Thursday, September 21, 2006

The New York Sun, September 19, 2006, Tuesday

The New York Sun

September 19, 2006 Edition
Police See First Rise in Exam Applicants Since Recruit Pay Cut
BY BRADLEY HOPE - Staff Reporter of the SunSeptember 19, 2006
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/39909


The number of people applying to take the next police exam is up versus a year ago, but the total is 33% lower than the applicants for the fall 2004 exam.
The 23,563 people who applied to take the October 28 exam is an 11% rise versus a year ago — the first increase since an arbitration panel cut the pay for police recruits in June 2005. About 35,000 people applied to take the exam at this time in 2004.
The department fills about 3,000 openings a year — 1,500 for each of two police academy classes. This year, the target is higher than previous years, after the mayor and the police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, announced they would add 800 uniformed officers to the department.
Since the arbitration panel decided to take away from the wages of new recruits to pay veteran police officers more, the number of applicants for the police exam plummeted. Between January 2005 and January 2006, about 20% fewer people applied for the police exam. Between May 2005 and May 2006, the drop was about 28%.
The arbitration panel set the salary for new recruits at $25,100 a year during their six months in the police academy. Under the plan, their pay rises to $32,700 when they leave the academy, and after one and a half years with the department it rises to $34,000. Top pay, the highest base salary a uniformed officer can make, is $59,588.
While the modest rise in applicants for October's exam, which prospective cadets had to apply for by last Friday, is a shred of good news for the police department, the task of recruiting enough officers to fill the roughly 3,000 slots that open up every year is still a problem. The number of cadets sworn into the department this year was more than 200 officers less than the target number.
Mr. Kelly has said in interviews and speeches over the last year that the pay cut has hurt the department's ability to recruit new cadets.
The president of the Patrolman's Benevolent Association, Patrick Lynch, said it wasn't just the starting pay that hurt recruitment, but the generally lower salary all NYPD officers are paid compared with officers in the Port Authority and in Nassau and Suffolk counties, as well as across the country.
"New York City has a serious problem recruiting qualified persons and has the additional problem of losing veterans by the hundreds each year to better paying police jobs," he said in a statement.
The director of career services at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Thomas Doyle, said potential police recruits are approached at career fairs by departments across the country. The Dallas Police Department took out an advertisement at Shea Stadium that promised a $10,000 signing bonus this year.
"The out of town departments are at the moment very competitive," he said. "But, if the student is interested in being with the NYPD, they'll do it. It's sort of a joke. They say,‘I'll live with my parents until I get on my own feet.' "
The problem of recruiting is likely to play a role in the next contract between the police and the city. The two sides have been meeting with mediators since the city declared an impasse in negotiations in July.
"It's a huge drop-off. It clearly indicates that there are fewer candidates, but numerically speaking, the opportunity to get better candidates has to be diminished," a professor of public labor law at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Lee Adler, said

The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), September 17, 2006, Sunday

Becoming an industry giant and gaining foes along the way
By JEREMIAH MCWILLIAMS,
The Virginian-Pilot© September 17, 2006 Last updated: 5:48 PM
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=111201&ran=57311

SMITHFIELD – About four years ago, employees and a few executives of Smithfield Foods Inc. gathered for an environmental awards ceremony in a community center down the street from the company’s palatial headquarters on the Pagan River.
C. Larry Pope, then-president and chief operating officer, laid out the top priorities for the company, which in 2000 had begun its reign as the world’s biggest hog raiser.
“The three most important things in this company are employee safety, environmental safety and food safety,” Dennis Treacy, Smithfield’s vice president of environmental and corporate affairs, recalled Pope saying that day. “The first time he said it, people went out in the parking lot and said, ‘Did you hear what he said?’”
Now it is Pope’s turn to put words into action. On Sept. 1, he took over as chief executive from longtime boss Joseph W. Luter III, inheriting a decentralized company with operations in eight countries and record-setting sales of more than $11.4 billion last fiscal year.
Luter built Smithfield Foods into a formidable competitor in a cyclical, low-margin industry but attracted bitter criticism from labor unions, environmentalists and animal-rights activists along the way. Smithfield has been dogged for years by image-tarnishing legacies, including allegations of environmental degradation and callous treatment of workers and animals.
“When you become the biggest in your industry, you become the target,” Pope said last month at a news conference after the company’s annualshareholders meeting. “Everybody picks at you. … Size brings attention.”
From many indications, Smithfield today is undergoing a corporate makeover. Without admitting fault for past actions, the company is trying to scrub itself clean of its foes’ claims.
Although Smithfield and its critics clash over how deep the changes actually run – and whether they indicate a real improvement in behavior – the company recently has grabbed honors and accolades that would have been difficult to imagine a decade ago.
Consider:
In March, Smithfield popped onto an index of companies touted by the Financial Times newspaper and the London Stock Exchange for maintaining environmental sustainability, building positive relations with stakeholders, upholding human rights, ensuring good labor standards at suppliers and countering bribery.
In May, Smithfield Packing Co., the company’s pork-processing subsidiary, won a certificate from the U.S. Department of Agriculture verifying that hogs slaughtered at the company’s three pork-processing plants were raised on farms that have a system in place to ensure proper treatment and environmental safety.
This year, in response to a string of truck crashes that injured hogs, Murphy-Brown LLC – Smithfield’s hog-raising subsidiary – invested thousands of dollars to respond to incidents more quickly. Employees were retrained on how to handle hurt animals, and how to euthanize them more quickly. Trained veterinarians will be sent to every crash.
Smithfield has opened its books to a degree, disclosing some details of Warsaw, N.C.-based Murphy-Brown’s animal welfare management system.
Smithfield’s environmental management system has won the “ISO 14001” stamp at each of the company’s U.S. hog production and beef processing facilities, except for recent acquisitions. That means the system has been audited independently to ensure it is effective and conforms to guidelines set by the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization.
Smithfield’s expanded corporate social responsibility report for 2005 lists a $5 million gift from the Smithfield-Luter Foundation to Christopher Newport University in Newport News, as well as a donation of 2.5 million pounds of meat to food banks represented by Chicago-based America’s Second Harvest.
Using evaluations by Smithfield’s peers, Fortune magazine has named the company to its “America’s Most Admired Companies” list four years in a row.
Smithfield is no longer regarded as a backwater operation focused almost exclusively on pork processing.
“They’re making giant steps forward to becoming closer to top-of-mind brand awareness,” said Kenneth Herbst, assistant professor of marketing and a self-described “food psychologist” at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. “It’s locally thought of as the top-dollar brand, and it’s the one that really makes your mouth water.”
As the company adds brands and increasingly moves into delis, restaurants and supermarkets, close contact with consumers may be inspiring a savvier and more urgent response to critics.
“Within the United States, livestock production and meat industry growth face a number of challenges, including new or strengthened regulatory oversight,” Smithfield said in its social responsibility report released in April. “Additionally, stakeholders have expressed interest in learning more about what can be done to reduce the industry’s impact on the environment.”
Treacy, who led Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality before joining Smithfield in 2002, said there were problems in the past.
Five years before he came to the company, for instance, Smithfield was fined $12.6 million for polluting local waterways with hog waste.
“There were some things in the ’90s that were not that pleasant,” Treacy acknowledged.
But, he adds in the next breath, there has been a “fundamental change” in the way Smithfield operates.
“If you walk the halls of Smithfield, you’ll hear a lot of people talking about sales and profits,” he said, “but you’ll also hear a lot of people talking about charitable giving, animal welfare, the environment.”
Carnell York hiked up his pant leg, exposing a jagged scar around his knee where he said a knife slashed him in January 2004 on the processing line of Smithfield’s giant hog plant in Tar Heel, N.C.
He stood outside Richmond’s Cedar Street Baptist Church last month as hundreds of Tar Heel workers and union organizers crammed inside to rally prior to Smithfield Foods’ annual meeting a few miles away.
“If we had a union, they would have treated us better,” York said. He said a plant doctor delayed treating the wound, and that the company fired him a few months later. “The night I got hurt at work, they sent me home. I think they did me wrong.”
Like York’s scar, Smithfield’s reputation has not completely healed from allegations of abuse and aggressive union-busting in the past decade at the 5,500-worker Tar Heel plant. If the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union has its way, the remedy will be strong medicine.
The union organized a nationwide blitz this year – with rallies in Chicago, Washington, Richmond and other cities – to crank up the pressure on Smithfield, hoping to pave the way for a card-check union election at Tar Heel.
Smithfield “will have no choice but to confront the issue,” the Rev. Alfred Reid, pastor of a Baptist church in Prince George County, told hundreds of union supporters inside the church. “Crisis will open the door to negotiation.”
Smithfield added a wrinkle of its own this year by calling for the union to schedule new elections at Tar Heel and a Wilson, N.C., bacon plant. Both plants were subjects of National Labor Relations Board decisions that found the company violated federal labor law. So far, the union has balked, saying the company is not acting in good faith.
“The call for an election, I think, is completely unreasonable because there can’t possibly be a fair election after 10 years of intimidation,” said Lance Compa, a senior lecturer at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and author of a scathing Human Rights Watch report on the meatpacking industry last year.
The union and outside critics portray Tar Heel as emblematic of a company that would rather drag out the legal process through lengthy appeals than accept a union.
“They’ve fought very hard to make sure the union is not established,” said Richard Hurd, a Cornell professor of industrial and labor relations. “In that kind of environment, workers tend to be extremely cautious.”
Still, about 57 percent of workers in Smithfield Packing Co.’s U.S. pork plants are now unionized with the Teamsters, the food workers or other unions, and executives say they will accept workers’ choices in open union elections.
Workers “get respect – they get dignity,” Luter told shareholders in August. “We have no desire to violate anyone’s human rights.”
What Smithfield does have is a willingness to unleash its legal team to fight damaging allegations, sometimes for years.
As in previous cases that turned against Smithfield, the company has appealed a labor board decision that said Smithfield Packing’s now-defunct internal police illegally abused and bullied cleaning contractors when they walked off the job at Tar Heel in 2003.
Citing executives’ busy schedules, company representatives declined to make Pope, Luter or his son, Joseph W. Luter IV, president of Smithfield Packing Co., available for interviews, except for chats with the elder Luter and Pope after the Aug. 30 annual meeting.
Some changes at Smithfield have come after litigation, spurring claims that the company skirts ethics and the law until it is forced to change.
After launching environmental lawsuits against Murphy-Brown more than five years ago, a New York advocacy group called the Waterkeeper Alliance reached a consent agreement with the company in January.
The deal requires computerized monitoring of sprayers that shoot treated hog waste onto dirt at about 275 North Carolina hog farms, and for sprayers to be shut off when winds reach 15 mph.
Hog farms produce tons of manure and urine, which are flushed from barns into open-air pools before being recycled back into the soil, and environmentalists revile the process for polluting groundwater.
“The fact that we basically had to take some legal action against them is a pretty good indicator,” said Larry Baldwin, who patrols North Carolina’s Neuse River looking for environmental hazards on behalf of the Neuse River Foundation. The group is affiliated with the Waterkeeper Alliance.
“It means they’re not being real cooperative in taking action themselves,” Baldwin said. “They’re not being as environmentally good stewards as they could be.”
Now, the question for Pope and the rest of Smithfield’s top management is whether the company can earn an image as a good neighbor and fair employer while continuing its quest for acquisitions and profit growth.
On Wall Street – where its stock has risen 62 percent in four years – and among many industry observers, there is strong faith that Smithfield’s leadership team will weather the controversies.
“Sometimes when you get too big, you have to cut corners in various parts of your business,” said Herbst of William and Mary. “I don’t see that happening with Smithfield.”
When asked about protests at the company’s annual meeting, Pope said, “I feel very comfortable with the policies we’ve put in place. We have upgraded our attention to developing responses” to deal with environmental and labor concerns, he said.
“Our history in recent years hasn’t been perfect,” Smithfield spokesman Jerry Hostetter said. “But it’s been about as perfect as it can be, with human nature.”
Reach Jeremiah McWilliams at (757) 446-2344 or jeremiah.mcwilliams@pilotonline.com.

