Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Friday, July 30, 1999
Straub employees voting on union
About 240 employees at Straub Clinic & Hospital today are voting on representation by the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, a move prompted by job insecurity and low morale among some workers. Straub, citing federal cutbacks and other financial problems, laid off 152 housekeeping and maintenance workers last October. The action closely followed a 3 percent pay cut for all employees, including doctors. Results of today's election, overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, won't be known until next week because of mail-in ballots from Straub clinics in Hilo, Kona and Lanai, union officials say. The employees are nonprofessional medical workers, including nurse's aides, medical assistants, ward clerks, file clerks and others. Last July, 112 registered nurses at Straub won representation by the Hawaii Nurses Association.
Feds reject alliance between airlines
WASHINGTON -- The Transportation Department dismissed a 3-year-old application by American Airlines and British Airways for government permission to form an alliance.In anticipation of announcement, the two airlines issued a joint statement saying they planned to expand their existing marketing relationship in ways that would not require government approval.
The collapse of the quasi-merger should not affect passengers. For example, the airlines' existing exchange of some frequent-flier benefits is not expected to dissolve. The airlines and their shareholders, though, may be upset at the missed chance to operate more efficiently under an alliance. A U.S. government official said the departments dismissed the application because British Airways had reached a stalemate with the United Kingdom's Office of Fair Trade.
In other news . . .
WASHINGTON -- Americans' personal income galloped ahead faster than spending in June, the government said today. New home sales, meanwhile, rose 3.1 percent as buyers rushed to beat slowly rising mortgage rates.