| Strickland rejects contract recommendation
Governor Ted Strickland rejected on Monday a fact-finder's recommended contract for Ohio Highway Patrol troopers, who have been working since June under an expired contract. Gongwer New Service reported that Strickland said the proposal "spends too much money on non-wage items, interferes too much with management rights and breaks the bargaining pattern" established with other state employee unions. Other unions saw their off-duty disability benefits reduced, for instance. That issue was not covered in the fact-finder's report. The Ohio State Troopers Association and the state can continue to negotiate or send the contract dispute to binding arbitration. .
Spitzer on Negotiation, Gay Marriage and Energy
At a Crain's breakfast this morning in midtown, Eliot Spitzer said that the way the state budget was negotiated in his first year was "wrong" and not something he wanted to replicate in the future. But he said that the "back and forth" he had with the health care industry was worth it because it had resulted in a reduction of the rate of Medicaid spending. Also, when asked why gay marriage had not been included in his list of legislative priorities, Spitzer said that he considers it something that "is not likely to be passed in the next ten weeks" of the legislative session. He emphasized that this did not represent a change in his feeling that it should be law. A copy of his prepared remarks advocating cleaner energy use in New York is here. -- Azi Paybarah .
Jet pays Rs400 crore to close Air Sahara buyout deal
Mumbai: The Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Airways paid Rs400 crore to Air Sahara promoters, closing the deal for takeover of the ailing carrier Air Sahara.
Jet has paid Rs400 crore, which it was required to pay by April 20 - the deadline set by the arbitration panel - to the promoters of Air Sahara. This marks the closure of the deal, company sources said.
Under the revised offer, approved by arbitrators, all shares of Air Sahara will be transferred to Jet for Rs1,450 crore, which includes the Rs500 crore Jet paid last year.
Jet was asked to pay Rs400 crore on or before April 20 and another Rs550 crore in four interest-free equal annual instalments starting March 2008.
There is, however, confusion over the actual deal size with Air Sahara president Alok Sharma maintaining that the enterprise value was "close to Rs2,000 crore.
Jefferson Versus the Muslim Pirates
When I first began to plan my short biography of Thomas Jefferson, I found it difficult to research the chapter concerning the so-called Barbary Wars: an event or series of events that had seemingly receded over the lost horizon of American history. Henry Adams, in his discussion of our third president, had some boyhood reminiscences of the widespread hero-worship of naval officer Stephen Decatur, and other fragments and shards showed up in other quarries, but a sound general history of the subject was hard to come by. When I asked a professional military historian--a man with direct access to Defense Department archives--if there was any book that he could recommend, he came back with a slight shrug. But now the curious reader may choose from a freshet of writing on the subject.
Attempt to resume lab workers' mediation
District health boards will contact the union for striking laboratory workers today in an attempt to resume mediation in their dispute.
It comes after the union announced plans for further industrial action, in addition to the current 48-hour stoppage which finishes today. Medical laboratory scientists have now given notice of a one-day strike on April 26 as well as the one already scheduled for April 24. The union is seeking a five percent pay rise and changes to conditions.
Gordon Davies, spokesman for the DHBs, says the strikes are costly for all involved and it is worth everyone trying to come to the table with compromises.
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