The Modesto Bee from Modesto, California • 21

MARKET INDEX CLOSE DOW 30 856714 -225 NYSE 54944 -020 500 105231 -338 NASDAQ 172516 -2833 SECTION Tuesday March 10 1998 The Modesto Bee jobless rate to be studied studying the causes of unemployment in Stanislaus County Blaming the double-digit unemployment entirely on seasonal jobs tied to agriculture would be a wrong assumption Wetzel said when we take seasonal unemployment related to agriculture into account the valley's unemployment is still out of balance with the rest of the state and nation" The institute founded in 1993 is affiliated with California State University Fresno Its board includes UOP President Donald DeRosa und Gallo Winery Co-President James Coleman The forums will be held from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm Wednesday at the Holiday Inn In Visalia and March 18 at the Rad-disson Hotel In Stockton Registration Is $25 For information call 230-2234 Bee staff writer Stuart Gordon can be reached at 578-2383 By Stuart Gordon Bee staff writer A Fresno-based research institute plans to probe the causes of chronically high unemployment in the eight-county San Joaquin Valley The Central California Futures Institute hopes to use public forums Wednesday in Visalia and March 18 in Stockton 18 to launch its regional study valley needs a unified strategy for solving its unemployment said John Wetzel the executive director have strengths that are working to our advantage but we still need to find new strategies for attracting businesses at a faster The forums and study will focus on the barriers to job creation in the San Joaquin eight counties San Joaquin Stanislaus Merced Madera Fresno Kings Tulare and Kern in addition to Mariposa County Typically unemployment in each of those counties is twice as high as state and national jobless rates At its current rate of growth the population of 31 million will double in 20 years and triple in 30 Wetzel said valley has been adding 1 million people to its population every seven years" Wetzel said we grow jobs for these people end up with long commutes crowded highways and air quality that rivals Wetzel said a committee of representatives from all eight counties will prepare a set of recommendations by August based on the discussions at the public forums and the study be an action plan and a road map to deal with the barriers to the creation of new jobs in the valley" Wetzel said The panel will consist of business leaders educators government leaders growers and economic development specialists Scheduled speakers at the Stockton forum are Mike Locke president of the nonprofit San Joaquin Partnership Pro fessor Abbas Grammy an economist a California State University Bakersfield and Jonathan Buckley site selection specialist for the Arthur Andersen Corp Buckley who was instrumental in bringing the new Pacific Telesis customer call center to the former Castle Air Force Base in Atwater will talk about how businesses select sites and what the valley can do to be more competitive Wetzel said the institute plans to work closely with California State University Stanislaus professors who are Auctioneer packs up college Roger Ernst crew hauls off furniture computers for April 4 sale Onto the sidewalk and onto a truck: An auctioneer's crew Monday hauls off furniture and office equipment from Valley Commercial College Al Golub The Bee campaign" to close private for-profit colleges department based on its narrow vision of education" Martin wrote attempting to promote an educational system which discriminates against the private for-profit institutions which also serve the greatest number of disadvantaged citizens" Mayor Dick Lang has scheduled a meeting at 2 pm Wednesday at City Hall to give students an opportunity to discuss their options with a representative from the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Staff writer Tim Moran can be reached at 578-2349 WORKING Job fair on tap March 18 The area's biggest job-hunting opportunity is next week The fifth Community Resource and Job Fair will be held from 3 pm to 7 pm March 18 at Modesto Centre Plaza Last year more than 3000 job seekers and more than 100 employers trade schools and community organizations attended the fair Employer booths are available with or without electricity Fees range from $50 to $100 Special rates are available for nonprofit organizations The job fair is sponsored by Accountemps the city of Modesto the state Department of Social Services the state Employment Development Department Gallo Winery Foster Farms The Modesto Bee the Private Industry Council Procter and Gamble the Stanislaus County Economic Development Corp Stanislaus County the United Way of Stanislaus County and Western Pacific Truck School For more information call Debra Trulin at the United Way 523-4562 Workplace safety on menu and Regulations in the will be the topic when