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 -----Original Message-----
From: 	"BNA Highlights" <bhighlig@bna.com>@ENRON  
Sent:	Wednesday, October 17, 2001 11:08 PM
To:	BNA Highlights
Subject:	Oct. 18 -- BNA, Inc. Daily Labor Report

______________________________

DAILY LABOR REPORT
Highlights & Table of Contents
October 18, 2001
______________________________

ISSN 1522-5968

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BNA Customer Relations at 1-800-372-1033, Mon. - Fri. 8:30
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__________

HIGHLIGHTS
__________


NLRB RULES 2-1 STORE ILLEGALLY URGED OWNER TO ASK PICKETERS
TO MOVE

A Missouri health food store committed an unfair labor
practice by telling the owner of a strip shopping center
that union representatives were picketing and handbilling in
a common area in front of the store, the National Labor
Relations Board ruled 2-1 ("Wild Oats Markets Inc., "336
N.L.R.B. No. 14, 9/28/01 [released 10/16/01]). The shopping
center owner asked the union representatives to move and,
when they refused, called the police. Members Liebman and
Truesdale find the store's actions were "an indirect attempt
to expel the union representatives and, consequently,
constituted interference with employee Section 7 rights"
under the National Labor Relations Act.

Rejecting Wild Oats Markets Inc.'s explanation that it
simply called the owner to ask about the mall's
no-solicitation policy, the board finds the store already
knew about the policy, which was in the lease agreement, and
had never called the owner about solicitation or
distribution activities by numerous nonunion organizations
in front of the store. Dissenting, Chairman Hurtgen
maintains the store did not ask the owner to take any action
and therefore was not responsible for what the owner did. .
. . Page AA-1 , Text-E-1

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1m4a1_

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1g8r5_


'MAILBOX RULE' APPLIES TO ERISA, SPLIT NINTH CIRCUIT RULES

A retirement plan administrator for Bank of America acted
arbitrarily in refusing to apply the common law "mailbox
rule" to a participant's claim that she had mailed her
lump-sum distribution election form, the Ninth Circuit rules
in a 2-1 decision ("Schikore v. BankAmerica Supplemental
Retirement Plan, "9th Cir., No. 99-16952, 10/16/01). The
function of the mailbox rule in the context of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act "is to provide employees with
a guarantee that, if the retirement plan claims not to have
received a document that an employee mailed, the document
will nevertheless be presumed to have been received by the
plan unless the plan can produce probative evidence of
non-receipt," the majority says.

In denying the participant's request for a lump-sum
distribution, the plan administrator found that the common
law "mailbox rule," which creates a rebuttable presumption
of receipt upon proof of proper mailing, was inapplicable in
the context of ERISA. The dissent contends that the plan
administrator did not abuse its discretion in declining to
follow the mailbox rule because the plan "explicitly states
that the election form must be "received," not mailed, in
order to be effective." . . . Page A-1 , Text-E-14

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1m3h0_

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1n1y6_


FUGITIVE FROM JUSTICE CAN PROCEED WITH FLSA CASE, EIGHTH
CIRCUIT SAYS

A former Missouri prisoner who was on the lam from a work
release assignment could still proceed with his suit against
the YMCA for paying him only $1 an hour in violation of the
Fair Labor Standards Act, according to the Eighth Circuit
("Barnett v. Young Men's Christian Ass'n Inc., "8th Cir.,
No. 01-1211, 10/15/01).

 After Matthew Barnett walked away from a halfway house in
violation of his parole, a federal court in Kansas City
dismissed his case under the fugitive from justice rule,
concluding that he had disrupted the court's schedule
because of his extended absence.

Reviving the FLSA claim, the Eighth Circuit holds that
although he was a fugitive "there is no substantial
connection between Barnett's fugitive status and his current
civil action." The lower court's concerns of "inconvenience"
are baseless, the appeals court adds. "The district court
was in no way inhibited from setting a trial date or ruling
on the motions before it at the time of Barnett's escape and
subsequent return. His physical presence as a civil litigant
was not required at that time." . . . Page A-1

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1g5z6_


JUDGE ORDERS GARMENT MAKERS TO NOTIFY  25,000 WORKERS OF
RIGHT TO SUE

A federal district judge in the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands orders 22 Saipan garment manufacturers to
notify up to 25,000 current and former foreign guestworkers
that they are entitled to join a class action suit against
the employers for allegedly violating federal and local wage
and hour laws ("Does I v. Advance Textile Corp.,  "D. Mar.
I.,  No. CV-99-0002,  "motion granted" 10/16/01 ).

