Walkout

Several dozen workers and labor organizers marched outside Martin's West in Woodlawn last night demanding the catering company provide what they call fair and affordable health insurance. The strike - a two-hour walkout - was organized by Local 7 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, which represents about 300 Martin's workers, including cooks, waiters, bartenders, dishwashers and maintenance workers. The company, which operates seven catering facilities in the Baltimore-Washington area, has offered employees a health plan but union officials say it is "prohibitively expensive."

Home sales up 13.4% in AprilSales of new and resale homes in Maryland rose 13.4 percent in April, compared with the same month last year, the Maryland Association of Realtors said yesterday.The average price of a home remained about the same, at $131,798.The number of sales throughout the state increased to 4,045. The number of pending sales contracts rose 11.5 percent to 3,844, compared with April 1993.Sales were up for the month in Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties. Sales remained at about the same level in Baltimore and fell 10.4 percent in Anne Arundel County.

DETROIT -- The flight attendants union at Northwest Airlines Inc. plans to notify travelers by e-mail before it stages surprise walkouts, which are possible as early as its strike deadline Friday night. But don't expect much notice. The Association of Flight Attendants has asked travelers to sign up on its Web site, www.nwaafa.org, to receive e-mail alerts about walkouts. The notice could be as much as a couple of hours if the union plans a full-scale walkout or as short as 20 minutes - after passengers are at the airport - if the union plans to strike one flight, AFA spokesman Ricky Thornton said yesterday.

LAUREL -- Threat of a jockeys walkout tomorrow at Laurel Race Course and other racetracks throughout the United States and Canada ended last night after a daylong conference among representatives of the Thoroughbred Racing Association and the Jockeys' Guild.Although no new contract was signed, sources said an agreement was imminent and a work stoppage would be averted. Mickey Solomone, East region manager for the Guild, said last night: "The riders are going to name on horses for Wednesday.

As reported Feb. 25, 1990, in The Howard Sun: The county school board walked out on Howard County teachers twice Thursday, refusing to listen as the teachers union leader attempted to present their views on deadlocked contract talks and non-teaching duties. The first walkout came during the afternoon session of Thursday's board meeting, the second during the evening one. James R. Swab, president of the Howard County Education Association, tried during the afternoon meeting to talk about board attempts to remove contract language that gives teachers seniority rights in transfers and layoffs.

At least three jockeys who plan to ride at Laurel Park on Sunday say they have been threatened or harassed by members of the Jockeys' Guild who intend to be part of a nationwide walkout that day.Laurel general manager John E. Mooney confirmed last night that he has met with two of the riders who say they have been under attack."

Racetracks across the country, including Laurel Park, have vowed to conduct full racing cards on Jan. 1, whether or not there is a jockeys' walkout, officials of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations said yesterday.Chris Scherf, executive vice president of the TRA, which represents most major tracks, said he has contacted about a dozen of the organization's member tracks that are racing that day "and all of them are convinced that they will be able to run their regular cards. Their message to horsemen is: 'Get the jockeys and we'll be open.

Picket lines went up today around the General Motors Corp. van plant in southeast Baltimore after talks broke off between union and management representatives attempting to avert a strike by more than 3,200 employees.hope to resolve this as quickly as possible," Terry Youngerman, a GM spokesman, said today, after the walkout.He said more than 30 negotiators began discussions at the Broening Highway plant at 6 a.m. over what union representatives charge are unsafe working conditions.Rodney Trump, president of Local 239 of the United Auto Workers, said the union would have preferred no strike but it was "GM's call.

HOUSTON - The rebel Democrats of Texas came home yesterday, five days after they turned the Legislature into an international curiosity by covertly leaving the state to fight a proposal that would have tightened the Republican Party's hold on power. The walkout killed, for now, the Republican Party's plan to redraw congressional districts, a move to capture as many as five seats from Democrats in 2004. The state House needed to approve the district map plan by Thursday to keep it alive, but the chamber was effectively shut down all week.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Legislators approved Gen. Pervez Musharraf's hold on power until at least 2007 yesterday, despite a walkout by opposition members of Parliament who insist that his rule is illegal. The Pakistani leader, who seized power in a 1999 coup and has become a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, won votes of confidence in both houses of Parliament, the latest victory in his long struggle to legitimize his presidency. The balloting came on the eve of a crucial summit of regional leaders.