Wal-Mart said it would close a Canadian store where about 190 workers were close to winning the first-ever union contract with the retail giant after the company failed to reach a labor agreement with the employees, who are represented by the United Food & Commercial Workers. A Wal-Mart spokesman said union demands would have made it impossible for the store to sustain its business. Union leaders promised to fight the closing. The store in Jonquiere, Quebec, became the first unionized Wal-Mart in North America in September when the bargaining unit was certified by provincial labor officials. The closest a U.S. union has ever come to winning a battle with Wal-Mart was in 2000, at a store in Texas, where 11 workers -- all in the meatpacking department -- voted to join and be represented by the UFCW. That effort failed when Wal-Mart eliminated meatcutter jobs company-wide, and moved away from in-store meatcutting to stocking only pre-wrapped meat.
Improper Trading Allegations Settled
Bank of America's mutual fund adviser company, brokerage and clearing firm agreed to pay $675 million to settle state and federal regulators' charges of improper trading that hurt ordinary shareholders, authorities announced. The settlement, agreed to last March and finalized on Wednesday, is part of an agreement among the three Bank of America companies, the former FleetBank Financial Corp., which Bank of America acquired last year, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the office of New York Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer, the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. In the settlement, Charlotte-based Bank of America agreed to pay a total of $515 million and reduce fees by $160 million. Bank of America neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing, but was censured and ordered to take corrective actions to strengthen compliance with securities laws.
A Wal-Mart in Canada that employees Pierre Martineau, left, and Patrice Bergeron, helped to unionize, will close in May after the retail giant failed to reach what would have been its first-ever union contract. A Wal-Mart spokesman said demands from union negotiators would have made it difficult for the store to remain profitable. Some workers said they believed it was closing because of their agreement to join the union.
(Jacques Boissinot -- AP)
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The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the largest public pension fund, said it opposes reelecting Walt Disney Co. chief executive Michael D. Eisner to the company board. Last year Calpers and at least seven other state pension funds withheld votes for Eisner's reelection, citing Disney's "dismal" performance over the past five years.
Eli Lilly has changed the labeling on its antipsychotic drug Zyprexa to avoid confusion with Pfizer's allergy medicine Zyrtec after some patients were given the wrong drug. Lilly said in a letter to psychiatrists and pharmacists that it has received 79 reports of such mix-ups since Zyprexa, which is used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, was introduced in 1996.
Tyco's former head of human resources testified that former chief executive L. Dennis Kozlowski said a member of the company's board of directors approved the payment of almost $100 million of bonuses, half of which went to Kozlowski and his finance chief Mark H. Swartz. Kozlowski and Swartz are accused of awarding themselves $150 million in bonuses without the board's knowledge. The two men are facing charges of 31 counts of grand larceny, conspiracy and securities fraud in New York state court for a second time, after a mistrial in April.
Bally Total Fitness fired two mid-level executives after a five-month internal investigation. The Chicago-based gym operator also accused former chief executive Lee S. Hillman and former chief financial officer John W. Dwyer of faulty accounting and ceased severance payments to them. Theodore P. Noncek, controller, and Geoffrey M. Scheitlin, treasurer, were fired for improper conduct. The Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into the company in April over the recording of prepaid dues. Bally in November said it would restate financial results from 2000 through first quarter 2004 as a result of errors it made in booking revenue.
U.S. insurers paid $27.3 billion last year to cover the losses of homeowners and businesses in hurricanes and other catastrophes in 2004, according to ISO, a company that tracks insurance data. In 2001, the year of terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon, $26.5 billion was paid. Most of last year's losses were sustained in the five hurricanes that struck the U.S. mainland, ISO said.
General Motors will install air bags that deploy with variable size and force in its 2006 Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS models in response to consumer concerns about air-bag dangers. When set off in an accident, the new air bags expand depending on how close the passenger seat is to the instrument panel and how severe the crash is. GM did not say how much the new devices would add to each vehicle's price.
RECALL
Todo Dollar Wholesale recalled about 102,000 pacifier necklaces because the nipple can detach from the pacifier and pose a choking hazard to young children, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said. Included in the recall are the Flashing Pacifier with Whistle Necklace and Flashing Pacifier Shock Baby Necklace. The pacifiers were sold from January through November 2004 for about $1.
Alliant Pharmaceuticals expanded its recall of a chewable version of Ritalin tablets for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, because some pills may contain too much or too little of the medicine's active ingredient. The recall includes the 2.5 milligram, 5 milligram and 10 milligram doses of Methylin. Fewer than 5,000 bottles of the 10,000 made were distributed, a company spokesman said.
INTERNATIONAL
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will not allow meat from older cattle when it expands U.S. imports of Canadian beef on March 7. The USDA had been planning to allow meat from animals of any age and from live cattle younger than 30 months. Now the age limit will apply to beef as well as live cattle. Two new cases of mad cow disease turned up in Canada last month. The United States banned all cattle and meat from Canada in May 2003 after the discovery of a cow infected with mad cow disease.
Canada said it would seek the World Trade Organization's permission to impose $3 billion in duties on U.S. imports. The duties would be in retaliation for duties the United States applied to imported Canadian lumber. The WTO ruled last year that the U.S. duties were unwarranted.
Canadian regulators ordered a drug for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder off the market after learning that it has been linked to 20 sudden deaths and a dozen strokes, including some among children. The drug, Adderall XR, is sold in the United States and Canada. About 700,000 Americans take the drug.
LOCAL BUSINESS
Music & Arts Center of Frederick has agreed to be acquired by Guitar Center of Westlake Village, Calif., for about $90 million plus the assumption of about $8 million in debt and obligations. Privately held Music & Arts operates about 60 stores targeting beginning musicians and sales and rentals to students and schools.
