Posted: Thursday, August 21, 2008 7:00 pm
A U.S. District Court judge in Akron, Ohio, has approved a trust fund set up by the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Steelworkers union that will pay retiree health care bills for union members.
Goodyear said in a statement that it will now put $1 billion into the fund, called a voluntary employees beneficiary association. The fund will take on the $1.2 billion health care obligation for the company’s current and future steelworkers’ retirees, the company said Friday.
The Akron-based tiremaker’s agreement is similar to those negotiated between the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co. last year. In each case, the VEBA funds will shift huge retiree health care expenses to union-administered trusts, allowing the companies to move billions in liabilities off their books.
The trust, approved by Judge John R. Adams, was negotiated between Goodyear and the steelworkers in 2006.
Goodyear had an Engineered Products plant in Lincoln until last year, when Goodyear sold the division to the Carlyle Group, which renamed it Veyance Technologies.
Buffett reiterates his view of recession
OMAHA — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Friday the economy continues to be in a recession, by his definition, and will continue to be for at least several more months.
During a live appearance on CNBC, Buffett said ripples of the credit crunch are continuing to cause problems in financial businesses and the economy.
Buffett said activity at businesses Berkshire owns, especially ones related to housing construction such as Shaw carpet and Acme Brick, continued to slow during the summer.
He’s confident the nation will be doing better five years from now, Buffett said, but the economy could be worse five months from now.
Buffett said the economy is in a recession because most Americans aren’t doing as well today as they used to be. The technical definition of a recession most economists use is two consecutive quarters of negative growth in the nation’s gross domestic product.
Regarding the nation’s credit crunch, Buffett said he believes mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are too big to fail, but that doesn’t mean that all the shareholder equity in those companies can’t be wiped out.
Iowa meat plant facing more fines
DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa labor officials on Friday accused meatpacking plant Agriprocessors with 31 new and repeat safety violations.
The Iowa Division of Labor Services proposed fining the Postville plant $101,000 for 21 serious violations, six repeat offenses and four non-serious violations.
The plant was the site of a separate May 12 federal immigration raid that led to the arrest of nearly 400 people, making it the largest single-site raid in U.S. history.
Agriprocessors also operates a plant in Nebraska near Gordon.
Nebraska Department of Labor spokeswoman Terri Johnston said state regulators have checked on the Gordon plant and found no indication of problems with labor laws.
The department has also received no reports or calls suggesting there are problems at the Nebraska plant, which operates under the Local Pride name.
Verizon makes further state enhancements
Verizon Wireless continues to improve its network in Nebraska. In the first half of this year, the company reports it has spent $19.7 million on new cell sites and other upgrades that give customers clearer reception and fewer dropped calls.
Since 2005, Verizon Wireless has invested $93 million to enhance its Nebraska network.
— From staff and wire reports