Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 31

Star TribuneTuesdayMarch 161993 Today's business briefing Regional news International news Radisson Plaza ordered WA routes shrink, but ridership up Clinton, EC president plan to meet this week to bargain with union Downtown Minneapolis hotel violated Rescheduled session comes after U.S. showed ire by canceling talks last Friday federal labor laws, appeals court rules Since Clinton took office, EC cials and diplomats have been per-plexed by what they see as trade signals from Washington. Among the disputes are Washing-'" ton's imposition of stringent tariffs on steel from 19 nations includ- gan in 1988 and which have been stalled since the case has been pending in court. Dan Kushke, secretary-treasurer of Local 17, said he hopes the company will now return to the negotiating table and bargain in good faith. "The sad part is that the employees have been going without union benefits or wages since the 1980s," he said.

"The employees have been losing every day during this whole appeal process." Radisson officials declined to comment. The conflict between the hotel and the union began when the company closed and razed the old Radisson. The union fought for recognition when the new hotel opened in 1987. The hotel agreed to union recognition in 1988, but Local 17 complained to the NLRB that management never recognized the union in good faith. Reuter Brussels, Belgium With the United States and the European Community (EC) once again on the brink of a trade war, EC President Jacques Delors will meet Thursday in Washington with President Clinton, officials said Monday.

The announcement follows the Clinton administration's sudden cancellation last week of a meeting in Brussels over U.S. complaints about the ECs new public utilities measures, which give contract preferences to EC companies. U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor canceled the meeting Friday, confirming EC fears that the new White House will take a tough stance in trade matters and further depressing prospects of an early settlement in world trade talks. "U.S.

trade tactics are clearer," a spokesman for the ECs executive commission said before the Delors-Clinton meeting was announced. Northwest Airlines' route system shrunk in February, but the Eagan-based airline carried more passengers than a year ago amid signs of a stronger domestic economy. According to the carrier's monthly traffic report, capacity as measured by available seat miles was down 2.9 percent from February 1992. But passenger traffic, as measured by revenue passenger miles, rose 2.2 percent. (One passenger flown 1 mile equals 1 revenue passenger mile.) Spokesman Jon Austin said capacity shrunk because Northwest pulled some unsuccessful routes out of Australia and Seoul, South Korea.

Meanwhile, domestic passenger traffic rose about 12 percent and the airline improved its load factor (the percentage of seats sold) without big fare cuts, Austin said. February's passenger load factor was 62.4 percent compared with 59.2 percent last year. "The load factor was up because there was a general increase in the Polaris workers to Polaris Industries LP said Monday that its employees will receive more than $6.8 million in 1992 profit-sharing payments after a year of record sales and earnings for the Plymouth-based snowmobile maker. Employees also were awarded 43,600 ownership rights valued at more than $2.25 million and a $5 cash distribution for each right held through 1992. That brought the total profit-sharing for Polaris' 1,354 employees to nearly $9.4 million.

That means that each employee averaged more than $6,900 in total payments, although most workers got more than that because about 200 employees of a Wisconsin plant acquired last year weren't yet full participants in the profit-sharing plan, said Mike Malone, chief financial officer. Individual awards and cash payments are By Josephine Marcotty StaffWriter The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Minneapolis has violated federal labor laws and ordered the hotel to bargain with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union Local 17. The court upheld a November 1990 decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that concluded that the hotel interfered with a union election and refused to hire applicants thought to be union supporters. The hotel also engaged in bad-faith bargaining to stall talks for more than nine months, then unilaterally withdrew recognition of the union although employees had voted to join it, the NLRB and the court found.

The NLRB decision related to contract negotiations for about 100 restaurant and hotel workers that be- In brief Majestic Development Management Minneapolis, said it has called for a closing date for the purchase of 145 acres of Oklahoma land at the Texas border on Interstate Hwy. 44. Forty acres of the land will be put into a trust for a bingo hall to be built and operated in conjunction with an Indian tribe under Oklahoma laws. Majestic plans to develop a hotel and truck stop on the remaining land. O-Jay Minneapolis, said it has begun shipping goods, including juices, food, clothing, paper products, computers, copiers and fax machines, into various regions of eastern Europe, including the Ukraine and ultimately into Russia.

The company also said it will National news Soviet food defaults pass $500 million The former Soviet Union's defaults on U.S. food loan guarantees have passed $500 million, the Agriculture Department said Monday, while a bank filed a big claim to be reimbursed on the sour loans that pushed such claims to $151 million. The National Bank of Cooperatives filed claims for $116.3 million in reimbursement from the government, an Agriculture Department spokesman said. The Denver-based bank is the biggest single holder of the loans in default. Baird's latest Financial an in-depth look at Company offers clone of Macintosh economy, and hopefully we are doing stuff to fly smarter," he said.

