Machinists

Lockheed Martin Corp. is coming down to the negotiating wire this week in contract talks with a union representing 12,500 workers at three plants owned by the Bethesda defense giant.The company's contract with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers expires Friday.The union and the company say they are working hard to avoid a strike, which the union's members have already authorized, but both sides are saying little about what is happening at the bargaining table.

USAir passengers scrambled today to reschedule flights at Baltimore-Washington Airport as machinists for the airline walked off the job, forcing the nation's sixth largest airline to cancel 60 percent of its departures.Shortly after the strike began at 7 a.m., lines snaked around the normally busy concourse in front of the USAir ticket counters as passengers holding tickets for canceled flights tried to get on other USAir flights or transfer to other airlines.By 9:30, lines had thinned considerably although hundreds of passengers were expected to wait for hours at the airport to board their rescheduled flight.

US Airways reached tentative agreements on concessions last night with unions representing its machinists and flight attendants, completing a package for an additional $200 million in wage and benefit cuts that the airline needed to avoid liquidation. The moves came as US Airways prepared to file a reorganization plan in U.S. bankruptcy court in Alexandria, Va. The plan, which a judge will consider at a hearing Jan. 16, was set to include proposals for returning the airline to profitability.

Reginald Priester II was going to work in a shoe store for $6 an hour after he graduated from high school in 2005. Money made college problematic, and any job was looking pretty good. Then he found that the global economy was ready to bid much higher for the drafting and math skills he learned at Edmondson-Westside High. Today he's a designer for Marlin Steel Wire Products, making close to $30,000 a year, plus retirement and health care plans. He figures he can double that in a few years.

TCQVC gears for new Paramount bidHome shopping powerhouse QVC Network Inc. is reshaping its alliances with other companies in preparation for a new bid to win entertainment conglomerate Paramount Communications Inc., analysts said yesterday.Emphasizing its focus on the Paramount bid, QVC ended long-running merger talks with Home Shopping Network Inc. yesterday. The company also may be getting closer to bringing regional telephone company BellSouth Corp. into its bidding group, according to published reports.

United Airlines rejected a proposal last night from its pilots and machinists union to buy a majority stake in the carrier, saying it was "substantially deficient." United also said the unions had rejected a last-minute counter-proposal from the carrier.The announcement sounded a death knell for the latest in a string of attempts by United's unions to take over the carrier in recent years and appeared likely to usher in a period of tumultuous labor strife at United. The carrier has proposed to improve profits through broad restructurings and layoffs that the unions oppose.

CHICAGO - United Airlines pilots voted to take a 29 percent pay cut, making theirs the first major union to accept concessions aimed at helping the carrier emerge from bankruptcy proceedings. Two small unions representing United dispatchers and meteorologists also ratified 13 percent cuts, leaving the airline needing approval from flight attendants - whose vote results will be announced today - and the Machinists union. The world's second-biggest airline had said it would ask the bankruptcy-court judge to void labor contracts with unions that reject its wage-cut proposals.

Promus to split hotels, gamingThe Promus Cos., which owns Harrah's casinos and Embassy Suites, said yesterday that it planned to split its hotel and gaming businesses into independent corporations by the summer.The Memphis, Tenn.-based company's stock has fallen 40 percent in the last year, when many gambling stocks were battered.Yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange, the stock rose $1.625 a share, to $32.875.FCC OKs 'follow-me' numbersThe U.S. Federal Communications Commission said this weekend that the seven Baby Bells can offer "500" service, which lets users have one phone number that follows them anywhere.

The union of 7,500 mechanics and cleaners at US Airways called off its threatened strike yesterday so members can vote on a tentative employment contract, bringing a possible end to negotiations that have dragged on for nearly four years and cut deeply into the air carrier's profit.Neither the airline nor the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers would discuss details of the agreement, which still must be approved by the union membership.But traders on the New York Stock Exchange seemed pleased with the news.

CHICAGO - United Airlines asked its unions to accept labor cost cuts totaling $2.4 billion as it seeks to reorganize in bankruptcy court, according to unions representing flight attendants and mechanics. The request from UAL Corp.'s United is more than twice the $945 million in pay and benefit concessions the world's second-largest carrier sought before filing for Chapter 11 protection from creditors on Dec. 9. United, which has some of the highest costs in the industry, is trying to reduce expenses to emerge from bankruptcy within 18 months.