Better Late Than Never
It has been more than a year since Lucky Stores shuttered its 80 Gemco membership department stores as part of a successful effort to thwart a takeover. But thousands of workers have been in limbo ever since, waiting for unions and the company to agree on such issues as severance pay and medical benefits for retirees.
Within the next few days, the two sides are expected to sign an agreement giving workers half a week’s severance pay for each year of service, up to a maximum of four weeks’ pay. Most workers will receive between $150 and $1,200. Separately, a federal judge last month approved a class-action settlement providing for a $4.6-million fund to cover retirees’ medical benefits, a compromise that clearly disappoints many retirees who expected lifetime benefits.
One former employee awaiting severance pay expressed relief that a resolution is in sight, but also some bitterness at not yet receiving “one dime after 16 years.”
Richard Cox, labor relations manager for Lucky Stores’ Southern division, noted: “We had no contractual obligation to pay severance . . . but the company felt that . . . it was the right thing to do.”
Captains of Industry
Ever wonder how painful last year was for big banks? Consider the story told to some real estate folks the other day by Joseph J. Pinola, chairman and chief executive of First Interstate Bancorp in Los Angeles, about the day his company reported a $556-million loss for 1987.
Pinola recalled going to breakfast that day at his usual haunt, the exclusive California Club, where he was greeted by the captain. “Andy escorted me to a table where he announced that he had earlier read our earnings report and was sorry to advise me that I was at that point put on a cash basis,” Pinola said. “Now that hurts.”
But Did They Get a Raise?
You square your shoulders, suck in your gut, recite your mantra and march into the boss’s office to demand a raise. What do you say?
According to Robert Half International, the San Francisco-based headhunting firm, you probably say something stupid. Half recently asked corporate personnel executives to share the lamest entreaties they had heard. Among the worst:
“I deserve a raise because I spend more time getting my work done than anyone else in my department.” “It’s getting very expensive to feed all of my birds.” “The area’s economy is improving, so why shouldn’t mine?” And, “I need another raise to pay for the new car I bought to celebrate my promotion last month.”
Another Bank Shot
Bad news, perhaps, for the state’s banks: The Philadelphia lawyer whose efforts just cost BankAmerica $21.1 million in one of the largest class-action settlements in banking history seems to like it in California.
Richard D. Greenfield, a partner in the boutique law firm of Greenfield & Chimicles, recently renewed the lease on a small office half a block from the ferry dock on Sausalito, despite the end of the BankAmerica case. And over lunch in Los Angeles a few days later, he was asking about California living.
Greenfield’s firm, which is in a Philadelphia suburb, gained a national reputation attacking bank managements on behalf of shareholders. He’s also branching out to the entertainment business with two recent class-action lawsuits against De Laurentiis Entertainment Group.