Overall, passenger traffic at Northwest was up 2.2 percent to 4.15 billion revenue passenger miles. Cargo traffic rose 6.9 percent in February. For the first two months, traffic is up 4.7 percent year-over-year while capacity rose just 1 percent. Cargo traffic rose 7.1 percent for the period. Austin said much of the cargo improvement was linked to increased orders in the Pacific Rim, where many factories were restocking with raw materials after workers took a traditional vacation break to celebrate the lunar new year.

Chicago-based United Airlines reported a 13.9 percent increase in February passenger traffic, while Dallas-based American Airlines was up 6.1 percent. United complained of "soft Japanese traffic and yield due to the weak Japanese economy." Tony Kennedy share $9.4 million based on length of service and level of pay. The cash profit-sharing payments totaled nearly 20 percent of Polaris' 1992 net earnings of $34.7 million. Total cash payments and awards of ownership rights are based on a formula that considers cash flow as well as earnings, Malone said. In 1991, when the company earned $31.5 million, it awarded about $5.5 million in cash profit-sharing payments.

Chief Executive Hall Wendel Jr. noted that the company's efforts to manage productivity as well as growth of the employee base has a direct positive impact on the size of the profit-sharing pool: the more employees, the fewer profit-sharing dollars per person. Susan E. Peterson But that kind ot competition nas never affected Apple, the company that a decade ago introduced the first computer system to include an all-in-one hardware and software package and easy-to-use "point-and-click" controls. Nobody has ever successfully cloned the Macintosh.

But Benjamin Chou, president and founder of NuTek, said his company has developed a computer "motherboard" or primary inte-grated-circuit board that will run most Macintosh applications. NuTek plans to license the technology to independent computer makers at a price of $899 each, and it already has some orders from Europe. NuTek also is building its own computer, the Duet, that will be the first to run software designed for both the IBM and Mac systems. It will have a suggested retail price of $2,996. consumers.

Denver-based West is the "Baby Bell" phone company for the Midwest and Rocky Mountain states. It is interested in a partnership with one or more cable companies, spokeswoman Lois Leach said. "We feel that is a way for the companies to fare better than duk-ing it out in the marketplace." Time Warner is the nation's second biggest cable system operator behind Denver-based Tele-Communications Inc. 1 Herman's owners seek Chapter 11 protection Sporting goods chain has 1 1 Minnesota stores; calls them strong perTormers m.r tr i-trAnnlv that 14 A 1 "We feel stronelv that ing seven from the EC apparent' saber-rattling talk by Clinton over Fnrnnean subsidies to the Airbus rules on utility contracts. On Sunday, Sir Leon Brittan, the:" EC trade commissioner, described: the U.S.

cancellation of talks as a very negative step, which I regard as surprising and completely unnec essary. The Clinton administration allenes Un4 tka niluK ik iU I1rt JntA 1 Miai U1C LjW OTU1VU nvui mw effect Jan. 1, discriminate against U.S. companies bidding for enerov transnnrtation and telecom munications contracts. But the ECn considers a so-called "Buy American Act," which favors products of, U.S.

origin in U.S. government pur- chasing, more discriminatory. Banks also filed four new notices ot default totaling $29.3 million, bring-: ing total arrearages to $516.4 mil lion, the Agriculture Department said. Russia, which assumed primary re-1 sponsibility for the former Soviet debt, still owes more than $4 billion on the more than $5 billion in loan guarantees Washington extended the former Soviets since January 1991. Institutions Report takes Midwest savings banks.

State. Zip. NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL COMPANY Wi au wii ion rree i-ouu-7jj-u. Bloomington 5555 The thrift industry has just come through the most difficult decade in its history. Robert W.

Baird with one of the largest equity research departments in the Midwest, has closely monitored Savings and Loan stocks through this period. This new Baird Report contains a thorough analysis of the industry with special emphasis on the Midwest; a region that has been one of the best for thrift profitability. For a complimentary copy of Baird's Financial Institutions Report, "The Midwest Savings Banks Prosper," call Baird or return the attached coupon. Call Baird in Minneapolis 673-1 800 San Jose, Calif. After years of virtual monopoly, a small computer maker is offering a clone of Apple Computer famous Macintosh.

But with Apple's prices falling in recent months, is it too late? Analysts say NuTek USA the four-year-old company that is developing the clone, may have trouble selling it because Apple's prices have been driven down by competition. And they say NuTek may not be able to withstand a likely patent infringement lawsuit from Apple. Computer makers for years have built personal computers compatible with International Business Machines system. The resulting competition has led to lower prices for IBM clones and a raging price war among clones and IBM machines themselves. Mail to: Robert W.