Arizona Daily Star, September 18, 2006, Wednesday

Arizona Daily Star
September 18, 2006, Wednesday
http://www.azstarnet.com/business/147039

Diminishing returns: Auto workers' power wanes Membership is down along with auto jobs, costing union clout
By Ellen Simon
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — The buyout package Ford Motor Co. is offering 75,000 union workers shows the vestiges of the United Auto Worker Union's might: It offers lifetime retirement benefits for workers 50 or older with 10 years of service, and a $100,000 education account for children or spouses. But the deal also shows what the union has been reduced to: Getting a good deal for its members as they leave their jobs forever. "On the one hand, it's remarkable that the union is able to negotiate something like this for its workers from a company that's losing so much money and is in so much trouble. So it's a tribute to the power of the union," said Ross Eisenbrey, the policy director at the Economic Policy Institute, a research group tank in Washington. "On the other hand, it portends a future where the union will have less power and strength." That future has already arrived, for the UAW and the entire labor movement. The decrease in union membership has been stark. The UAW had 1.2 million members 20 years ago; it now has less than 600,000. Twenty percent of the United States work force was unionized in 1983. By 2005, union membership had dropped to 12.5 percent of the work force, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The union members who remain are not as bold as their brethren were when unions were larger and more powerful. The number of workers on strike or locked out in labor disputes involving more than 1,000 workers shrank by nearly 90 percent from 1983 to 2005, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Eisenbrey blames unions' decline on unfriendly federal labor policies and a hostile National Labor Relations Board, the independent federal agency charged with reviewing unfair labor practices and certifying workers' votes to join a union. "The NLRB is the most anti-union board ever," he said. Others blame the unions themselves. "They're not organizing, they're not growing," said Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University. "They're just trying to cushion the impact on their members." The labor movement has been on the defensive for the last decade, he said. "They're unable to deal with globalization issues and nonunion competition. They have no way to solve this." The result of weaker unions, especially for blue collar workers, has been stagnating wages, said Eisenbrey. While foreign automakers have traditionally matched UAW wages for their own non-unionized workers in the U.S., a few are beginning to introduce lower wages at some U.S. plants, paying workers $10 or $12 an hour, down from the average $27 an hour union wage, he said. At Ford, the packages for departing workers are "the best possible exit deal that could be made," said Bob Bruno, an associate professor of industrial and labor relations at the University of Illinois in Chicago. "Nonetheless, it's still a deal with the devil," he said. "It's dissociating prosperity from work." That's nothing new for the auto industry, which has a "jobs bank" where laid-off workers get most of their pay and benefits even when they're not working. Getting rid of the jobs bank isn't part of the buyout package, since it's mandated in the union contract, which expires in Oct. 2007. The UAW is focused on securing its workers' retirements rather than their future employment because its average member has 20 years' seniority, said Harry Katz, dean of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. Many white collar workers at Ford might envy that focus. Ford said Friday that it would cut an additional 10,000 nonunion salaried jobs. "There's probably a lot of Ford (union) workers talking with their families, saying 'What should I do? Things aren't going to get any better,"' Chaison said. "At least they get to ask that question. For professional and clerical workers, they just receive an announcement; they don't get to make a choice."
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M2 Presswire, September 20, 2006

M2 Presswire

September 20, 2006


HEADLINE: Cooper Industries Ltd: Cooper Industries Appoints New Human Resources Senior Executive

BODY:

HOUSTON - Cooper Industries (NYSE:CBE) today announced the appointment of James P. Williams as senior vice president, human resources. Williams will report to Cooper Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kirk S. Hachigian.
Williams replaces David R. Sheil, Cooper's Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Administrative Officer, who is leaving the company following 20 years of service. Sheil will remain with Cooper until the end of 2006, serving in an advisory capacity to Hachigian and Williams.
Williams joins Cooper from Danaher Corporation where he served as corporate vice president of human resources. He advanced an HR agenda, including the successful integration of a number of key acquisitions in support of the company's global business strategies. Williams also worked for ten years at Honeywell (Allied Signal), Inc., in a series of increasingly responsible assignments, most recently as vice president of corporate human resources. He also spent five years with Monsanto, and six years with General Motors Corporation, in various leadership roles.
During the course of his career, Williams has worked in complex and matrixed organizations identifying and developing global talent. He brings extensive experience in labor/employee relations, organizational and leadership development, succession planning, compensation and benefits, and change performance management.
"Jim Williams provides Cooper with an exceptional range of strategic leadership capabilities across all realms of human resources practices in world-class Fortune 500 organizations," said Hachigian. "His work with growth-oriented, acquisitive companies and international manufacturing operations is accompanied by a precise working knowledge surrounding human resources best practices. He will play a critical role in identifying and developing Cooper's next-generation leaders as we expand our business portfolio."
Williams earned an M.B.A. from Washington University's Olin School of Business. He holds a B.S. in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University.
About Cooper Industries
Cooper Industries, Ltd. is a global manufacturer of electrical products and tools, with 2005 revenues of $4.7 billion, approximately 30 percent of which are international sales. Incorporated in Bermuda with administrative headquarters in Houston, Cooper employs approximately 29,000 people and operates eight divisions: Cooper B-Line, Cooper Bussmann, Cooper Crouse-Hinds, Cooper Lighting, Cooper Menvier, Cooper Power Systems, Cooper Wiring Devices and Cooper Tools Group. Cooper Connection provides a common marketing and selling platform for Cooper's sales to electrical distributors. For more information, visit the website at www.cooperindustries.com.
(M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com).

U.S. Newswire, September 20, 2006, Wednesday

U.S. Newswire

September 20, 2006 Wednesday 11:14 AM EST

SECTION: NATIONAL DESK, LABOR REPORTER

HEADLINE: DOL Awards $500,000 Grant to Syracuse University to Lead Research Into Effect of Employer Practices on Workers with Disabilities

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Sept. 20

BODY:
U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao has announced a grant of $500,000 to Syracuse University's Burton Blatt Institute: Centers of Innovation on Disability, to lead a national research consortium to study employer practices in employing, retaining and promoting people with disabilities.
"This $500,000 grant will help identify effective employer policies and practices for recruiting, retaining and promoting workers with disabilities," said Chao. "This research is designed to further President Bush's New Freedom Initiative goal of helping Americans with disabilities enter the workforce and build solid career paths."
Other members of the consortium are the Program for Disability Research at Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations and the Employment and Disability Institute at Cornell University's Industrial and Labor Relations School.
During an 18-month period, the research consortium will develop a standard design methodology and conduct case studies. The research will identify ways in which an organization's structures, values, policies and day-to-day practices promote the employment and retention of people with disabilities and benefit the organization as a whole. The information generated will result in individual case studies that can serve as models for other employers nationwide.
-----
U.S. Labor Department (DOL) releases are accessible on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format upon request (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office. Please specify which news release when placing your request. Call 202-693-7765 or 202-693-7755 (TTY). DOL is committed to providing America's employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit http://www.dol.gov/compliance.
---
http://www.usnewswire.com/

