NEWS IN BRIEF

Friday, May 24, 2013

Labor group files against Wal-Mart

The labor group Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) on Thursday filed 30 counts of unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, alleging “widespread and egregious attempts” by the retailer to quell workers who have been calling for change in the way the company treats employees. The group said the retailer has retaliated against employees in Colorado, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Texas and Washington state.

OUR Walmart alleges Wal-Mart unlawfully intimidated and disciplined workers who have spoken out, performed surveillance on workers and OUR Walmart organizers and fired employees in response to their involvement in protected activity.

“We respect the rights of our associates and will abide by the law. There have been no findings of Wal-Mart violating the National Labor Relations Act by a judge or by the NLRB in nearly five years,” said Dan Fogleman, senior manager for media relations at Wal-Mart.

“This is the latest attempt by the [United Food and Commercial Workers International Union] and its subsidiary to try to generate attention for the fleeting cause,” Fogleman said.

Windstream scores 10-year GSA deal

Windstream Corp. has won a multimillion-dollar contract from the federal government to provide services to one of the General Services Administration’s regions, the telecommunications company said this week.

Under the 10-year deal, Windstream will provide voice, Internet and data services for the GSA’s Region 4, which includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, according to a news release. A company spokesman said the first four years of the contract is worth $38 million.

Windstream will offer services to GSA employees in more than 400 of the administration’s buildings, properties and agencies, such as the Department of Labor and Social Security offices. Windstream already provides service in six other GSA regions.

Streak of all-time highs ends for index

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 0.89 to 284.06 Thursday, ending a streak of eight trading days when the index hit all-time highs.

“U.S. stocks finished slightly lower recovering from a deep drop in early morning trading as better than-expected jobless claims and new-home sales helped offset concern surrounding the Federal Reserve tapering asset purchases,” said John Blackwell, senior vice president and managing director of equity trading at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business, Pages 27 on 05/24/2013