The Snohomish County Labor Council has endorsed a boycott against New Era Cap Co., in support of striking workers at the company’s Derby, N.Y., plant. New Era makes caps worn on the field by professional athletes as well as amateurs. The workers have been on strike since July 16, according to the resolution endorsed by the labor council. During the talks, the company proposed cutting wages 40 percent, and it laid off 125 union workers, sending the work they did to nonunion factories.
The central Washington pub whose founder liked to brag that he started the wave of modern microbreweries has been sold to an Atlanta corporation. The Yakima Brewing and Malting Co., along with Grant’s Brewpub, was sold Monday by Stimson Lane Vineyards &Estates in Woodinville to Black Bear Brewing. A purchase price was not disclosed. Yakima Brewing was founded in 1982 by an outspoken Scotsman named Bert Grant, who often railed against the bland, uniform taste of nationally distributed beers. He sold out to Stimson Lane, the state’s largest wine company, in 1995 and died last year at the age of 73.
Weyerhaeuser Co. on Wednesday told rival timber company Willamette Industries it sees no reason to increase its $55 a share hostile takeover bid. Weyerhaeuser Chairman Steven Rogel wrote to Willamette in response to information Willamette had provided in an attempt to get Weyerhaeuser to sweeten the offer. Officials said they weren’t swayed by the information.
A rise in new orders to factories helped push a key gauge of manufacturing activity higher in December, suggesting the sector is beginning to emerge from a 17-month slump, an industry group reported Wednesday. The Institute for Supply Management, formerly known as the National Association of Purchasing Management, said its index of business activity rose in December for a second straight month to a better-than-expected 48.2, up from 44.5 in November. Analysts had forecast a reading of 46. Despite the improvement, the manufacturing sector still shrank slightly for the 17th consecutive month. An index above 50 signifies expansion, while a figure below 50 shows contraction.
A group founded by a 19-year-old Utah college student, discovered a security hole in AOL’s Instant Messenger program that can let a hacker take control of a victim’s computer, the company confirmed Wednesday. An AOL spokesman said the problem will be fixed soon, and users won’t have to do anything.
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