Business Wire, September 19, 2006, Tuesday

Copyright 2006 Business Wire, Inc.
Business Wire

September 19, 2006 Tuesday 6:32 PM GMT

DISTRIBUTION: Business Editors; Manufacturing Writers

HEADLINE: Cooper Industries Appoints New Human Resources Senior Executive

DATELINE: HOUSTON Sept. 19, 2006

BODY:
Cooper Industries (NYSE:CBE) today announced the appointment of James P. Williams as senior vice president, human resources. Williams will report to Cooper Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kirk S. Hachigian.
Williams replaces David R. Sheil, Cooper's Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Administrative Officer, who is leaving the company following 20 years of service. Sheil will remain with Cooper until the end of 2006, serving in an advisory capacity to Hachigian and Williams.
Williams joins Cooper from Danaher Corporation where he served as corporate vice president of human resources. He advanced an HR agenda, including the successful integration of a number of key acquisitions in support of the company's global business strategies. Williams also worked for ten years at Honeywell (Allied Signal), Inc., in a series of increasingly responsible assignments, most recently as vice president of corporate human resources. He also spent five years with Monsanto, and six years with General Motors Corporation, in various leadership roles.
During the course of his career, Williams has worked in complex and matrixed organizations identifying and developing global talent. He brings extensive experience in labor/employee relations, organizational and leadership development, succession planning, compensation and benefits, and change performance management.
"Jim Williams provides Cooper with an exceptional range of strategic leadership capabilities across all realms of human resources practices in world-class Fortune 500 organizations," said Hachigian. "His work with growth-oriented, acquisitive companies and international manufacturing operations is accompanied by a precise working knowledge surrounding human resources best practices. He will play a critical role in identifying and developing Cooper's next-generation leaders as we expand our business portfolio."
Williams earned an M.B.A. from Washington University's Olin School of Business. He holds a B.S. in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University.
About Cooper Industries
Cooper Industries, Ltd. is a global manufacturer of electrical products and tools, with 2005 revenues of $4.7 billion, approximately 30 percent of which are international sales. Incorporated in Bermuda with administrative headquarters in Houston, Cooper employs approximately 29,000 people and operates eight divisions: Cooper B-Line, Cooper Bussmann, Cooper Crouse-Hinds, Cooper Lighting, Cooper Menvier, Cooper Power Systems, Cooper Wiring Devices and Cooper Tools Group. Cooper Connection provides a common marketing and selling platform for Cooper's sales to electrical distributors. For more information, visit the website at www.cooperindustries.com.



CONTACT: Cooper Industries, Houston Yvonne Donaldson, 713-209-8464 donaldson@cooperindustries.com

URL: http://www.businesswire.com

Crain's Detroit Business, September 18, 2006, Monday

Copyright 2006 Crain Communications
All Rights Reserved
Crain's Detroit Business

September 18, 2006

SECTION: PEOPLE; Pg. 20

HEADLINE: In the spotlight

BODY:
Robert Ostrov, 57, has been appointed senior vice president of human resources by Troy-based auto supplier ArvinMeritor Inc. (NYSE:ARM) effective today.
He will provide strategic focus in employee leadership and development initiatives, compensation, benefits and rewards systems, labor relations, and human resources.
Ostrov comes to ArvinMeritor from FedEx Ground, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., where he was vice president of human resources and labor relations.
Ostrov holds a bachelor of science degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., an MBA in finance and strategic planning from Roosevelt University in Chicago, and a law degree from the Chicago Kent College of Law.
He replaces Ernie Whitus, who will remain an ArvinMeritor consultant.
The board also elected Ostrov an officer of the company, in addition to electing newly appointed senior vice presidents and presidents Phil Martens, Carsten Reinhardt and Buddy Wacaser officers.

Buffalo News (New York), September 16, 2006, Saturday

Copyright 2006 The Buffalo News
All Rights Reserved
Buffalo News (New York)

September 16, 2006 Saturday
FINAL EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A1


HEADLINE: Automakers' buyouts are mixed blessing;
Severance incentives, while keeping industry viable in WNY, contribute to 'huge erosion' of middle class

BYLINE: By Fred O. Williams and Matt Glynn - NEWS BUSINESS REPORTERS

BODY:
The incentives Ford Motor Co. dangled Friday to coax workers out the door are the latest in a string of similar offers that are taking a bite out of Buffalo's auto industry -- while keeping local plants standing.
The incentives to retire or just quit will pay Buffalo-area autoworkers tens of millions of dollars in bonuses, but subtract about 2,000 of their well-paid jobs from the local economy.
Ford joined other automakers Friday in offering its workers severance incentives, in its case between $35,000 and $140,000 before taxes.
The metal stamping plant in Hamburg will boost the departures with Ford's package of eight different incentive plans, which are open to all of its 1,340 blue-collar workers.
Similar moves already under way at General Motors and Delphi will erase more than 1,700 jobs in Erie and Niagara counties once they take full effect by year's end.
"These are the good-paying jobs you could get without a college degree," said Arthur Wheaton, an instructor at the Cornell Industrial and Labor Relations School. With the auto sector's downsizing, "you've seen a huge erosion of the middle class."
But fewer workers making more goods is "a trend that a lot of manufacturers have [implemented] to remain competitive," said Richard Deitz, regional economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Buffalo Branch.
The Buffalo region's auto components sector declined from 14,800 jobs in 2000 to 9,900 last year. The incentive cuts announced this year will subtract more jobs than in any previous single year.
Ford's metal stamping plant on Route 5 in Hamburg's Woodlawn section, which it calls its Buffalo Stamping Plant, came through the sweeping restructuring announced Friday relatively unscathed. The automaker is closing nine plants by 2008, including a metal stamping plant in Ohio, while shifting some assembly work closer to the Hamburg plant.
As a result, local workers will make all the stamped body panels for a new, Fairlane-based "people mover" that will replace the Freestar minivan in Oakville, Ont., Ford said.
That work comes on top of the job of producing parts for the Edge crossover vehicle that swings into full production next month in Oakville.
In addition, the Hamburg plant is in line to make parts for the Lincoln Town Car, which is moving to St. Thomas, Ont., from a plant to be closed in Wixom, Mich. The Town Car will be produced alongside the Ford Crown Victoria/Mercury Grand Marquis at the St. Thomas assembly plant, which is an important customer for Buffalo.
"There's a good possibility they may shift some of the stamping work to Buffalo," said Charles Gangarossa, president of United Auto Workers Local 897 in Hamburg.
The incentive programs will open in mid-October and the number exiting should be known by late November. Nearly 400 of the local plant's 1,340 production workers are already eligible for full retirement, Gangarossa said.
Among the incentives is $35,000 for workers eligible for retirement and $100,000 for younger workers with at least a year of service. Others may get $140,000 for taking retirement and giving up post-retirement health care and life insurance benefits.
Ford's plans were on the minds of workers leaving the Woodlawn plant on Friday. Greg Switala of Angola said he won't take the offer.
"It's really hard for me because I'm caught in the middle," Switala said as he sat behind the wheel of his Ford Focus.
Switala has worked at the plant for 22 years and is only eight years away from full retirement. To him, a $100,000 buyout, especially after taxes, would only go only so far.
"After that, I would have nothing," he said. "It doesn't benefit me at all."
But for Mike Goergen, Ford's plan is a good fit. The 58-year-old Hamburg resident has worked at the plant for 34 years, making him eligible for full retirement. "I was planning on retiring in a couple of years, so it was an incentive to do it," he said.
Tonawanda resident Toby Mazur said he needs to keep working at the plant because he has only 15 years of service there. "I have to stick it out."
If a large contingent leaves the plant, Hamburg may import transfers from shuttered locations or even hire temporary workers, Gangarossa said.
Ford can hire non-union temporary workers in some situations under its UAW contract, a spokeswoman said.
"We will staff our plants so we can run them efficiently," Anne Marie Gattari said.
Company-wide, Ford announced plans to cut about one-third of its salaried work force and up to 30,000 production jobs in North America within a year, accelerating its "Way Forward" program to adjust to a dramatic upheaval in the auto industry. Nine plants will be shut down through 2008, two more than previously announced.
"The business model that served us for decades no longer works," incoming chief executive Alan Mulally said in a conference call Friday. High gas prices and changing tastes are quickly undercutting sales of pickups and other larger vehicles, forcing a quick switch to smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles and more SUV-like "crossover" cars.
Economists said productivity-boosting moves are the price of saving manufacturing plants.
Deitz said the changing economy can make up jobs in other areas, and the important thing is for automakers to sharpen their productivity and competitiveness, in step with trends sweeping the manufacturing sector.
Once they take full effect by year's end, retirement incentives will cut 639 workers from GM's engine plant in the Town of Tonawanda, the company said, leaving its work force at 1,960. At least another 1,100 are exiting Delphi Corp.'s plant in Lockport -- the total is undetermined because one offer is still pending, spokesman Lindsey Williams said. Several hundred of the Delphi workers are being replaced by temporaries, but at about half the union wage of $27 an hour.
e-mail: fwilliams@buffnews.com; mglynn@buffnews.com

GRAPHIC: Bill Wippert/Buffalo News Ford Woodlawn plant employee Toby Mazur says he won't take the buyout.