Richard DaRosa of the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration speaks from 1 1:30 am to 1 pm Thursday at the Hungry Hunter Restaurant 3037 Sisk Road Modesto DaRosa will be speaking at the Central Valley Case Managers Association general luncheon meeting He will provide information to case managers safety managers and the public on what the law requires in the event of a workplace injury as well as measures that should be taken to avoid injuries Tickets are $20 for the public and $15 for CVMA members For tickets or more information call 572-3490 Expo deadline drawing near TURLOCK Thursday is the deadline for business owners to sign up for the 13th Stanislaus County Occupational Olympics and Career Exposition The event will be March 25 at the Stanislaus County Fairground In the Occupational Olympics high school students test their job skills In the Career Exposition businesses and organizations set up booths and inform students about employment opportunities and the training needed to be successful The cost is $25 which includes a booth and lunch For more information call Shirley Geoble at the Modesto City School-to-Career Education Office at 576-4130 Santa Clara: Hot on jobs Spurred by unfettered expansion at high-technology companies job growth in Santa Clara County is running at a blistering 59 percent annual rate outpacing the rest of the Bay Area the state and the nation by substantial margins Figures released this week by the state Employment Development Department indicate that Santa Clara the heart of Silicon Valley made a net gain of 52800 jobs to 943800 in the 12 months that ended in January The 59 percent increase was comfortably ahead of the 44 percent gain for the state as a whole and far ahead of the national gain which was less than 3 percent Southwest soars to No 1 Fortune magazine this year rated Southwest Airlines the best company to work for in America partly on the strength of its employees accolades Thousands of times each year other companies call or visit the Dallas-based airline seeking its secret They want to know how it manages to be a perennial name on company" lists Here said Libby Sartain Southwest's vice president-people is its engraved-in-stone manifesto: employees will be provided the same concern respect and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externaily with our Note Southwest hires just 3 percent of its applicants a year Oakland seeks OAKLAND Companies doing significant business with the city would have to pay their employees at least $8 an hour and give them four weeks paid vacation under a proposal being considered by city officials this week is a little bit far-reaching but it's said Vice Mayor Ignacio De La Fuente who wrote the proposal have to treat working people fair and there's nothing more important than your family" The first debate on the so-called living wage proposal will be today before a city committee At least 14 other US cities have passed similar legislation The ordinance would apply to businesses that receive $100000 or more in financial assistance or have 1 $2'ir000 service contract Longs policy attacked Lawsuit alleges overtime not paid By Psyche Paacual Knight Hidder Newspapers WALNUT GREEK Longs Drug Stores Corp has confirmed that it instituted un internal audit and is working with US Department of Labor officials after a former druggist accused the drug retailer of failing to pay pharmacists for overtime The lawsuit filed in February in US District Court in San Francisco was served Friday to Dings officials It was filed on behalf of Helen Kazeroont a former Longs pharmacist who claims she never received over time pay during the time she worked at stores in Fresno Longs Vice President and Treasurer Clay Selland said Kazerooni never filed a complaint with Longs about overtime practices and has not worked for the company for three years The company began an investigation of its overtime practices in July when officials received an anonymous tip from an unidentified employee Dings now is working with the Department of Labor and has instituted an audit of its overtime practices Sellund said been working with (U labor officials) for some time" he said there is anything due our employees certainly take care of it" According to the lawsuit Dings pharmacists worked more than 40 hours each week but were never paid overtime If certified as a class-action suit the complaint could cover other pharmacists at 350 Dings stores in California Colorado Hawaii and Nevada think it could affect close to 2000 present and former pharmacists" said Joe Pelerson an attorney representing Kazer oom in the suit Pharmacy managers at area Longs Drug Stores would not comment and referred questions to the store's Walnut reek headquarters Selland told The Bee the suit will have or no effect at all" on stores in Dings' South Delta District which oversees 20 phurmanes