The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page A13

MARKETS Dow: 16,501.65, Unchanged I Nasdaq: 4,148.34, Up 21.37 (0.52) I 500: 1,878.61, Up 3.22 (0.17) ithe linquiter 1 FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2014 1 INQUIRER.COM 1 A13 1 Acme to end its contract with union, local reports orr .01 1 1 E111 E111 Owner: First step in Gallery rebirth By Jane M. Von Bergen INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Acme Markets told its largest union Wednesday that it was unilaterally terminating its contract, effective April 30. The union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, has scheduled a 7 p.m. Monday meeting at Temple University's Liacouras Center for its 2,700 Acme employee members to discuss options: a strike, a lockout possibility, or working without a contract. "A work stoppage is always the last resort," said Wendell Young 4th, who heads the union local.

He said to be negotiated as part of the collective-bargaining process, rather than unilaterally implemented," said Christine Wilcox, communications vice president for New Albertsons Acme's Boise, Idaho, parent company. Wilcox said Acme would adhere to pay schedules and work rules in the expired contract until a new contract was negotiated. The New Albertsons grocery-store company is controlled by an investor group led by Cerberus, a New York private-equity firm, which bought Albertsons in 2013. See ACME on A17 Acme clerks have been working under the terms of a contract that expired in February 2012. "Acme is trying to avoid their responsibility to pay into the workers' health fund by terminating the contract," said Young.

A 10 percent increase in payments to the joint employer-employee fund is due May 1, Young said. The company said the increases were the reason it terminated the contract. The increases, which are mandated not by the contract but by a separate board of trustees overseeing the health and welfare fund, "need Acme is trying to avoid their responsibility to pay into the workers' health fund by terminating the contract. Wendell Young 4th, who heads the union local By Bob Warner and Chris Hepp INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS Century 21, the discount designer department store coming to the Gallery at Market East, will act as a catalyst for plans to renovate the Center City retail complex, says Joseph Coradino, chief executive officer of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns the mall. "Century 21 is a tenant that is in sync with all those new customers we want to bring to the Gallery: the new residents of Center City, the commuters, the conventioneers, the visitors to the historic district, the office Century 21 is a tenant that is in sync with all those new customers we want to bring to the Gallery.

We think it will be a huge draw. Joseph Coradino, CEO of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) -3'-- t. --7 ir --71----' I 0 0 0 0 0 0 -4o 1 ov tl: -L- 7 .) -V -a 111 0 11111' 74 2 5 I- workers," Coradino told stock analysts in a PREIT earnings call Thursday. "We think it will be a huge draw" At a news conference later with Mayor Nutter in the east portal of City Hall, looking down Market Street, Coradino portrayed Century 21's decision to locate in Center City as a sign of confidence in its resurgence. "Philadelphia is hot, and the Gallery is well-positioned to take advantage," Coradino said, describing Century 21 as "a great clothing store" bent on "creating a new retail experience" for shoppers.

It plans to open in October and stay open until 9 or 10 each evening, he said, bringing vibrancy to the neighborhood. See PREIT on AlS The exception to Thursday's reports: United, with Continental, which lost $489 million after weather-related cancellations. REUTERS Air profits: Takeoffs and turbulence I Al5 0'), ri 0 0. im jetBlue 0 i ti i t. 7y LI mi Nomminw cm Et IIIIIIIro I ill 1 I11111 1 1 MO ''''S 111 1 NI Mmitillia6u.diliall....111.1116.r.P Fresh off its merger with US Airways, American reported record profits for the first quarter on Thursday, as did Southwest.

Jet Blue also ended the quarter in the black, but it was another story for storm-tossed United. A17. ---i-' :1:::44 a C14'. 'ti 1i on if 1 -A i it, s. I I 11,0 7 I Jet Blue earned $4 million in the first quarter of 2014, down from $14 million last year.

Its revenues rose 3.8 percent in the same period. ANDREW BURTONGetty Advertising contract to pay SEPTA $150M. Newspaper union: $77M too high a price for IGM auction A Canadian local of the United Steelworkers union brought the familiar inflatable rat to corporate headquarters of Crown Holdings site of the company's annual meeting. RON TARVER Staff Photographer CROWN Cork Sea! USA, Dvsion Closves 9evefoge D-osion FoDd Dpislon ikl 'N- -1 1 7 1 N. P.

1, 1 1 prIT tit -71 ttti A ip CROWN Cork Seal USA, Igarbairellt 47 1.:. 4. tr Pielcs; Closves Droson Cf I I ') i 411111111-111C4-- 401" George E. Norcross III By David Sell and Thomas Fitzgerald INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS WILMINGTON The largest union at The Inquirer will not bid against its owners in an auction for control of the parent company if the bidding starts at $77 million, a lawyer for the union said Thursday. At the start of a hearing that could shape the sale of the company, lawyer Lisa Lori told a Delaware judge there was "no way" the Newspaper Guild or its investing partners were willing to match the $77 million that rival co-owners of Interstate General Media Holdings L.L.C.

have pledged as a starting bid. Donald F. Parsons Delaware Court of Chancery vice chancellor, then heard about 90 minutes of closing arguments from lawyers for IGM co-owners Lewis Katz, H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest, and George E. Norcross III over the format for sale of the company.

Katz and Lenfest prefer a public auction with single sealed bids. Norcross and co-owners Joseph Buckelew and William P. Hankowsky prefer a private auction among current owners. Last week, Norcross testified that the minimum bid for a private auction should be $77 million to cover the owners' investment and current debts. Katz testified See on A17 Union rally in N.E.

targets Crown Holdings meeting Headquarters: Philadelphia Business: Design, manufacture, and sale of packaging for consumer goods, particularly steel and aluminum cans. 2013 Revenues: $8.66 billion, up from $8.47 billion. 2013 Profits: $324 million, down from $559 million 1 .01 Lewis Katz ly, no doubt minus the rat, was canceled, the union said, after an Istanbul paper printed what it said was Crown's threat to shut the factory if a rally occurred. "We're not going to comment, so thanks for the call," Thomas T. Fischer, Crown's vice president of investor relations, said Thursday.

In less than a week, there will be union rallies and protests at Crown facilities in Switzerland, Italy, and France, organized through global alliances formed by labor organizations By Jane M. Von Bergen INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Philadelphia's trademark inflatable union rat, which showed up Thursday outside the Northeast Philadelphia corporate headquarters of Crown Holdings might be local, but the union protest at the $8.6 billion company's annual meeting was strictly global. Organizing the protest were members of a Canadian local of the United Steelworkers union, based in Pittsburgh. The local has been on strike since September at Crown's plant near Toronto. In Turkey, meanwhile, a similar ral Employees: 21,300 Manufacturing plants: 147 worldwide Read the latest coverage on transportation: inquirer.comibusiness Closing price: $47.65 See CROWN on A17.