Judge Munson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern
Mariana Islands grants the plaintiffs' motion asking the
court to approve the distribution of notices to the workers
eligible to join the suit. Munson orders the defendants to
turn over the names and addresses of the current and former
nonresident workers and to post in the factories notices
informing potential plaintiffs--those who have worked in the
factories since January 1995--that they can join the
lawsuit. According to the order, plaintiffs' counsel will
mail the notices to workers no longer employed at the
factories. . . . Page A-8

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1r0g6_


NEWLY BARGAINED WAGES IN MANUFACTURING  UP 3.1 PERCENT, BNA
DATA SHOW

Data compiled by BNA in the first 42 weeks of 2001 show that
the weighted average first-year wage increase in newly
negotiated contracts in the manufacturing industry was 3.1
percent, compared with 3.2 percent in the same period of
2000. Nonmanufacturing contracts, excluding construction
agreements, showed a weighted average gain of 3.9 percent,
compared with 4 percent in 2000, and a median of 3.8
percent, compared with 3.5 percent a year ago.

Among new settlements reported in the latest biweekly report
are a three-year contract between Nabisco Inc. and the
Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers,
which raises pay for more than 4,000 workers by 45 cents per
hour in the first year, and an agreement with the
Communications Workers of America, covering some 56,000
employees of BellSouth Corp., that provides wage increase
totaling more than 12 percent over a three-year contract
term. . . . Page D-1 , D-2

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4v5j8e0_

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4v5j8g9_


______________

TODAY'S EVENTS
______________

UNEMPLOYMENT: Weekly data on initial claims for unemployment
insurance released, 8:30 a.m., Labor Department.

________________

ALSO IN THE NEWS
________________


IMMIGRATION: Witnesses tell the House Judiciary Immigration
and Claims Subcommittee that chronic problems at the
Immigration and Naturalization Service can be solved only
with a sweeping transformation of the agency. Delays in INS
processing negatively affect foreign nationals trying to
legally work in the United States, while letting illegal
aliens and foreign criminals slip through the system,
witnesses say. . . . Page A-4

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1g3p6_

HEALTH CARE: More than 80 percent of employers are
considering raising employee premiums for health benefits,
or have done so, according to a survey by the National
Business Coalition on Health. . . . Page A-9

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1r9b5_

PRODUCTIVITY: A study of the sources of U.S. productivity
gains during the last half of the 1990s, conducted by
McKinsey & Co., provides encouraging projections for
continued increases once the economy pulls out of its
presumed recession. . . . Page A-9

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1r5r4_


____

TEXT
____

UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES: NLRB decision in "Wild Oats Markets
Inc.". . . Page E-1

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1g8r5_

ERISA:  Ninth Circuit's decision in "Schikore v. BankAmerica
Supplemental Plan. ". . . Page E-14

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1n1y6_


_________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS
_________________

LEADING THE NEWS

UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
   Missouri health food store committed unfair labor
   practice by telling owner of strip shopping center that
   union representatives were picketing and handbilling in
   common area in front of store, NLRB rules 2-1 . . . Page
   AA-1,  Text E-1
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1m4a1_

   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1g8r5_


____

NEWS
____

AIRLINES
   House Republicans introduce White House-crafted aviation
   security bill that would transfer airline security
   screening from airlines to federal government, but would
   not federalize all baggage screeners . . . Page A-10
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1u0r7_

DISCRIMINATION
   Former employee who offered no explanation for failing to
   pick up her mail for 49 days could not claim that she had
   not received timely certified letter from EEOC, Seventh
   Circuit rules . . . Page A-2
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1f9x3_

EMPLOYMENT
   AFL-CIO unveils economic stimulus proposal to expand and
   extend unemployment insurance benefits and provide full
   health benefits for laid-off workers for one year . . .
   Page A-6
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1q4v1_

   Anthrax testing in House office buildings forces delay of
   scheduled vote on economic stimulus package (H.R. 3090)
   that contains $9 billion in federal funds for
   unemployment . . . Page A-6
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1n5d4_

ERISA
   Individual who signed release in exchange for early
   retirement benefits is barred from bringing action
   against former employer alleging ERISA violations,
   federal court in Boston rules . . . Page A-3
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w0j6q9_

