Page 2 - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 2, 1984
Cable company plans to strike
By SHARON SILBAR
Unless workers and management at
Ann Arbor Cablevisin come to an
agreement by midnight February 6,
workers will go on strike, a spokesman
said yesterday.
By a 16 to 2 vote taken late Tuesday
night, employees agreed to strike
unless a settlement is reached. Ann Ar-
bor Cablevision employees are
represented by the Communications
Workers of America, the same union
which represents Michigan Bell.
ONLY NEW subscribers and current
customers who desire a change in ser-
vice would be affected by a strike.
Transmission of the cable signal would
remain the same, said Sharon Wilson,
general manager of Ann Arbor
Cablevision.
Wilson said yesterday that if workers
strike, "business would continue as
usual." Management would fill in until
replacements could be hired and
trained.
Whether or not workers strike,
however, the price of being a sub-
scriber will increase $1.45 a month, ef-
fective March 1.
- WILSON SAID the management has
made its final offer to the workers.
Negotiations began in October.
John Liberman, the union's represen-
tative at Ann Arbor Cablevision, said he
was critical of the way management
has treated employees, and said they
were trying to "bust" the union..
"There are no more negotiation
sessions. 'Take it or leave it' is their at-
titude," Liberman said.
THE TWO sides still have about 20
items to agree on, Liberman said. The
most crucial issues, he said, are
management's request for concessions
in sick pay, reductions in insdrance
coverage, reductions in vacation time,
and a three-year wage freeze.
Another item of contention between
labor and management is a clause in
the proposed contract calling for an
open shop where not all workers in the
union. Currently, Ann Arbor
Cablevision has a closed shop, which
uses all union labor.
Liberman said he fears that if they
switch to an open shop, union workers
would be replaced with non-union ones
and attrition would weaken the union's
bargaining power.
LIBERMAN said he is dissatisfied
with management's effort in
negotiating the issues.,
"They haven't accepted a single
point," Liberman said. "Negotiation is
a euphemism at this point ... They've
never even shown us a complete con-
tract."
Liberman said if the group strikes,
they probably could not go long without
wages,
"I DON'T think we could survive too
long, but it's something we've got to
make an attempt at," he said.
The union called in a federal labor
mediator, but according to Liberman,
she was unable to get concessions from
the company.
Ann Arbor Cablevision is owned by a
private group of investors in Denver,
Colo., who originally purchased the
company as a tax shelter. The par-
ticular kind of investment the Denver
firm made allows write-offs and deduc-
tions for five years. Now they can no
longer receive substantial tax benefits
from running Ann Arbor Cablevision,
Liberman explained. For this reason,
they are cutting back on wages and
benefits to employees.
Rose prices blossom for Valentine's Day
From the Associated Press
Cupid's victims will have to shell out
up to $100 for a dozen roses for their
sweethearts this Valentine's Day,
-thanks in part to the winter's record
cold. But in some places they can still
get a nice bouquet for less than half
Ghat.
The price of roses takes a jump at
florist shops just before Feb. 14, the
holiday for lovers, but the increase will
'e even greater in some cities this year,
because of higher costs of heating
-greenhouses.
Prof ass
(Continued from Page 1)
aid that the Jewish population in
America is declining at a steady rate.
:Jews now make up.only 2.4 percent of
the American population, down from
3.7 percent fifty years ago.
Rockaway said the decline could be
-attributed to the extremely low birth
rate of the American Jew, adding that
the American lifestyle, the career
HOWEVER, florists in the Southeast
and elsewhere who get their roses from
Colombia, which was not affected by
the cold, foresee little increase in
prices. In fact, one Georgia wholesaler
said he is charging about 10 percent less
this year.
A random survey of a few of the 30,000
florist shops around the country showed
the price of a dozen long-stemmed roses
ranged from $36 in Macon, Ga., to $100
in some Manhattan shops. Prices will
'vary even at the same store, depending
on whether the flowers are delivered
and how they are arranged and
packaged.
Whatever the price, most florists
don't expect to have much ttpuble
unloading their roses.
"VALENTINE'S day is just wild, just
crazy," said Jimmy Tokunaga, a co-
owner of Shannon Greenhouses in
Columbia, S.C., where roses are selling
for $50 to $60 a dozen.
Several florists said there is always a
jump in the price this time of year.
"We think it's ridiculous to charge
what we have to charge for roses," said
Roger Patton, advertising manager for
The Blossom Shop in Columbia, where
roses were going for $50 a dozen.
"I'D RATHER sell anything but
roses," he said. "What you'd'pay for a
dozen roses you could offer a
magnificent bouquet of spring flowers,
such as tulips, irises or lilies. Economic
times are good, but $50 is still $50."
In Nashville, Tenn., one florist said
she will charge $67.50 a dozen this
Valentine's compared with $47.50 last
year, but the price will drop to $37.50 af-
ter the holiday.
In Chicago, where florists said the
cost of a dozen roses could go as high as
$70 to $80 this year, compared with $70
to $75 last year, Crystal Frauen at
Quasthoff's Flowers Inc. said the cold
- it was 25 below zero at Christmas -
was hurting deliveries because the
flowers can die before they get to the
homes.
esses American Jews
woman, and high divorce rates are all
contributing factors.
INTERMARRIAGE with non-Jews,
which is as high as 50 percent in some
places, also has had some bearing on
the decline, Rockaway said.
Fewer Jews are participating in
"Jewish" activities, Rockaway said,
and there has been a steady decline in
Jewish school .attendance. This
declining participation has resulted in
the loss of the American Jew's identity,
he added.
Rockaway, who is vacationing in the
United States during a break at Tel
Aviv University, spoke here to make
American students more aware of
educational programs available in
Israel.
