CHARLESTON -- Gov. Joe Manchin's office is getting involved in contract talks between The Greenbrier and unions representing about 1,100 employees.
Manchin said Friday that his special adviser for labor negotiation, Stanley Hostler, will participate in the negotiations. Officials with The Greenbrier and the unions are scheduled to meet Wednesday.
Manchin says CSX Corp. Chairman and chief executive Michael Ward and union representatives requested Hostler's participation in the negotiations. CSX owns the luxury resort.
The employees' existing five-year contracts expired March 1 but they have continued working. The contracts included deals with nine locals and one master agreement.
Putnam Chamber of Commerce seeks members
TEAYS -- The Putnam County Chamber of Commerce has begun its spring membership drive.
The chamber is an organization that works to benefit businesses in the county. The chamber has about 480 members. The organization also offer services, including one-on-one business counseling and business startup workshops on a monthly basis through the West Virginia Small Business Development Center from Charleston.
Members are trying to recruit five new members each through May 21. The drive will end with a celebration dinner at Sleepy Hollow on June 10 and will be entered into a drawing for door prizes.
For more information, contact Terry Mathias, membership committee chairperson, at 304-720-0450 or by e-mail at tsmathias@earthlink.net, or Teresa Catanzarite, membership director at 304-757-6510 or by e-mail at tlcatanzarite@putnamcounty.org.
Dow's South Charleston job cuts have begun
SOUTH CHARLESTON -- Dow Chemical's previously announced layoffs at its South Charleston Union Carbide division have begun.
Jim Guidarini, Dow's West Virginia site leader, says a letter dated May 1 went to local officials to formally inform them of the layoffs.
Attached to the letter is a list of 162 positions that are being cut and the ending dates of those jobs.
The list shows that only one job, an engineer specialist, has been eliminated so far. Twenty-one other positions have 2008 ending dates, but most end Dec. 31, 2009.
Dow announced last December it would be cutting approximately 150 research and development jobs in South Charleston by the end of 2009. The layoffs are part of a massive companywide downsizing in what the Michigan-based company calls weak-performing businesses.
Asset sales boost Clear Channel profit
NEW YORK -- Clear Channel Communications Inc., a major radio and outdoor advertising company, reported higher first-quarter earnings Friday on asset sales but operating results were flat, reflecting weak demand for radio advertising.
The San Antonio, Texas-based company is battling its lenders in court as it tries to go private, and says it's not sure when the $19.5 billion deal will close, if at all.
Clear Channel earned $799.7 million, or $1.61 per share, in the first three months of the year, versus $102.2 million, or 21 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
Revenues rose 4 percent to $1.56 billion from $1.51 billion, but excluding the effects of foreign exchange swings revenues would have risen 1 percent.
Clear Channel just completed the sale of its TV station group in March for $1 billion and is in the process of shedding 275 radio stations as part of the pending transaction to take the company private. The company owns a number of stations in the Tri-State, but it has not identified which stations might be part of the sale.
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