AFX International Focus, September 15, 2006, Friday

Copyright 2006 AFX News Limited
AFX International Focus

September 15, 2006 Friday 10:27 PM GMT

HEADLINE: Ford's package: Union power on way out

BODY:
NEW YORK (AFX) - The buyout package Ford Motor Co. is offering 75,000 union workers shows the vestiges of the United Autoworker Union's might: It offers lifetime retirement benefits for workers 50 or older with 10 years of service, and a $100,000 education account for children or spouses.
But the deal also shows what the union has been reduced to: Getting a good deal for its members as they leave their jobs forever.
'On the one hand, it's remarkable that the union is able to negotiate something like this for its workers from a company that's losing so much money and is in so much trouble. So it's a tribute to the power of the union,' said Ross Eisenbrey, the policy director at the Economic Policy Institute, a research group tank in Washington. 'On the other hand, it portends a future where the union will have less power and strength.'
That future has already arrived, for the UAW and the entire labor movement.
The decrease in union membership has been stark. The UAW had 1.2 million members 20 years ago; it now has less than 600,000. Twenty percent of the United States work force was unionized in 1983. By 2005, union membership had dropped to 12.5 percent of the work force, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The union members who remain are not as bold as their brethren were when unions were larger and more powerful. The number of workers on strike or locked out in labor disputes involving more than 1,000 workers shrank by nearly 90 percent from 1983 to 2005, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Eisenbrey blames unions' decline on unfriendly federal labor policies and a hostile National Labor Relations Board, the independent federal agency charged with reviewing unfair labor practices and certifying workers' votes to join a union.
'The NLRB is the most anti-union board ever,' he said.
Others blame the unions themselves.
'They're not organizing, they're not growing,' said Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University. 'They're just trying to cushion the impact on their members.'
The labor movement has been on the defensive for the last decade, he said. 'They're unable to deal with globalization issues and nonunion competition. They have no way to solve this.'
The result of weaker unions, especially for blue collar workers, has been stagnating wages, said Eisenbrey.
While foreign automakers have traditionally matched UAW wages for their own non-unionized workers in the U.S., a few are beginning to introduce lower wages at some U.S. plants, paying workers $10 or $12 an hour, down from the average $27 an hour union wage, he said.
At Ford, the packages for departing workers are 'the best possible exit deal that could be made,' said Bob Bruno, an associate professor of industrial and labor relations at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
'Nonetheless, it's still a deal with the devil,' he said. 'It's dissociating prosperity from work.'
That's nothing new for the auto industry, which has a 'jobs bank' where laid-off workers get most of their pay and benefits even when they're not working. Getting rid of the jobs bank isn't part of the buyout package, since it's mandated in the union contract, which expires in Oct. 2007.
The UAW is focused on securing its workers' retirements rather than their future employment because its average member has 20 years' seniority, said Harry Katz, dean of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University.
Many white collar workers at Ford might envy that focus. Ford said Friday that it would cut an additional 10,000 nonunion salaried jobs.
'There's probably a lot of Ford (union) workers talking with their families, saying 'What should I do? Things aren't going to get any better,'' Chaison said. 'At least they get to ask that question. For professional and clerical workers, they just receive an announcement; they don't get to make a choice.'
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Long Island Business News (Long Island, NY), September 15, 2006, Friday

Copyright 2006 Dolan Media Newswires
Long Island Business News (Long Island, NY)

September 15, 2006

SECTION: NEWS

HEADLINE: President/CEO of Long Island Development Corp. uses long-range thinking to achieve success

BYLINE: Natalie Canavor

BODY:
The big stuffed Mickey and Minnie Mouse dolls occupying a chair in her office give only a glimpse of Roz Goldmacher's decorating predilection. At home, Mickey and Minnie take the form of seven-foot statues in the garden, a totem pole in the living room, dining room chairs, bathroom tiles and fixtures...
The collection expresses more than Goldmacher's love of things that make her smile. It reflects her admiration for her preeminent role model, Walt Disney.
"He looked at the Florida swampland and he saw Disney World," she says. "He was a true visionary, big-picture thinker. They are still building based on his plans from 50 years ago. "
Goldmacher has consciously built her own career on long-range thinking, supplemented by the ability to adjust vision to circumstance. She'd planned a career in union organizing while at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, but in her senior year, her mother suffered a stroke. Goldmacher decided to stay close to home, and chose law school.
After earning her degree, she worked in a law office representing non-bank lenders. Shortly after setting up her own practice, she heard about a new government lending program going through Congress. She envisioned how access to loans could help Long Island businesses, and in 1980, formed the Long Island Development Corp., the first company of its kind in the country.
Supplying SBA loans and a growing roster of business support programs, LIDC remained a side operation to Goldmacher's law practice until 1992. Today, Goldmacher is full-time president and chief executive not only of LIDC, but of the Greater New York Development Co., which plans to expand into New Jersey and Connecticut. LIDC's own building in Bethpage houses nearly 30 staff members.
What's worked for Goldmacher? "I don't know if it comes from being a woman or not, but I pay attention to details and to needs," she says. "My management style may reflect being a woman. "
She is proud that LIDC received the family-friendly award given by the Family & Children's Association a few years ago. "I was shocked, because everything we did just made good business sense," she says. "We had to create benefits that helped employees but didn't cost much. "
These have ranged from encouraging an employee to bring her new baby to work to weekly chiropractor visits. And she organizes company-wide conference trips. "You get much more efficiency and productivity with a team attitude," she notes. Goldmacher acknowledges that "even today, when it comes to commercial real estate and economic development, it's still a man's world. " Her theory about why this has not held her back: "Probably because I'm pushy, and professional credentials like my law degree help. Innocence has propelled me forward as well. I expect not to be treated differently. "
Another strategy: "Create your own group to deal with," she says. In 1984, she did exactly that, as an organizer of the Women Economic Developers of LI. "We wanted to create our own 19th hole," she says.
Nevertheless, the number of women involved in high-level commercial real estate is now lower than the number at that time, which was 15. Nor has she seen growth for women in commercial lending.
Goldmacher recommends aggressive participation in professional groups. "I need to feel I'm adding value to an organization, and to my own as well-to do that you need to be in a position of power," she says. "So I'm on the board or in a prominent role. "
How to get there? "Pay your dues, do the work, ask," according to Goldmacher. LIDC operates a program specifically for women entrepreneurs, the LI Small Business Assistance Co. It offers loans in the $2,000-$10,000 range, seminars, and technical help. This brings in many hopeful women business owners. Her advice to them: plan more. "Many small businesses have a good idea, but don't look at the whole picture," Goldmacher says. "Better planning can counter the likelihood of failure. "
Many women also need to overcome the lack of teamwork-building sports experience, she thinks. "Women give up too easily in negotiating, which loses you respect and negotiating ability," she says. "We need to work on standing and defending our territory. We're taught to do that for our families, but not for ourselves or the outside territory. "
And take the long view: "With a $10,000 loan I'm creating a customer 15 years from now, when that woman's business has grown and she's ready to buy a building," Goldmacher says. "People shouldn't always be out for the short-term fix. Look at the possibilities. "

Friday, September 15, 2006

USA TODAY, September 15, 2006, Friday

Copyright 2006 Gannett Company, Inc.All Rights Reserved
USA TODAY
September 15, 2006 Friday FIRST EDITION
SECTION: MONEY; Pg. 1B

HEADLINE: Ford offers hourly workers buyouts; UAW's OK shows company is in 'dire financial straits'
BYLINE: Sharon Silke Carty
BODY:
DETROIT -- Ford Motor and the United Auto Workers union agreed Thursday to offer buyouts to all its 75,000 hourly workers, using enticements such as paid college education or payments of up to $140,000 to move workers off the payroll.
The announcement came as Ford prepared to detail today its updated restructuring plan, accelerating the effort it first announced in January. The automaker also said Thursday that Anne Stevens, one of the architects of the original cost-cutting strategy, is retiring. She has been an executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Americas.
This is the second time this year that the UAW has agreed to a broad buyout for its members. The first buyout, offered to all of General Motors' hourly workers, resulted in 35,000 people leaving the company. GM also offered payments up to $140,000.
UAW Vice President Bob King said the union agreed to the buyouts in an attempt to ensure job losses at Ford happened "on a voluntary basis."
"We remain deeply concerned about Ford's loss of market share and committed to working together," King said in a statement.
Ford, which lost $1.4 billion in the first half of the year, has said it is considering all of its options to turn around the company, including cutting white-collar jobs, closing plants at a faster rate than previously planned, buying out union-protected workers, selling off luxury brands such as Aston Martin or Jaguar, and even possibly taking the company private.
"It clearly is a first step in the UAW's recognition that Ford is in dire financial straits," said Jay Waks of law firm Kaye Scholer's employment and labor law practice. It's a step "that doesn't cost its membership anything, and, in fact, would help many long-service employees who see an opportunity to move on."
Ford's buyout plan offers eight different options for workers. Employees can retire early with a $35,000 payout, retire at 50 years old with full retirement benefits, or take a paid leave of absence until they reach retirement age. Workers who wish to just leave the company with no future benefits can get a $100,000 or $140,000 check, depending on their time with the company.
And in an attempt to entice younger workers, Ford also is offering three buyout packages that will either pay for a four-year education while providing 50% of the worker's salary, a two-year education with 70% pay, or a $100,000 payment that can be used for a family member's college education.
"This raises the sense of urgency, telling people that it's really important for the young and the old to take the buyout," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research.
Ford shares closed down 10 cents at $9.09.

Los Angeles Times, September 15, 2006, Friday

Los Angeles Times
September 15, 2006
Friday
http://www.latimes.com/business/careers/work/la-fi-ford15sep15,1,4780963.story?coll=la-headlines-business-careers

Ford to Offer Buyouts to Factory Workers
The move is part of a revised and accelerated rescue plan. Meanwhile, two top executives quit.
By John O'Dell, Times Staff Writer
September 15, 2006