Baird Co. Incorporated, 1 81 2 Plaza VII, 45 South Seventh Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402 Please send me a copy of Baird's Financial Institutions Report. Please call me. change its name to Omni International Trading following a March 31 shareholders' meeting. The Griffin Group, Minneapolis, said it has expanded its commercial real estate investment and acquisition activities with the formation of the Griffin Real Estate Investment Trust.

The board of directors of Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, Rochester, said it has approved the sale of $296 million in electric revenue bonds. Proceeds from the sale will be used to refund bonds sold between 1983 and 1989 at higher interest. Herman's has an excellent retail franchise and are optimistic that with a new capital structure and ownership, the company faces a bright future," Fa-sola said. Sources familiar with the transaction said the investment group placed Herman's under bankruptcy protection so that it would be easier to close stores. Companies operating under bankruptcy proceedings can breach contracts, including leases.

However, Freitag said the company plans to invest more in Minnesota and Illinois, in addition to its base in the northeastern United States. He said the company has large concentrations of stores in the Twin Cities and Chicago and that these stores are strong performers. sales up 4.8 According to estimates by Ward's Automotive Reports, Chrysler Corp. car sales were up 29.9 percent and truck sales were up 20.6 percent for an overall gain of 24.1 percent Chrysler releases its sales figures only monthly, leaving analysts to rely on such estimates of the No. 3 automaker's results.

Among Japanese companies that build vehicles in the United States, Honda continued to slip, its sales off 33.5 percent in the first 10 days of March and down 26.1 percent for the year. On Friday Honda introduced a two-year lease program on its Accord LX models featuring a $239-a-month payment with $1,000 down. The Accord, due to be redesigned this fall, has been dropping in sales all year after being edged out for U.S. best-seller honors by Ford's Taurus in 1992. "This lease is kind of what Ford had on Taurus last year," said Steve Scantlin, sales manager for John Chezik Honda in Kansas City, Mo.

"They should have done this about a year ago." Nissan continued to see huge increases in domestic sales due to its new Altima midsize sedan, whose predecessor was an import, and its Quest minivan, built in a joint venture with Ford in Avon Lake, Ohio. Time Warner, West may be talking Name Address City Phone (daytime). Baird Representative Baird New York, N.Y. Time Warner Inc. is talking with several telephone companies, including West in the media-entertainment firm's continuing effort to find partners for expansion, a published report said.

Neither Time Warner nor West would comment on the report in Monday's Wall Street Journal. Time Warner, however, has long said it was seeking alliances with telecommunication companies that would allow it to deliver a broader variety of products and services to better results from better research Robert W. Baird Co. Incorporated, 1812 Plaza VII, 45 South Seventh Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402. Phone 61 2-673-1800.

Bloominston: Normandale Lake Office Center, 8400 Normandale Lake Blvd. Bloomington, MN 55437. Phone Bloomberg News Service New York, N.Y. The new owners of Herman's World of Sporting Goods filed Monday for Chapter 1 1 bankruptcy protection for the chain, which has 1 1 Minnesota stores. "The filing gives the investment group reasonaoie time ano resources needed to implement the new strategy," said spokesman Michael Freitag.

Isosceles PLC, a London-based gro- eery store chain, said in February that it norpprl tn sell the 75-vear-old an unlicHncpl C1 1 trt fl 1 1. ivi mi unuijviujvi. group of investors. In February, Alfred Fasola a representative for the investment group, said the group would have a operating plan in place for the 253-unit chain as soon as the sale was completed. U.S.-built car, truck rWrnlt Mich.

Sales of domestically built cars and trucks rose about 5 percent in early March, allaying analysts' fears that a dropoff in sales at the end of February signaled renewed weakness. With reports from nine of 10 automakers, sales were up 4.8 percent The strength once again was in light trucks, such as minivans, sport utility vehicles and pickups. "Trucks are still very strong," said Scott Willingham, general sales manager at Boulevard Automotive Group in Long Beach, Calif. They're keeping our head above water." Boulevard, which sells GMC trucks, Buicks, Saabs and Subarus, reported a strong early month for Buick, the only one of GM's five car divisions that had higher sales in the period. GM's separate Saturn car subsidiary also reported higher sales.

GM's overall car sales were off 4.8 percent in early March, but an 1 1.7 percent increase in truck sales re-' suited in a 0.7 percent gain in total vehicle sales. Ford Motor Co. reported a 7.3 per- cent rise in car sales and a 22.2 percent improvement in sales of light trucks for a 13.6 percent gain in overall vehicle sales. Member New York stocK txenange, inc. ana oiner prmLiydi Member SIPC.

Toll Free 1 -800-545-91 1 5. 1993 Robert W. Baird Co. Incorporated. Lead.

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