in this area "It's part of a union organizing effort" Selland said marched into our stores with union leaflets (for) our pharma cists being generally disruptive to the privacy froth of our i-m ployees and our customers Selland said the company ex pects a "resolution" to the proto lem pretty srxin Although attorneys for Kazer oom contend that Dings (allure to pay overtime to pharmar ists dates bak more than a tSecude federal statutes rnay cover back pay only for the past three years unless a judge extends ha- time period Peterson said longs officials think the lawsuit is a United Food and Corn-men ial Workers Union effort to discredit Longs and galvanize support for a labor union whuh does not have any members at Dings' stores Bee staff writer Oenm Roberta contribuKj to this repoag lengthy investigation found that the college had been late in making refunds on student loans and had misrepresented payment records The closing left hundreds of students stranded with student loans still owed and credits that apparently transfer to other area colleges Several students have complained to the Police Department and officers are investigating Owners Gregory and Barbara Martin have not returned several telephone calls from The Bee In a Feb 26 letter to students Gregory Martin said the Department of Education targeted Valley Commercial in a "deliberate and systematic By Tim Moran Bee staff writer The computers office equipment and furniture were removed from Valley Commercial College in downtown Modesto Monday to be sold at auction next month A crew from Roger Ernst Associates Auctioneers hauled off the equipment for a sale April 4 at the Ernst auction yard at 824 Kiernan Ave according to a spokeswoman at Ernst Associates The private business college closed Feb 27 ending 92 years in operation after the US Department of Education canceled federal student aid and loans The federal action came after a Bems resigns By Tim Moran Bee staff writer CableOne General Manager Ken Berns has left the company after 15 years with the cable television franchise in Modesto Berns said Monday that his boss Operational Vice President Pete Newell had announced his retirement from the company it seemed like an opportune time to look at other opportunities" Bems 43 said he does not have a specific job in mind He said he hopes to stay in the Modesto area very much appreciates his as cable franchise manager dardize the names of Post-Newsweek able operations around the country Bems oversaw several expansions in eluding a foray into Internet service Berns also is president-elect of the Modesto Junior College Foundation co-chairman of Stanislaus Stale Friends of the Arts and a director and past president of the Modesto Symphony Orchestra Association He also has been involved in the Townsend Opera Players Bee staff writer Tim Moran can be reached at 578-2349 unique contract faces votes this week contribution to the company and the community and we wish him well in the future" spokeswoman Susan Mendieta said Berns came to Modesto in 1983 when the cable franchise for Modesto and Oakdale was owned by Capital Cities Cable Bems started out in real estate acquisitions for the company in the Bay Area and worked his way into operations Post-Newsweek bought the franchise in 1986 and Bems stayed on as general manager The company was known as Post-Newsweek Cable until last year when the CableOne name was introduced to stan plans to vote against a change "I think most people like it just the way it is the Saturn way" Hoek said Monday outside the headquarters of United Auto Workers Local 1853 Under pay program employees average about 12 percent less in salary but cun add to their base pay by hitting efficiency training and other targets In earlier years bonuses reached $10000 and Saturn workers made about $4(HM) more than other workers But last year because fewer cars were made it was about $4ooo under their CM Since the first Saturn came off the line in 1990 advertising campaigns have touted new kind of car company" with a cheerful and content work fort The Saturn way is a team approach in the factory a no-haggle pricing policy on the sales floor and a reputation for premium customer service But beginning ip 19 the market for small cars started shrinking as gasoline prices decreased and demand grew for sport utility vehicles and light tru ks Sat By Marta Aldrich The Associated Press SPRING HILL Tenn General Motors ambitious experiment in labor-management relations faces a crucial test this week when 72(H) workers at its Saturn factory decide whether to scrap their unique contract that rewards productivity Workers will vote today and Wednesday on whether to adopt the traditional contract that governs the Big Three 400 000 other workers be surprised if anything changes" said Stephen Hoek a technician on the assembly line since 1993 He likes team apuach und See Page 4 Saturn.