, the Utah Western Railroad Co. said Tuesday it will not go through with a planned $1.75 million deal to buy the Silver Valley rail line. Utah Western cited fear of becoming the target of an environmental suit by the Coeur d'Alene indian tribe. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON STRIKE: MEETING TO BE TARGETED: Caterpillar Inc.'s annual meeting in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday will be used as a target for protests by United Auto Workers union officials over the firm's handling of a five-month-old strike. Caterpillar officials say they expect a large contingent of UAW members to demonstrate at the mid-morning meeting. STRIKER BILL STALLED: The strike by 12,600 United Auto Workers union members at Caterpillar Inc. has brought the issue of protection for striking workers up again. The House last years passed a bill that would protect union members from being replaced if they go on strike, but efforts to get a similar bill passed in the Senate have stalled. President Bush vows to veto the measure. BILL WOULD COVER UNION WORKERS: A new bill to protect striking workers would: Forbid companies from hiring permanent replacements for workers striking over economic issues; forbid employers from giving advantages to a worker who crosses a picket line to return to the job. Unions say the bill is needed to protect workers in collective bargaining. But businesses say it gives workers an unfair advantage in strikes. (End of package.) Business Law Editor: Jason P. Smith. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM