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June 20, 2005
House to Mark Up Pension Bill This Week
The House Education and the Workforce Employer-Employee Subcommittee
will mark up Education and the Workforce Chairman John Boehner’s
(R–Ohio) pension bill on Wednesday, CongressDaily
reported. Boehner’s bill likely will get a full committee vote
before the Independence Day recess. Once the bill is marked up, it might
be wrapped into a package of “retirement security”
legislation that House Ways and Means Chairman William Thomas
(R–Calif.) is assembling.
UAL Machinists Agree to Contract
The machinists union and UAL Corp.’s United Airlines reached
agreement on a five-year labor contract that will save the airline $175
million a year and allow it to terminate pension plans covering 20,000
active machinists and other workers and thousands of retirees, the
Wall Street Journal reported. The union said terms of the
deal will be disclosed tomorrow and that the workers will finish voting
on the pact by July 22.
Brazil’s Airline Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Varig, Brazil’s airline, filed for bankruptcy protection on
Friday to keep a restructuring plan on track and prevent 11 of its 82
jetliners from being seized by a division of American International
Group Inc., the Associated Press reported. Varig had faced a Friday
deadline to pay overdue leasing bills for the planes. But the filing
allows the carrier to keep using the jetliners while a judge mediates
details of the airline’s rescue plan with creditors, Varig lawyer
Sergio Bermudes told Dow Jones Newswires.
Adelphia Founder, Son Set to Be Sentenced for Fraud
Nearly a year after they were found guilty of conspiring to defraud
cable operator Adelphia Communications Corp., company founder John Rigas
and his son, Timothy, are set to hear their sentences from a U.S. judge
today, Reuters reported. Prosecutors have asked U.S. District Judge
Leonard Sand in Manhattan to impose a lengthy prison term on the
Rigases, who are among a string of high-ranking corporate executives in
the United States to be put on trial in recent years over allegations of
white-collar crime.
Mirant Sues Southern Company for $2 Billion Plus Damages
Energy trader Mirant Corp. said late on Thursday that it and its
creditors’ committee were suing Southern Co. for at least $2
billion, claiming its former parent company contributed to its
bankruptcy, Reuters reported. The suit seeks recovery of funds in
connection with transfers made to Southern before it spinned off Mirant
in April 2001, and was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the
Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth, Mirant said.
Enron Settles Lawsuit with Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) will pay $41.8 million in cash to
energy trader Enron Corp. to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of the
estate of the company, Enron said on Friday, Reuters reported. RBS also
agreed to subordinate or assign to Enron about $329 million in claims
against the energy company, in return for a $20 million cash payment
from the estate. Enron said the agreement resolves all open issues
between Enron and RBS.
Air Canada Cancels Big Boeing Order
ACE Aviation Holdings, parent of Air Canada, has canceled a $6.1
billion plane order with Boeing after the airline’s pilots
rejected a contract governing flying of the planes, Bloomberg News
reported. Air Canada’s pilots voted to reject a contract, endorsed
by union leaders, that would have altered how the airline links wages to
the size, speed, weight and revenue potential of the planes the pilots
fly. That prompted the airline to cancel the order for 18 Boeing
777’s and 14 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Japan Golf Club Maker Files for Bankruptcy
Japanese golf club maker Honma Golf Co. Ltd. today said it had filed
for bankruptcy protection with liabilities of 30.57 billion yen ($281
million) after expansions left it with too much debt, Reuters reported.
Honma, whose products were known in Japan as “the Rolls Royce of
clubs,” said the problems stemmed from heavy spending on widening
its sales outlet network, enlarging its plant and building golf courses.
It had closed loss-making stores and cut jobs in an effort to
restructure, but decided to file for court protection as a sharp decline
in the value of its real assets would likely push it into negative net
worth, it added.