Moving to speed and possibly expand its plan to slash 30,000 jobs from its manufacturing payroll, Ford Motor Co. will offer retirement incentives and buyout packages of as much as $140,000 to all employees at its U.S. factories.
More than 75,000 blue-collar workers are eligible for the programs, disclosed Thursday by the United Auto Workers union and acknowledged by Ford.
The offer is similar to a retirement and buyout plan offered this year by General Motors Corp. and accepted by 34,000 of its 135,000 union workers.
Separately, two top executives, both manufacturing specialists, quit Ford on Thursday, a week after the automaker hired manufacturing ace Alan Mulally, 61, from Boeing Co. as chief executive.
One of the departing managers, Anne Stevens, chief operating officer of Ford's Americas unit and a coauthor of the company's 8-month-old Way Forward turnaround plan, is one of the highest-ranking women in the auto industry. Also leaving is Dave Szczupak, group vice president of manufacturing for the Americas unit.
"It's change or die at Ford," said David Cole, head of the nonprofit Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. "What we'll be seeing now is Way Forward on steroids."
Ford, scheduled to unveil details this morning of a revised rescue plan for its shrinking and money-losing North American automotive operation, acknowledged the all-inclusive job-cutting program Thursday but did not provide details.
The union, however, posted a synopsis on its website. The document said Ford wanted workers who accepted the offers to leave the company by Sept. 1 of next year.
Previously, Ford had been taking a slower approach to payroll trimming, offering limited buyouts to workers at selected plants and setting 2012 as the deadline for achieving its goals.
Whereas Cole predicted that 30,000 or more workers would take advantage of Ford's retirement and buyout plans, analyst Craig Hutson of GimmeCredit in New York put the likely number at 20,000 — about one-fourth of its payroll. That's because Ford has fewer U.S. workers than GM, 25% of whose manufacturing employees accepted its offers.
Ford "probably would like almost everyone to take it," Hutson said. The company could then hire temporary workers and pay them lower hourly wages and offer fewer benefits than it was obligated to provide permanent employees under its union contracts.
GM has used temporary workers to replace several thousand employees who accepted its buyouts.
Ford has lost $1.4 billion in the first half this year and is expected to lose far more in the second half from declining sales and charges for its restructuring. A report Thursday in the Detroit News said Ford losses could hit $9 billion.
The automaker recently said it would slash production by 21% in the fourth quarter because of sagging sales of its large sport utility vehicles and pickups and was under pressure from analysts and investors to speed and expand its recovery efforts.
In a statement on the union's website, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said members were "stepping up to make hard choices under difficult circumstances."
"Now," he said, "it's Ford Motor Co.'s responsibility to lead this company in a positive direction."
According to the UAW document, Ford will offer half a dozen programs, with cash payments to departing workers of $65,000 to $140,000.
The union said the packages also were being offered to its members at Automotive Components Holdings, a group of factories once owned by Visteon Corp., Ford's former parts unit.
"They didn't have any alternative" to broadening the blue-collar buyout and retirement incentive plan, said Sean Egan, auto analyst at Egan-Jones Ratings, a Philadelphia-based corporate bond research firm.
"Ford has to cut expenses, and this could save them billions," he said.
Labor specialists were divided over the value of the program.
It's a "lose-lose" scenario for stockholders, said management consultant Bill Adams of Adams, Nash, Haskell & Sheridan in Cincinnati. "You are going to give away all this money and hope to put yourself in a position to survive, but there is a limit to how long you can."
Labor law specialist Jay Waks, chairman of Kaye Scholer in New York, called the plan a "win-win for Ford and the union."
Ford will probably get volunteers to leave "from among the most senior and highly paid, and it will be left with less senior but probably more productive workers," he said. And the union, Waks said, is able to help Ford without antagonizing members and avoiding a costly strike.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------john.odell@latimes.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Times staff writer Roger Vincent contributed to this report.

Business Wire, September 14, 2006, Thursday

Copyright 2006 Business Wire, Inc.
Business Wire

September 14, 2006 Thursday 3:32 PM GMT

DISTRIBUTION: Business Editors


HEADLINE: Kahlil Reid, J.D., Experienced Investment Banker, Joins Galen Capital Group, LLC as the Director of Investment Banking

DATELINE: MCLEAN, Va. Sept. 14, 2006

BODY:
Galen Capital Group, LLC, a merchant banking firm dedicated to middle-market companies, today announced that Kahlil Reid, J.D., a veteran in the investment banking industry, has joined the firm as the Director of Investment Banking for its West Coast operations. Mr. Reid comes to Galen with years of experience in public and private securities placements and M&A transactions. Based out of Galen's Los Angeles office, he will be responsible for overseeing investment banking transactions.
"We are honored to have Kahlil join our Los Angeles office," said William P. Danielczyk, Chairman of Galen Capital Group, LLC. "His background and experience in investment banking will be beneficial to our clients immensely with his proven knowledge in M&A and private placement transactions."
Mr. Reid began his career at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson in New York City, NY, where he was a corporate securities and M&A attorney representing private and public corporations in strategic acquisitions, sales of businesses, debt and equity offerings, financial restructurings and reorganizations. In his next position as an investment banker at Citigroup Global Corporate and Investment Bank in Palo Alto, Calif., he managed underwritten public offerings, private placements and M&A transactions for companies in the technology, telecom and media industries. Most recently, Mr. Reid was the Director of Investment Banking at Etech Securities, Inc. in Los Angeles, Calif., where he managed the entire investment banking process for China-based companies seeking to access the U.S. capital markets. Throughout his career, Mr. Reid has been involved in financial transactions ranging from $5 to $500 million.
"I look forward to being a part of Galen's West Coast team," said Mr. Reid. "I think their commitment not only to the industry but to their clients is outstanding. I am thrilled to be a part of such a well established group of professionals."
Mr. Reid attended Cornell University in Ithaca, NY where he received a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations. Mr. Reid continued on to receive a J.D. at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., where he served as a Staff Editor for The Tax Lawyer. He holds NASD Series 7 and 63 licenses and is a member of the New York State Bar.
About Galen Capital Group, LLC
Galen Capital Group, LLC (www.galencapitalgroup.com) is a merchant banking firm serving middle-market companies primarily in the healthcare industry. GCG offers a range of transaction execution and advisory services in the areas of M&A, leveraged buyouts, mezzanine, equity and debt financing, PIPE equity funds and private & public placements. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the firm also has offices in Nashville, Tenn. and Los Angeles, Calif.



CONTACT: Galen Capital Group, LLC April Spittle, 703-556-6105 ext. 108 aspittle@galencapitalgroup.com

St. Petersburg Times (Florida), September 14, 2006, Thursday

Copyright 2006 Times Publishing Company
All Rights Reserved
St. Petersburg Times (Florida)

September 14, 2006 Thursday
1 Edition

SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. 1A

HEADLINE: Outsider takes Tech Data reins

BYLINE: KRIS HUNDLEY

BODY:
Tech Data Corp., the Tampa Bay area's largest public company, on Wednesday named a company outsider and a veteran technology executive experienced in financial turnarounds and global operations to succeed its longtime chief executive.
Robert M. Dutkowsky, 51, will take over the top job at the Clearwater computer products reseller on Oct. 2. He will succeed Steven A. Raymund, 50, who has led Tech Data since 1986, and who declared in April that the company had "lost the passion" and was in need of an overhaul of its corporate culture.
For the past 2½ years, Dutkowsky has headed Egenera Inc., a Marlboro, Mass., company that sells computer server hardware and software to large enterprise users such as Credit Suisse and the U.S. Census Bureau. Earlier in his career, Dutkowsky spent 20 years with IBM, where he rose to executive positions in worldwide sales and marketing.
Raymund, who will remain Tech Data's chairman, announced plans to step aside in January. Since then, the company, which had sales of $20.5-billion for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, has stumbled. For the three months ending July 31, Tech Data reported a loss of $155.5-million or $2.81 a share on sales of $4.9-billion, the second-largest quarterly loss in its history. The company blamed weak sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as repercussions of a management restructuring overseas.
Tech Data's search committee had what Raymund called the company's recent "frustrating" performance in mind when it went looking for a new chief executive. Top of the list of criteria were people experienced in information technology, who understood how computer products are distributed, and had worked both in large companies and globally. On Dutkowsky's resume is a two-year stint managing the Asia Pacific market for IBM, as well as two years as president and chief executive of J.D. Edwards & Co. Inc., which had a large European market for its software.
"We were also interested in someone with execution ability, operational talent and savvy," Raymund said. "These were all skills Bob has acquired."
In a phone interview Wednesday, Dutkowsky said he sharpened his turnaround skills at GenRad Inc., a maker of electronic automatic test equipment which he headed starting in 2000, and J.D. Edwards, where he took over the top job in January 2002.
"Both were distressed companies which had been leaders in their industry and lost their way," Dutkowsky said. "I turned them from companies that were losing money to making money, from shrinking to growing, so I have pretty deep experience level at that. And Tech Data is in the best shape of all those companies. It just needs to stay on track on the basics and hone the execution on some recovery programs."
Dutkowsky also guided GenRad through its merger with Teradyne and then oversaw the integration of J.D. Edwards with PeopleSoft in 2004. But Tech Data's incoming chief warned against assuming his new company will be taking a similar path.
"I'm joining Tech Data to help energize the company, make it grow and create shareholder value," he said. "I want to make it be the company customers want to do business with, vendors want to supply product through and where the best employees in the industry want to work."
Dutkowsky, who joins a company where many of the senior management have come up through the ranks, said he understands the importance of making the most of what he called "the magical first 100 days."
"This will be the fourth company I've joined as CEO," he said. "Which is not to say I know how to run the play perfectly, but there's really a very small, well-defined group of people you need to talk to."
Dutkowsky is a native of Endicott, N.Y., who graduated in 1977 with a degree in labor and industrial relations from Cornell University, where he was captain of the baseball team. Raymund cited that role as contributing to Dutkowsky's managerial style.
"He likes to work with a team, has a passion for winning and is respectful of others," Raymund said. "We were looking for a cultural fit and not everybody we talked to necessarily demonstrated those qualities."
Susan Davis, vice president of marketing at Egenera, said Dutkowsky quickly adapted to the culture of that company, which was being run at the time by its founder.
"You have natural concerns about an outsider, but Bob took time to understand what was working and what was not, then he did a great job of setting direction and getting the consensus of folks to work with him," she said.
"Bob has a way about him that puts people at ease so you tell him how you really feel," said Davis, a Yankee fan who often traded barbs with Dutkowsky, a diehard Red Sox fan.
Dutkowsky and his wife Lorraine have two grown children; they plan to move to the Tampa Bay area within the next few weeks from their home in the Boston area.
According to SEC filings, Tech Data will provide Dutkowsky both relocation benefits and help selling his home. Dutkowsky's annual salary will be $900,000, plus a guaranteed bonus of $900,000 in both 2007 and 2008. The new CEO also receives 40,000 restricted stock units, vesting over three years, and 300,000 maximum value stock settled stock appreciation rights, vesting over four years, with a maximum value of $20 per unit or $6-million.
Last year Raymund, who joined the company in 1981, earned a $1-million salary plus $891,000 bonus. According to Tech Data's filing in May, Raymund also owned about 4.7 percent of the company, which his father founded in 1974.
Dutkowsky was chosen as CEO over Tech Data's internal candidates that included Nestor Ortiz, president of worldwide operations.
On Wednesday, Raymund acknowledged mixed emotions about his own departure from day-to-day operations of the company. With both of his children now graduated from high school, Raymund said he and his wife have been planning the transition for years and he was not in a position to delay the move when the company's earnings began to falter.
"I feel like I'm handing off to someone who is eminently capable of assuming responsibility for the company," Raymund said. "But emotionally I'll miss the relationships, the involvement with a team of really smart men and women. I just want to look back on my life and say I did something besides run Tech Data."
Times researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report. Kris Hundley can be reached at hundley@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2996.
Robert M. Dutkowsky
Title: chief executive, Tech Data Corp. effective Oct. 2
Age: 51

Business Wire, September 13, 2006, Wednesday

Copyright 2006 Business Wire, Inc.
Business Wire

September 13, 2006 Wednesday 11:30 AM GMT

DISTRIBUTION: Business Editors

LENGTH: 680 words

HEADLINE: Tech Data Corporation Names IT Sales and Marketing Veteran Robert M. Dutkowsky to Serve as Chief Executive Officer

DATELINE: CLEARWATER, Fla. Sept. 13, 2006

BODY:
Tech Data Corporation (NASDAQ GS:TECD), a leading distributor of IT products, today announced the appointment of Robert M. Dutkowsky to chief executive officer and member of the Board, effective October 2nd. In January, Tech Data announced its plans to expand the senior management team by splitting the roles of chairman and chief executive officer. A search committee formed by Tech Data's Board of Directors performed an extensive review of a number of highly qualified candidates before selecting Dutkowsky to succeed Steven A. Raymund as chief executive officer. Raymund, who has led Tech Data since 1986, will continue to support the company and provide industry knowledge as he continues in his role as non-executive chairman of the board.
Dutkowsky, 51, comes to Tech Data from Egenera, Inc., a leader in utility computing, where he served as chairman, president and chief executive officer since February 2004 and led the company's expansion efforts into new technology arenas and geographic markets. Dutkowsky's extensive career in the information technology industry began in 1977 at IBM where he quickly rose through the ranks serving in a multitude of sales, marketing and executive management positions including vice president, distribution IBM Asia/Pacific and vice president, worldwide sales and marketing for the RS/6000 line. During his 20-year IBM tenure, Dutkowsky held an assignment working directly for former IBM chief executive officer Lou Gerstner.
In 1997, Dutkowsky joined EMC Corporation to serve as executive vice president, markets and channels; he was later promoted to president of the Data General division at EMC. During his tenure at EMC, Dutkowsky helped to grow revenues from $2 billion to nearly $9 billion. In 2000, he was appointed chairman, president and chief executive officer of GenRad, Inc. and guided the publicly traded company through its merger with Teradyne. In January 2002, Dutkowsky was named president and chief executive officer of J.D. Edwards & Co. Inc., and chairman in March of that same year. He left J.D. Edwards in 2004 at the conclusion of the company's integration with PeopleSoft. Dutkowsky earned a bachelor's of science degree in labor and industrial relations from Cornell University.
"Bob possesses a highly successful track record in driving sales growth and leading companies through periods of change and development. His sales expertise, business acumen and leadership ability in the areas of distribution and product development are an enormous addition to our company," commented Raymund. "I am very pleased that Bob is joining Tech Data, and in speaking on behalf of our entire organization, we look forward to his contributions as we work to grow our company and deliver improved returns to our shareholders."
Dutkowsky commented, "I am excited to be a part of an extremely dynamic and successful organization. Steve and the talented management at Tech Data have built an industry leading IT distribution company with an extensive global reach, an exceptional team of employees and highly focused operating fundamentals. I look forward to working with the entire team at Tech Data, the customers and business partners, as we further Tech Data's position as an industry leader worldwide."
About Tech Data
Founded in 1974, Tech Data Corporation (NASDAQ GS: TECD) is a leading distributor of IT products, with more than 90,000 customers in over 100 countries. The company's business model enables technology solution providers, manufacturers and publishers to cost-effectively sell to and support end users ranging from small-to-midsize businesses (SMB) to large enterprises. Ranked 107th on the FORTUNE 500(R), Tech Data generated $20.5 billion in net sales for its fiscal year ended January 31, 2006. For more information, visit www.techdata.com.



CONTACT: Tech Data Corporation Investor Contacts: Jeffery P. Howells, 727-538-7825 jeff.howells@techdata.com or Charles V. Dannewitz, 727-532-8028 chuck.dannewitz@techdata.com or Media Contact: Jarred LeFebvre, 727-539-7429, ext. 86261 jarred.lefebvre@techdata.com

Observer-Dispatch (Utica, New York), September 12, 2006, Tuesday

Copyright 2006 Observer-Dispatch (Utica, NY)
All Rights Reserved
Observer-Dispatch (Utica, New York)

September 12, 2006 Tuesday
1 Edition

SECTION: MONEY; Pg. 8A

HEADLINE: THE TICKER

BODY:
Credit card seminar planned
MARCY - The Small Business Development Center is sponsoring a seminar, "How to start accepting credit cards in your business" from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at SUNYIT Institute of Technology.
The seminar will provide information to small businesses contemplating accepting credit cards. Advanced registration is required at $25 per person.
{dcdc}Employment conference set
UTICA - The Resource Center for Independent Living presents an employment conference, "Thank Goodness It's Monday," from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18, at the Radisson Hotel-Utica Centre.
Frank Pastizzo, with Warming Up the Workplace; Margaret Moree, from the state Labor Department; and Hannah Rudstam, from Cornell University's Industrial and Labor Relations School will discuss workplace and employment topics.
Call 797-4642, ext. 322 (voice) or 797-5837, ext. 322 (TTY) to register or for information. The registration deadline is Wednesday.

PR Newswire US, September 12, 2006, Tuesday

Copyright 2006 PR Newswire Association LLC.
All Rights Reserved.
PR Newswire US

September 12, 2006 Tuesday 4:46 PM GMT

HEADLINE: ArvinMeritor Appoints Robert Ostrov Senior Vice President of Human Resources

DATELINE: TROY, Mich. Sept. 12

BODY:
TROY, Mich., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ArvinMeritor, Inc. (NYSE:ARM) announced today that Robert Ostrov is appointed senior vice president of Human Resources, effective Sept. 18. The Board of Directors also today elected Ostrov an officer of the company, in addition to electing newly appointed senior vice presidents and presidents Phil Martens (Light Vehicle Systems), Carsten Reinhardt (Commercial Vehicle Systems) and Buddy Wacaser (Emissions Technologies) officers of the company.
Ostrov will be responsible for leadership and management of the human resources function for the company's 29,000 employees at more than 120 locations in 25 countries. Additionally, he will provide strategic focus in employee leadership and development initiatives, compensation, benefits and rewards systems, labor relations, and human resources systems, policies and practices.
"Rob's prior success in driving productivity and profitability through various human capital programs, coupled with his extensive background in organizational development and labor relations, will be extremely valuable in supporting the company's efforts to succeed in the future," said Chip McClure, chairman, CEO and president. "He will serve our team well and we're pleased to have him join our company."
Ostrov most recently served as vice president of Human Resources and Labor Relations for FedEx Ground, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. He previously served as an attorney-at-law with Arnold & Partners, from 2003-05. Prior to that, Ostrov was senior vice president of Human Resources for True Value; he was named to that role in 1997, and concurrent with the position, served as chairman and CEO of True Value of Canada from 1999-2002.
He has also held senior-level positions within Human Resources for companies including General Electric/GE Capital Corp./WIFX Corp. and Wickes Companies, from 1981-97. He was director of Human Resources for Rockwell International, a heritage company of ArvinMeritor, from 1979-81.
Ostrov holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., a Master of Business Administration in Finance and Strategic Planning from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Ill., and a Juris Doctorate from the Chicago Kent College of Law. He is a member of the Illinois Bar.
He replaces Ernie Whitus, who after nearly 10 years with the company will relocate to Williamsburg, Va., with his family. To ensure a smooth transition, Whitus will remain an ArvinMeritor consultant.
"We thank Ernie for his commitment and contribution in helping to lead our organization through a series of important transitions over nearly a decade," McClure said. "His dedication to the role was valued and we wish him well in his future pursuits."
About ArvinMeritor
ArvinMeritor, Inc. is a premier global supplier of a broad range of integrated systems, modules and components to the motor vehicle industry. The company serves light vehicle, commercial truck, trailer and specialty original equipment manufacturers and certain aftermarkets. Headquartered in Troy, Mich., ArvinMeritor employs approximately 29,000 people at more than 120 manufacturing facilities in 25 countries. ArvinMeritor common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ARM. For more information, visit the company's Web site at: http://www.arvinmeritor.com/ .
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010524/ARVINLOGO )
CONTACT: Media Inquiries: Lin Cummins, +1-248-435-7112,
linda.cummins@arvinmeritor.com or Investor Inquiries: Terry Huch,
+1-248-435-9426, terry.huch@arvinmeritor.com both of ArvinMeritor, Inc.
Web site: http://www.arvinmeritor.com/
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/762401.html
SOURCE ArvinMeritor, Inc.

URL: http://www.prnewswire.com

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri), September 12, 2006, Tuesday

Copyright 2006 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)

September 12, 2006 Tuesday
FIVE STAR LATE LIFT EDITION

SECTION: CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

LENGTH: 204 words

HEADLINE: Rankey, George C.

BODY:
Rankey, George C., Jr.fortified with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church, Sunday, September 10, 2006, peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family. Beloved husband of Marlene M. Rankey (nee Ferrari) for 42 years; dear father of Deborah (Mike) Bucchino and Eugene (Kelly) Rankey; loving grandfather of Michael and Gabrielle Bucchino and Erin, Elizabeth, Mary Kate and Gabriel Rankey; son-in-law of Sabina Ferrari. George was born in West Reading, PA on August 10, 1938. He graduated from Georgetown University in 1960 with a degree in Foreign Service and Cornell University in 1962 with a Masters degree in Labor Relations. He worked for Monsanto for 29 years retiring in 1992, then as a consultant for AON Corp. retiring 2002. He was a great communicator, a history buff, an avid reader, sports fan, dog lover, photographer and he loved to travel. His compassion and sense of humor will be missed by many.Services: Funeral Mass Wed., Sept. 13, 10 a.m. at St. Peters Catholic Church, 243 W. Argonne, Kirkwood. Interment Resurrection Cemetery. Memorial contributions can be made to St. Peters-St. Vincent de Paul Society. The family will receive friends on Tues. from 4-8 p.m. at BOPP Chapel, 10610 Manchester Rd. Kirkwood.

Sacramento Bee (California), September 11, 2006, Monday

Copyright 2006 Sacramento Bee
Sacramento Bee (California)

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News

September 11, 2006 Monday

SECTION: BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL NEWS


HEADLINE: State's wages pose a riddle

BYLINE: Mehul Srivastava, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

BODY:
Sep. 11--As workers and labor economists paused last week to take stock of the previous year, both were faced with a conundrum -- for some reason, even though workers were producing more than they had last year, they had not actually seen their real wages increase.
In fact, in California, workers have seen their wages mostly stagnate during a period of increased economic growth, mirroring a six-year national trend that has some economists baffled, according to various analyses of recently released U.S. census data.
At the same time, while wages here and nationwide have shown relatively insignificant growth, workers' productivity -- which measures efficiency as output per hour of work -- has grown substantially, a phenomenon that economists say is rare.
This gap -- between rising productivity and not-rising wages -- has led to some head-scratching among economists. What is it about this recovery, they ask, that's so unique? Is it a combination of new technology, weak labor unions and the growth in low-paying jobs that has created such an economic oddity? Or could be it something else? And though data released last week suggest pay increases may be gaining some traction -- wages outpaced inflation by a little over 0.3 percent from April to June -- no one is predicting a significant reversal anytime soon.
"It remains a puzzle," said Arindrajit Dube, an economist with the University of California, Berkeley, who has crunched these numbers annually. "This is the fifth year of the recovery and we have yet to see economic growth translated into a bigger paycheck for workers."
In previous periods of economic prosperity, wages grew hand-in-hand with productivity, said Deborah Reed, an economist at the Public Policy Institute of California. For instance, the boom of the late 1990s led to an increase in wages across all income levels, in effect becoming a "tide that raised all boats."
But between 2000 and 2005, workers' productivity went up by 16.6 percent whereas their wages rose by only 7.2 percent, according to U.S. Labor Department statistics. And inflation cancels out most of those wage gains. It didn't get any better between June 2005 and June 2006, either -- real wages dropped 0.8 percent.
One of the reasons why workers have not seen their wages increase might be tied to the kind of jobs the recent economic growth has created, said Richard Hurd, a labor relations professor at Cornell University.
The nation's largest private employers in the past few years, he said, were Wal-Mart and Manpower International. While Wal-Mart hired mostly low-income workers, Manpower International hired temporary workers -- both categories in which the potential for wage growth is not large.
"If you look at the economy like that, you find families with real income falling because the kind of jobs that they are able to find are just not lucrative," he said.
At the same time wages have stagnated, corporations have seen their incomes and their profits go up. Dube, the Berkeley economist, said that pre-tax corporate profits went up 9.5 percent between 2004 and 2005, and up 39 percent nationwide since 2002, according to his analyses. A separate analysis by the California Budget Project of the Franchise Tax Board's data showed a more striking 368 percent increase in corporate income since 2000.
While economists say it would be simplistic to argue that corporations have profited at the expense of paying better wages, they do find it troubling that wages now make up the smallest share of the national gross domestic product since 1947.
"(Wage stagnation) reflects a loss in workers' bargaining power," Dube said. "There is increased anxiety in workers, be it from off-shoring outsourcing or other reasons."
Even Sacramento's relatively robust economy has not been exempt from the wage stagnation trend. Although the area has seen a marked increase in the number of jobs added since 2000 -- among the fastest-growing large metropolitan areas in the country -- wage increases have not been substantial, said David Lyons, a labor economist at the California Employment Development Department.
Lyons said increases in productivity aren't necessarily because people are working harder, but also because of increased mechanization and automation of jobs.
"In almost every job, computers have found a way to make workers more efficient," he said.
According to Labor Department statistics, only those at the top level of incomes -- above $100,0000 annually -- have, over the past five years, been able to outpace inflation consistently.
As economists attempt to explain this wage stagnation, one of the reasons they point at is the decline in membership in labor unions.
"Lower unionization is not all of it, but it is certainly part of the problem," Hurd said.
On average, in California, a unionized worker makes about 30 percent higher wages than a nonunionized worker, according to the California Budget Project.
"Lower unionization, decreased confidence in the economy and the kind of jobs people are working -- all of that makes it difficult for the average worker to ask for a wage, or change jobs to look for better wages," Hurd said.
In spite of that, it remains unclear to economists why exactly wages are lagging behind productivity. Most see it as a period of adjustment, rather than a permanent situation and Dube said many of them are hopeful that the trend will soon change.
"One hopes it will," said Dube. "This is the third year I am making this prediction, and every year I say, well, gee, if unemployment falls any lower, the market may tighten."
But California's unemployment is unlikely to fall much further. Even the proposal to boost the minimum wage won't keep up with inflation.
"The question we are left with is, what will be the source of wage gain?" said Dube.
To see more of The Sacramento Bee, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sacbee.com. Copyright (c) 2006, The Sacramento Bee, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

Los Angeles Times, September 10, 2006, Sunday

Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times
All Rights Reserved
Los Angeles Times

September 10, 2006 Sunday
Home Edition

SECTION: MAIN NEWS; National Desk; Part A; Pg. 1

HEADLINE: FIVE YEARS AFTER;
Anxiety Lingers in New York ;
Manhattan may appear normal, but the little things once taken in stride -- smoke, a subway delay, fireworks -- can trigger emotions.

