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October 22, 2004
Chamber Faults Daschle for Failure Of Class Action Bill
This year’s collapse of a bipartisan bill overhauling the rules
for class action lawsuits is a pivotal reason the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce is urging South Dakota voters to unseat Senate Minority Leader
Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), a Chamber official says,
CongressDaily reported. “It was not the Republican
leadership [who killed the bill]; it was Daschle,” Stanton
Anderson, the Chamber’s executive vice president, said Tuesday.
“His demands were such that they could never be met.”
Anderson’s criticisms of Daschle stood in sharp contrast to
comments Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Del.), a co-sponsor of the class action
bill, made last week blaming the bill’s demise on election-year
maneuvering by GOP leaders. The class action deliberations fell apart in
July, after Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) tried to bar senators
from offering unrelated amendments on all issues except the minimum
wage, the newswire reported.
US Air Pilots Vote to Take 18 Percent Pay Cuts
Pilots at US Airways have voted in favor of giving $300 million in
annual wage and benefit concessions to the struggling airline, becoming
the first major labor group to accept permanent cuts, the union
representing pilots said yesterday, the New York Times
reported. US Airways made its second bankruptcy protection filing in two
years on Sept. 12. Last week, a Federal Bankruptcy Court in Alexandria,
Va., granted the airline’s bid for emergency pay cuts of 21
percent, and other benefit reductions, for its union workers. Without
the cuts, US Airways said, it could cease operating by mid-February.
Deal on Trump Debt Includes Bankruptcy
Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts Inc. said yesterday that it had
reached an agreement with bondholders that would reduce its debt through
a bankruptcy and leave Donald J. Trump in charge, Bloomberg News
reported. The agreement would reduce the company’s $1.8 billion
debt by $400 million as part of a filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection, expected by the end of November, Trump Hotels said. A
planned $400 million investment from Trump, the company’s chairman
and CEO, and a Credit Suisse First Boston unit fell apart in
September.
Court Approves Interstate Bakeries Financing
Bankrupt Interstate Bakeries Corp., maker of Hostess Twinkies and
Wonder Bread, received court approval yesterday to incur new debt that
will allow the company to continue operations as it seeks to reorganize,
Reuters reported. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jerry Venters gave final
approval to the $200 million financing package provided by JPMorgan
Chase Bank. Last month, he had given the company permission to use up to
$50 million of that money to stay afloat.
Crane Posts Loss After Asbestos-Related Charge
Diversified manufacturer Crane Co. yesterday posted a quarterly net
loss after a year-ago profit, citing a large non-cash after-tax charge
related to a proposed settlement of the company’s asbestos
liabilities, Reuters reported. Crane, whose products range from aircraft
fuel pumps and fiberglass panels to valves used in oil production, also
forecast current-quarter earnings below analyst expectations and lowered
the high end of its full-year earnings target range. The company
reported a third-quarter net loss of $205.2 million, or $3.48 a share,
compared with a profit in the year-earlier quarter of $28.1 million or
47 cents a share. Sales rose 12 percent to $477.3 million.
Huffy Gets $50 Million in DIP Financing
Bankrupt bicycle maker Huffy Corporation on Thursday said it received
approval for up to $50 million in debtor-in-possession financing from
Congress Financial Corporation, Reuters reported. The funds will be used
to finance operating expenses, supplier and employee obligations. The
company’s operations will continue as usual, Huffy, which filed
for bankruptcy on Wednesday, said in a statement.
W.R. Grace Posts Profit
Bankrupt chemical maker W.R. Grace & Co. on Wednesday posted a
third-quarter profit, and said it would file its own reorganization plan
if talks with its biggest creditors break down, Reuters reported. Net
income rose to $48 million, or 72 cents per share, compared with a loss
of $9.9 million, or 15 cents, a year ago. The company filed for
bankruptcy in April 2001 under the weight of asbestos lawsuits. Last
week it delayed filing its bankruptcy reorganization plan to keep
talking with its biggest creditors, a group of claimants from asbestos
lawsuits, the newswire reported.