Technology's
Leading Edge
Be a science or engineering of-
ficer in the Air Force. If you
have a science or engineering
degree, maybe you can qualify
to join our dynamic team. See,
an Air Force recruiter today,
Call SSgt. Patrick T. Cannon or
TSgt. Larry R. Gardepy at 994-0522.
A great way of life.
Jumping suspect nabbed
Police arrested a 20-year-old Ann Ar-
bor man on breaking and entering
charges yesterday, after he attempted
to escape by jumping out of the second-
floor window of a residence on the 800
block of S. Maple.
Fred Blackman allegedly stole a
stereo And cash valued at about $2,900
last July from a residence on the 3300
block of Tacoma Circle. Police said he
gained entry by forcing a window open.
Blackman, who was arraigned
yesterday morning, is being held at the
Washtenaw County Jail pending his
examination Feb. 8. His bond is set at
$25,000.
-Nancy Gottesman
in
40
I
IN BRIEF
Compiled from Associated Press and
United Press international reports
Democrats denounce Reagan
budget as election-year stunt
WASHINGTON - The $925.5 billion budget President Reagan sent to
Congress yesterday mirrors his goals for the nation: to increase its military
strength and to do it without the pain of raising taxes. But the plan is bur-
dened with a projected $180.4 billion deficit.
House GOP leader Robert Michel called it a "no phoney baloney budget,"
but Democrats denounced it as a do-nothing, election-year iplan that would
increase the national debt by a staggering $800 billion over the neKt five
years, even if all of Reagan's spending and tax proposals were enacted.
Reagan asked for a 13 percent "real" increase, after adjustment for in-
flation, in military spending that would make it the largest defense budget
since World War IA surpassing even the peak of the Korean or Vietnam wars
if measured in constant dollars. Without accounting for inflation, it is an 18
percent hike.
Assad citicizes U.S. role in Beirut
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Shiite Moslem militiamen killed two Lebanese army
soldiers in a firefight yesterday, and Syrian President Hafez Assad
criticized American military involvement in Lebanon.
Walid Jumblatt, the Syrian-backed Druse leader, said that a new round of
full-scale civil warfare was "inescapable" in Lebanon.
A Lebanese army spokesman said a lieutenant and a sergeant were killed
as government troops and Shiite fighters battled with machine guns and
rocket-propelled grenades in south Beirut's St. Michael and Chiyah neigh-
borhoods shortly before midday.
The clash took place about 500 yards from the U.S. Marine encampment
at Beirut airport, but Marine spokesmen said the base was not hit. A Marine
was killed Monday in battles with Shiite militiamen.
Syria's official news agency, SANA, said Assad met with Australian
Foreign Minister till Hayden in Damascus and told him: "We have tried to
talk to the Americans frankly and seriously in order to reach logical and-ac-
ceptable solutions, but we found their concepts and demands always con-
tradicting our national and pan-Arab interjests."
"We also found out that President Reagan is more concerned with the
weight of guns than with the weight of principles," Assad was quoted as
telling Hayden.
Democrats undermine Midmeast
peace process,Reagan aide says
WASHINGTON - The president's spokesman accused congressional
Democrats yesterday of "playing politics" and making a peace settlement
more difficult to achieve by pushing for withdrawal of U.S. troops .from
Lebanon.
Deputy press secretary Larry Speakes leveled the charge as House
Democrats began debating their leadership's decision to press a resolution
calling for the "prompt and orderly" pullout of Marine peace-keepers from
Beirut.
Speakes warned that any move to call the troops - numbering about 1,500
- home "could encourage intransigence on the part of the Syrians and
clearly undermine the peace process in the Middle East."
"Statements that indicate a lack of solidarity in the U.S. can encourage the
Syrians to-dig in and hold on," he said.
And as House Democrats discussed the withdrawal resolution in a closed
meeting, Speaker Thomas O'Neill leveled another blast at Reagan's
policies.
U.S. factory orders up this year
WASHINGTON - Orders to U.S. factories for manufactured goods rose a
strong 10.6 percent in 1983, the biggest jump in four years, and government
and private economists said yesterday that most signs point to continued ex-
pansion this year.
And in another indication of the strength of the rebound in the housing
market, the government said construction spending increased 14 percent in
1983 with robust home building compensating for a weak showing in other
segments of the building industry.
The Commerce Department said factory orders for 1983 totaled $2.09
trillion, a 10.6 percent improvement over 1982, when the recession cut
severely into ind'ustrial performance. The 1983 increase was the biggest sin-
ce a 12 percent jump in 1979.
For December, factory orders were up 1 percent to $187.2 billion, an in-
crease of $1.8 billion over November's level of orders.
The best news in the report came in a 2.2 percent increase in orders for
nondefense capital goods - a major indicator of business investment in new
plants and equipment.
U.S. force to stay in Honduras
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger said yesterday
that the Pentagon plans to keep a "permanent" force of "somewhere around
700 or 800" soldiers in Honduras after the current series of military exercises
ends in that Central American nation.
It was the first time the Pentagon had publicly confirmed reports that a
sizable contingent of U.S. soldiers will remain in Honduras when the joint
U.S.-Honduran exercises known as Big Pine II finish later this month. U.S.
troops may take part in another round of exercises starting in June. k
In a related development, a still-unpublished House report criticized the
Pentagon for building military installations in Honduras without obtaining
congressional approval. The report said the extent of U.S. construction work
suggests a "semi-permanent" American presence.
Weinbergernoted that more exercises might be scheduled later if Hon-
duras, a'strong U.S. ally, invites the Pentagon to participate.
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Vol. XCI V-No. 102
Thursday, February 2, 1984
(ISSN 0745-967X)
The Michigan Daily is edited and managed by students at The University
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