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September 23,
2005
Pension
Bill Might Get Floor Time, Grassley Says
Pension legislation might
come to a Senate vote after the chamber votes on the nomination of John
Roberts to be Supreme Court chief justice, Senate Finance Chairman
Grassley (R-Iowa) said yesterday, according to Congress Daily.
"I’ve been told there is a window of opportunity,"
said Grassley, who is working with Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions Chairman Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.) to merge their respective
versions of pension legislation. The final version will likely include
special help for the troubled airline industry, with provisions in
both bills giving airlines 14 years to stretch out their pension
payments. Grassley called the 14-year timeframe included in his bill
"a fragile compromise" that he expects to remain in the
final package. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) said that he has spoken to
House Education and the Workforce Chairman John Boehner, whose committee
passed a pension bill in June. "I feel confident that the House
is ready to receive the proposal and act on it," Isakson said.
The Labor
Department and the Employee Benefits Security Administration will host
three talks today, all located at the Labor Department, 200
Constitution Ave., NW, room S 4215 B-C, Washington, D.C. For more
information, call (202) 693-8668. The first is “Meeting of the
Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans Working
Group on Communications to Retirement Plan Participants” to
study the issue of communications to retirement plan participants at
8:30 a.m. At 9 a.m., the Meeting of the Advisory Council on Employee
Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans Working Group on Retirement Plan
Distributions and Options, to hear testimony on distribution options
available to participants of qualified retirement plans and the
sufficiency of the communication of the options to retiring or
terminating participants, will be held. Last is the 131st plenary
meeting of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension
Benefit Plans for members to be updated on activities of the Employee
Benefits Security Administration and for the chairman of this
year’s working groups to provide progress reports on their
individual study topics today at 4 p.m.
Experts
Available to Discuss Consumers and Credit Scores
A survey sponsored by the
Consumer Federation of America and Providian Financial Corp. found that
75 percent of Americans think they can receive their credit scores
annually free of charge, Business Wire reported yesterday. The survey
shows most consumers are not clear on the difference between credit
reports and credit scores. Credit scores are not included under the
Fair and Accurate Transaction Act, which requires consumers to have
free access to their credit reports.
href='http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?epi-content=NEW…'>Experts
are available to address these issues.
id='4'>Lawmakers Learn Delta Details
For the second time in a
week, Delta executives were questioned by Georgia lawmakers struggling
to understand the ripple effect that the airline’s bankruptcy
and restructuring will have on Georgia’s economy, the Atlanta
Business Journal reported yesterday. The Atlanta hearing, held in
front of a joint session of the House and Senate Transportation
committees, didn’t seem to answer the question of what the state
can do. But it did indicate what Delta’s future looked like, and
the impact that its financial troubles will have on employees and
communities.
href='http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2005/09/19/daily34.html?…'>Read
more.
British Airways CEO
Criticizes U.S. Bankruptcy Laws
British Airways CEO Rod Eddington said yesterday that U.S.
bankruptcy laws were distorting competition for transatlantic airlines
by propping up struggling carriers, Reuters reported. "America,
the land of the free, is turning itself into the land of the free
ride," he told a meeting of industry officials. "[Airlines]
are operating in protected markets. They are hoovering up public funds
and they still can’t make a profit." Eddington, who retires
from BA at the end of the month, also took a swipe at U.S. government
ownership laws and government subsidies for airlines elsewhere,
calling for a more aggressive approach to consolidation. "The world
does not need 300 airlines. They exist because of political
demand," Eddington said, saying that the world only needs 10 to
20 major airlines. "We need easier rules on takeovers and open
skies (for airline markets)."
href='http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticleSearch.aspx?storyID=222865%2…'>Read
more.
Mirant Takes Steps Toward
Emergence
Mirant
yesterday announced that it has filed its second amended
reorganization plan with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth,
Texas, PRNewswire reported. The court is scheduled to conduct hearings
next week to consider approving the disclosure statement so that the
company can begin the process of formally soliciting the vote of its
creditors and shareholders on the plan, and then proceed with a
confirmation hearing in late November or early December. On Wednesday,
the court authorized the company to execute commitment letters with JP
Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs setting forth the terms
under which the lenders propose to provide Mirant with up to $2.35
billion in exit financing.
href='http://www.prnewswire.com/cgibin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/0…'>Read
the full story.
Judge
Reserves Ruling on Stelco Extension
Ontario Superior Court
Justice James Farley reserved his decision on whether to grant
Stelco its tenth extension since January 2004, furious that the
company has still not been able to finish negotiations with two locals
of the United Steelworkers of America, the Canadian Press
reported yesterday. Stelco and its stakeholders, including the steel
workers, the Ontario government and creditors, "think that they
have all the time in the world, and that they can continue to
dance," Farley said. "The music is stopping." On
Tuesday, Stelco revealed its long-awaited restructuring plan, which
was bolstered by a $100-million loan from the province. As a
prerequisite, the government required Stelco to hammer out collective
agreements with two of its union locals by 9:30 a.m. yesterday. The
government’s loan was also contingent on Stelco finalizing an
arrangement with Tricap Management Ltd. to provide $450 million in new
financing. Stelco lawyer Michael Barrack said that a team negotiated
all through Wednesday night on the Tricap agreement, and a resulting
document was handed to Stelco’s board at 8:15 yesterday morning.
However, some board members were still on flights returning from Europe,
leaving the board unable to approve it.
href='http://www.canada.com/businesscentre/story.html?id=c458f3fa-c515-4ca6-8…'>Read
more.
Goodyear Tire to Shut Down
Plants
Goodyear
Tire & Rubber Co. said today that it will close an undisclosed
number of plants in various locations, part of a sweeping
restructuring aimed at improving its North American tire business and
saving up to $1 billion over the next three years, the Associated
Press reported. The company did not say how many jobs would be affected.
It also did not say how many plants it will close or their locations,
but added that cutting high-cost capacity will be a key consideration.
Goodyear said that it plans to cut high-cost manufacturing capacity
between 8 and 12 percent, resulting in expected annual savings of $100
million to $150 million. The company also said that it would increase
sourcing from Asia and seek other ways to boost productivity. Goodyear
said that it would record restructuring charges between $150 million
and $250 million over the next three years and that it is targeting
total cost cuts between $750 million and $1 billion by 2008.
href='http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8CPUR800'>Read
more.
ERI to Seek Bankruptcy
Protection
ERI Housing
Inc. is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection, according to a
letter the company sent to Eagle Ready-Mix Inc., the Truth
reported today. "ERI Housing Inc. has no assets," the letter
says. "We have initiated bankruptcy protection." The letter
came after reports from customers and contractors that the Goshen,
Ind., company had closed its offices without warning or official notice.
An employee with ERI’s corporate office in Goshen would not
comment Tuesday on whether the company is closing, and calls to other
company offices went unanswered. Contractors say that ERI failed to
pay bills for work already done and now they can’t complete the
work at the home sites. Dan Wagner, vice president of Eagle Ready-Mix,
said that his company had seven customers it was in the middle of doing
work for and had not been paid by ERI for several weeks.
href='http://www.etruth.com/News/Content.aspx?ID=357119&page='>Read
more.