BYLINE: Josh Getlin, Times Staff Writer

DATELINE: NEW YORK

BODY:
On a recent afternoon in Midtown Manhattan, Bernadette Hogan was taking a cab home from a dental appointment when traffic suddenly halted on Fifth Avenue. A burning smell was in the air and police cars were flashing their lights ahead. Hogan panicked in a way that's become common here since Sept. 11.
"I thought, 'Oh my God, where are my kids, how will I get out of here, have other parts of the city also been hit?' " said Hogan, a psychologist and mother of two. "And then it died down. I don't know what caused the commotion, but it went away. And I went back to normal life."
In the five years since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center -- when hijackers flew two planes into the twin towers, killing more than 2,700 people -- New York has made a stirring recovery. Lower Manhattan shows signs of economic renewal and is once again a trendy place to dine; real estate values citywide have soared; the stock market has strengthened; new construction is booming; the overall crime rate is down; ticket sales on Broadway have hit an all-time high; and tourists are flooding the city in record numbers.
To an outsider, New York seems to have regained its cocky edge. But many New Yorkers concede that there is a lingering anxiety underneath their public bravado -- a hair-trigger fear grounded in the memory of Sept. 11 that can erupt at any time. And this fear, many say, may be the long-term legacy of the terrorist attack on New York.
The new reality has had an insidious effect on daily life. It has Hogan and others scrambling to redefine what "normal" means. It's got some residents wondering why they remain in the city. "New Yorkers are more anxious than they used to be," Hogan said. "This is the big change that's taken place. And it's a very sad thing."
Kaisha De Los Santos, a typist in Lower Manhattan, says that since Sept. 11, her life hasn't been the same. She has moments of uneasiness during her daily subway commute. "If something happens now, you're more alert. It's not like before, when the train stopped and people would think, It's just New York," she said. "Now people panic."
This summer, when children set off fireworks at her apartment building in the Bronx, De Los Santos ran to the balcony, as did almost everyone in her building -- their faces filled with fear.
In some cases, life in New York after Sept. 11 has changed for the better. Veteran observers say the city's political world has calmed down noticeably; they believe a new civility has replaced the rancorous free-for-alls that used to dominate local elections. During last year's mayoral race -- which included the city's first Latino candidate backed by the Democratic Party -- there was a virtual absence of the racial overtones that had dominated earlier contests. Political passions run high over global issues, and the city has been the site of some of the largest U.S. demonstrations against the Iraq war. But those gatherings, despite complaints of overly aggressive policing, have been largely peaceful.
There also has been a shift in attitudes toward New York. Residents, who have traditionally been the target of jokes from other parts of the country, have been struck by the generosity and goodwill shown to them by outsiders. Tourists who once viewed the city as a forbidding place are coming in greater numbers than ever.
The crime rate has continued to fall in most categories, and New York has beefed up security more than any other big city in the U.S. But even Republican Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who is widely credited for bringing a respectful tone to city politics, does not dispute the lingering uncertainties about life in New York five years later.
"We have the best police department in the world, and they've devoted 1,000 officers to intelligence and counter-terrorism," Bloomberg said at a news conference this week. Nevertheless, he added, the city would only know "in retrospect" whether police had been properly deployed. Unlike other crime statistics, he said, "with terrorism there is no number other than we haven't been struck. But there's always that risk, and we're doing everything we can to keep you safe from that."
For some, the threat remains overwhelming, no matter what steps the city has taken to increase security. Kristen Breitweiser, whose husband, Ron, was killed in the south tower, answered bluntly when asked how the city had been changed by the attack. "Not nearly enough," the Sept. 11 activist said this week during a promotional appearance for her book, "Wake-Up Call: The Political Education of a 9/11 Widow"
"I don't feel safe," she said. "I try to be smart about what I do and don't do here. I don't relish taking the subway these days. But everybody has to have a life."
Historian and journalist David Halberstam, a New Yorker, calls this pervasive feeling "the constancy of vulnerability." No matter how many new security measures are imposed in the city -- more bomb-sniffing dogs on the subway, more heavily armed police near tunnels and bridges -- many New Yorkers live with a daily subliminal fear.
"We all know that 9/11 is not over, that another attack could come at any time, because whenever buttons are pushed overseas, New York becomes the target for the other side," Halberstam said. "The threat hasn't gone away, it's here to stay, and so you have to make a decision. You can either flee to a small town in New England or you decide you're going to stay here and face it. I don't know anyone who has left."
All told, about 820,000 New Yorkers developed post-traumatic stress disorder after the attack, almost half of whom were not directly affected by the destruction of the twin towers, several studies have documented. Other studies have reported that two or three times that number of New Yorkers developed one or more symptoms of stress-related disorders, especially among Latinos and recent immigrants.
Well-intentioned outsiders have frequently urged New Yorkers to "move beyond" the trauma and "get on with their lives." But moving on is difficult when reminders of the event that caused such chaos are still a key part of city life. Indeed, the attack did not simply happen and then end; it has become a fixture in the city's physical and mental landscape. The debate over how to rebuild ground zero and construct a memorial is a daily story; New Yorkers are bombarded with images of the immense hole in the ground that once housed the towers.
Even those New Yorkers who say they are not affected by lingering fear admit they have moments when the anxiety of Sept. 11 comes rushing back. All it takes is the airing of traumatic TV footage, the appearance of a suspicious person in a subway car, the sight of an unclaimed package in the corner of a busy bus terminal, the sudden roar of a low-flying plane.
"New York was never Iowa City, but it is still not the city it was before 9/11," said Cornell University labor expert Samuel Bacharach, who studied the emotional health of thousands of firefighters and transport workers in the aftermath of the attacks. "The whole idea of living on the edge has become more a part of New York culture. The idea that people are on the front line has become much more immediate to them.
"We don't talk about it," Bacharach added, "so in this sense we have moved on. We don't want to wallow. New Yorkers have an almost pessimistic fatality about it."
In Midtown, Catherine Carney said that she had been toughened by the experience of Sept. 11 and that she hadn't been overcome with fear, even though the Jewish bookstore she manages could be a target. "My heart doesn't ball up in a fist," she said. But Carney notes that there is one ubiquitous reminder of Sept. 11 that she can't face.
On the morning of the attacks, she was on a train from Brooklyn when she saw the first tower fall. Today, she can watch footage of smoke coming out of the doomed tower, but she can't bear to watch when the building starts to collapse. She likens her reaction to her reluctance to visit the city's Holocaust museum: "I don't need to go," Carney said. "I know it happened."
For many New Yorkers, the big unanswered question is whether to stay, knowing that their city will continue to be a terrorist target.
Vicki Brower, a freelance science writer, believes that it takes a tremendous amount of inner strength -- and illusion -- to live in New York. She has had debates with her husband about the possibility of another terrorist attack in the city. She has wondered about her family's safety each time police ratcheted up security on the subways in response to deadly bombings in London and Madrid.
"You have to live with a lot of denial to live in New York City every day," Brower said. "I mean, you hear a lot of people say, 'I was crazy for the first six months after 9/11 happened, but now I'm calm,' and I think that's a little surreal. I really do believe [another attack] will happen again, and when it does, the half of the city that's left alive will wonder, 'Why didn't we get out when we could have done so?' We're all living on borrowed time in New York."
So why does she stay? Why are the stories of those who left so rare?
"It would be an act of betrayal to leave New York," said veteran political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who was born in the city and has worked here for many years. "It's the excitement and danger that keep people in the city. Where else can you live such a lifestyle? That outweighs everything. It outweighs the terrible burning smell that invaded our homes and neighborhoods after the towers fell. It makes us forget the eeriness after the attacks, when the city ground to a halt. You can't explain this to people who don't know, but New Yorkers don't give up."
*
josh.getlin@latimes.com
\o7Times staff writers Ellen Barry and Robert Lee Hotz in New York contributed to this report.
\f7*
()
Lower Manhattan: Before and after 9/11
A look at key economic and social barometers tracking life in Lower Manhattan before and after the 2001 terrorist attacks:
Employees
2000: 260,898
2002: 215,947
2004: 223,054 (1)
Subway ridership
2000: 361,000
2002: 278,000**
2005: 296,000
Airport passengers
(at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark, in millions)
2000: 92.4
2002: 81.1
2005: 99.8
Tourism
New York City visitors
(in millions)
2000: 36.2
2002: 35.3
2006: 44.4
Hotel occupancy rate
2000: 81.5%
2002: 70.1%
2006: 81.82% (2)
All figures are for Lower Manhattan except where noted.
*Index based on: Total commercial inventory, Gross Lower Manhattan Product, Standard & Poor's 500, federal funds rate
**Approximate
(1) First-quarter figure
(2) July year-to-date figure
Sources: New York State Department of Labor, New York City Transit, Alliance for Downtown New York, Smith Travel Research, Cushman & Wakefield, NYC & Co., U.S. Census Bureau, Pace University.
Graphics reporting by Brady MacDonald
\o7
\f7

GRAPHIC: GRAPHIC: Lower Manhattan: Before and after 9/11 (includes map of ground zero, Manhattan, N.Y.) CREDIT: Doug Stevens Los Angeles Times PHOTO: RIDE TO REMEMBER: Members of the Christian Motorcyclists Assn. pray at the end of their ride in New York in commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. PHOTOGRAPHER: Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times PHOTO: ALIVE BUT CHANGED: Five years after the attack on the twin towers, Lower Manhattan is bustling with tourists and vendors. This year 44.4 million have visited the city, up from 35.3 million in 2002. PHOTOGRAPHER: Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times PHOTO: MEMORIAL: Visitors peer into the windows of a fire station near ground zero where a memorial has been built. New Yorkers say visions of that morning five years ago still haunt them. PHOTOGRAPHER: Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times PHOTO: TOURISTS: A group visits ground zero. Tourists are traveling to the city in record numbers, a sign of a rebounding economy. PHOTOGRAPHER: Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times PHOTO: VISITING GROUND ZERO: James Doherty of Long Island carries his daughter after going to the World Trade Center site. PHOTOGRAPHER: Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times PHOTO: 'IT'S A VERY SAD THING': Bernadette Hogan, a psychologist, says she experiences occasional moments of panic: "New Yorkers are more anxious than they used to be." PHOTOGRAPHER: Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times PHOTO: (BD)MEMORIAL: In Manhattan's Inwood Hill Park, New York police officers look among 3,000 flags that carry the names of Sept. 11 victims. Since the 2001 attack, the city has largely regained its edge, but many residents describe persistent uneasiness and flashes of panic. PHOTOGRAPHER: Shiho Fukada Associated Press

The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), September 9, 2006, Saturday

Copyright 2006 Landmark Communications, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
The Virginian-Pilot(Norfolk, VA.)

September 9, 2006 Saturday
The Virginian-Pilot Edition

SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. D1

HEADLINE: Smithfield gets legal victory from labor board

BYLINE: JEREMIAH MCWILLIAMS

BODY:
BY JEREMIAH McWILLIAMS
THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Smithfield Packing Co. won a round in a six-year legal battle with a food workers' union over a bitterly contested 1999 unionization vote at the company's bacon plant in Wilson, N.C.
A decision by the National Labor Relations Board has upheld allegations that the company illegally intimidated and harassed workers during the union campaign at the plant.
But the board overturned a decision by an administrative law judge in January 2001 that would have required the Smithfield-based company to enter straight into collective bargaining with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. The union lost the vote, 152-108.
Now, the company must post notices acknowledging the workers' right to form a union and declaring that the labor board found Smithfield guilty of violating federal labor law.
Holding a union election "is fine with us," said Smithfield spokesman Dennis Pittman, who added that the company would not appeal the decision. "We won the first round and we'll win the next one."
Smithfield Packing is a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods Inc., the world's biggest hog raiser and pork processor. Smithfield Packing specializes in pork products and has East Coast operations in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Maryland. The Wilson, N.C., plant has about 640 employees, Pittman said.
Gene Bruskin, who oversees the union's efforts to organize Smithfield plants in eastern North Carolina, labeled the company's call for an election as just "another scam."
The union claimed in labor board cases that Smithfield Packing illegally threatened Wilson workers with the loss of their jobs or benefits if they unionized.
"The company was off the chart, once again, in violating the National Labor Relations Act," Bruskin said. "The company once again violated the law and got away with it."
Bruskin said the union would not participate in a new election because many original supporters had left the plant as the company's appeals dragged on. He said the union would appeal the board's decision to federal court.
"It's up to the union," Pittman said. "The ball's in the court."
The conflict mirrors the dispute between the company and the union at a massive 5,500-worker plant in nearby Tar Heel, N.C. The company was found guilty of violating labor law in a 1997 union drive, and has recently called for a new election. But the union has said it's not interested.
"Especially since this has been in the courts for some time, it's very difficult for an organizing campaign to maintain momentum and enthusiasm when you're in a holding pattern," said Richard Hurd, a professor of industrial and labor relations at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. "The union would probably have to start from scratch" in Wilson.
n\Reach Jeremiah McWilliams at (757) 446-2344 or jeremiah. mcwilliams@pilotonline.com.