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October 13, 2004
Congress Departs with a Pile of Dead Bills
The U.S. Congress left behind an unusually long list of stalled or
dead bills as lawmakers went home to ask voters to re-elect them next
month, Reuters reported. Democrats and Republicans had some successes
this year. But working in closely divided chambers, they had problems
finding much common ground on a host of issues. Among the matters on
which they have failed to agree: comprehensive energy and transportation
bills, a fund to compensate victims of asbestos, bankruptcy, welfare and
tort reform, the newswire reported. The Senate left on Monday for the
Nov. 2 elections after giving final Congressional approval to a massive
corporate tax bill. The House of Representatives cleared out on
Saturday. The elections are expected to produce another closely divided
Congress, which should mean more gridlock next year, Reuters
reported.
Retiree Health Care Benefits in America Dwindling
Beset with spiraling health care costs, an aging workforce and a
still slow economy, more companies are boosting the bottom line by
paring health care benefits for their retired employees, the San
Francisco Chronicle reported. A study by the human resources
consulting firm Hewitt Associates and the Kaiser Family Foundation
released in January showed how retiree health care benefits are steadily
being reduced. Some 71 percent of 408 large private-sector firms
surveyed said they had required their retirees to pay higher premiums
during the past year, while 57 percent had increased drug co-
payments/coinsurances, and 34 percent had increased deductibles.
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US Airways
US Airways Employees Skip Work amid Strife
US Airways Group Inc. is encountering an increased number of
employees calling in sick, and some workers are staging slowdowns as the
airline reorganizes its employee benefits and sick leave in bankruptcy
court, executives from the airline said yesterday, the Washington
Post reported. In a hearing yesterday at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
Alexandria, Va., David M. Davis, US Airways CFO, testified that some
employee groups were participating in a “slowdown” and that
an entire cleaning crew in Chicago called in sick a few weeks ago.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen S. Mitchell postponed a decision on
whether to impose a requested 23 percent, or $38 million a month,
across-the-board employee pay cut for at least six months. Another
hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. Mitchell also did not rule on whether
the airline could forgo past-due payments to its mechanics’ and
flight attendants’ pension funds, the newspaper reported.
US Airways, Lenders File Cash Pact
The government has agreed with key lenders to extend financing US
Airways must have to operate, court records showed on Tuesday, Reuters
reported. If approved by a judge, the second wholesale restructuring of
loan terms in five months with the Air Transportation Stabilization
Board and private investors will let US Airways draw cash from the
balance of $1 billion in federally backed loans granted at the end of
its first bankruptcy in 2003.
Temporary permission to use that cash through Oct. 15 was approved
last month by Judge Stephen Mitchell of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for
the Eastern District of Virginia. Mitchell is expected to endorse the
latest agreement by the end of the week.
Worldcom
Ex-Chief Wants WorldCom to Pay Law Bills
Bernard J. Ebbers, a former CEO of WorldCom Inc., will ask a court to
order the company to pay his legal bills as he fights charges that he
orchestrated an $11 billion accounting fraud, Bloomberg News reported.
According to papers filed in Federal Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan,
Ebbers has spent more than $2 million on legal costs and has not
received money from the company, which changed its name to MCI Inc. when
it emerged from bankruptcy protection in April.
MCI Needs More Time to Settle State Tax Claims
MCI on Tuesday said it had asked a federal court to give it until
February to work out a settlement with states who want as much as $1.5
billion in back taxes, Reuters reported. The states have accused MCI of
siphoning billions of dollars of income from high-tax states to low-tax
states. “I can confirm that we are no longer employing the tax
strategy at issue and that we asked the bankruptcy court for an
extension of time to negotiate with the states,” said MCI
spokesman Peter Lucht, the newswire reported.