   Retirement plan administrator for Bank of America acted
   arbitrarily in refusing to apply common law "mailbox
   rule" to participant's claim that she had mailed her
   lump-sum distribution election form, Ninth Circuit rules
   . . . Page A-1,  Text E-14
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1m3h0_

   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1n1y6_

   Trustees of National Electrical Benefit Fund must
   reimburse fund more than $4.9 million to settle Labor
   Department charges that they breached ERISA fiduciary
   duties by investing in Florida real estate limited
   partnership . . . Page A-7
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1n4p8_

FEDERAL EMPLOYEES
   Rep. Davis (R-Va.) will introduce legislation to help
   federal government attract and retain expert information
   technology and acquisition workers . . . Page A-5
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1f2k5_

FLSA
   Former Missouri prisoner escaped from work release
   assignment still could proceed with lawsuit against YMCA
   for paying him only $1 an hour in violation of Fair Labor
   Standards Act, Eighth Circuit rules . . . Page A-1
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1g5z6_

GARMENT INDUSTRY
   Federal district judge in Northern Mariana Islands orders
   22 Saipan garment manufacturers to notify up to 25,000
   foreign guestworkers that they are entitled to join class
   action against employers for allegedly violating federal
   and local wage and hour laws . . . Page A-8
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1r0g6_

HEALTH CARE
   Employers will continue in 2002 to require employees to
   share burden of rising health care costs, Watson Wyatt
   report says . . . Page A-2
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1f0x4_

   Employers' group survey finds more than 80 percent of
   employers are considering raising employee premiums for
   health benefits, or have done so . . . Page A-9
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1r9b5_

IMMIGRATION
   Witnesses tell House Judiciary Immigration and Claims
   Subcommittee that chronic problems at INS can be solved
   only with sweeping transformation of agency . . . Page
   A-4
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1g3p6_

PENSIONS
   CORRECTION: IRS Announcement 2001-93, described in report
   at 198 DLR A-4, 10/16/01, is related to reporting of
   "catch-up" contributions to defined contribution plans,
   not defined benefit plans . . . Page A-11
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1g9m1_

PRODUCTIVITY
   Study of sources of U.S. productivity gains during late
   1990s provides encouraging projections for continued
   increases once economy pulls out of its presumed
   recession . . . Page A-9
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1r5r4_

WORK & FAMILY
   Census Bureau reports more women are staying home with
   their infant children . . . Page A-3
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1q3j0_

WORKFORCE REDUCTIONS
   Sprint says it will eliminate 6,000 jobs as well as high
   speed network . . . Page A-10
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/A0A4W1Q8K9_

   Toledo, Ohio-based Dana Corp. will eliminate 11,000 jobs
   . . . Page A-5
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1m7z0_


_____________

ECONOMIC NEWS
_____________

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
   Data compiled by BNA in first 42 weeks of 2001 show that
   weighted average first-year wage increase in newly
   negotiated contracts in manufacturing industry was 3.1
   percent, compared with 3.2 percent in same period of 2000
   . . . Page D-1,  D-2
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4v5j8e0_

   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4v5j8g9_


____

TEXT
____

ERISA
   Ninth Circuit decision in "Schikore v. BankAmerica
   Supplemental Retirement Plan" . . . Page E-14
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1n1y6_

UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
   NLRB decision in "Wild Oats Markets Inc." . . . Page E-1
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1g8r5_


______________

TABLE OF CASES
______________

Barnett v. Young Men's Christian Ass'n, Inc. (8th Cir.) . .
. Page A-1
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1g5z6_

Bobbitt v. Freeman Cos. (7th Cir.) . . . Page A-2
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1f9x3_

Chao v. Moore (D. Md.) . . . Page A-7
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1n4p8_

Does I v. Advance Textile Corp. (D. Mar. I.) . . . Page A-8
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1r0g6_

Hogan v. Eastern Enterprises/Boston Gas (D. Mass.) . . .
Page A-3
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w0j6q9_

Schikore v. BankAmerica Supplemental Retirement Plan (9th
Cir.) . . . Page A-1,  Text E-14
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1m3h0_

   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1n1y6_

Wild Oats Markets Inc., d/b/a Wild Oats Community Markets
(N.L.R.B.) . . . Page AA-1,  Text E-1
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1m4a1_

   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4w1g8r5_

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