BUSINESS BRIEFS
Nebraska has highest gas costs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
OMAHA, Neb. — Nebraska edged Michigan yesterday to take the dubious honor of having the most expensive gas in the nation at $3.34 a gallon, according to a nationwide AAA gas price survey.
In Hawai'i, which often has the highest gas prices in the country, gas cost $3.28 yesterday, the fifth-most expensive. Wisconsin and Illinois had the third- and fourth-costliest gas.
The national average price was $3.05 per gallon. South Carolina had the least expensive gas in the survey, at $2.83.
PORT CONTRACT TALKS RESUME
LOS ANGELES — Contract talks resumed yesterday afternoon, hours before a midnight deadline as the port clerks union and shipping line representatives sought to avert a strike that threatened to paralyze the nation's largest port complex.
If other union longshore workers refuse to cross picket lines, the office staffers' walkout could result in major delays at the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which together account for some 40 percent of all the cargo container traffic coming into the country.
Picket lines will go up at the employers' gates shortly after 12:01 a.m. today if no agreement is reached, said John Fageaux Jr., president of the office clerical unit of Local 63, a division of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. The local handles the paperwork for the cargo ships that come to port.
The ILWU has indicated that it will honor Local 63 picket lines, which would effectively shut down the twin Los Angeles and Long Beach ports.
Dock shutdowns in Los Angeles and Long Beach could result in a disruption in shipments to Hawai'i.
FORD DENIES VOLVO RUMORS
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co., responding to reports that it's putting its Volvo unit up for sale, said it is not negotiating with anyone to sell the Swedish automaker.
The Sunday Times, citing unnamed sources in London, said the decision to sell Volvo, which is part of Ford's Premier Automotive Group, was made in the past two weeks, but that the timing of the sale had yet to be decided.
The New York Times, in a story posted yesterday on its Web site, said Ford would entertain offers for Volvo following a board meeting last week. The newspaper cited people whom it didn't name who it said had knowledge of the situation.
Ford spokesman Tom Hoyt said yesterday that the company wasn't commenting on speculation about Volvo's future. But later in the day, he issued a denial that the automaker was in talks to sell the unit.
"To my knowledge, we are not in negotiations with anyone about the future of Volvo," Hoyt said.
