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http:/A^ww.thecharlottepost.com 7C Cliarlotte $of(t THURSDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2006 BUSINESS Layoffs hit black auto workers hardest By Chris Nisan .\nS?sESOTA SPOKESSIAS-RECORDER Paul. ST PAUL, MINN. — 1 don’t see Ford going under, but they are sure going to be small,” said auto worker Azariah of Ford Motor Company's future in the aftermath of the companyls recent annoimcement of massive layoffs and plant closures. Azariah, who goes by the single name, is a 20-year member of the United Auto Workers union at Ford Motor Company's Twin Cities Assembly Plant in St. The local facility is under consideration for closure by the auto manufacturing giant, along with a number of other plants across the coimtry “There is a wide range of opinion among workers,” said Azariah, ibut the com mon denominator is that no one wants to see it close.” Ford announced several weeks ago that it would slash up to 30,000 jobs within the next four years and shut down 14 factories. Last week, the automakei' made public the first plant closures that included facilities in St. Louis, Atlanta, and ^hcom, Mich. In total, the proposed cuts amount to 25 percent of its North American payroll. The Twin Cities plant was on the original short list of factories to be closed, but it dodged the bullet in this first round of shut downs. Confionted with steadily declining sales and profits, the two other U.S. auto manufac turers, General Motors and Daiinler- Chrysler, have taken similar actions to con- fiont tlie profit cnmch and intensifying com petition. GM annoimced several months ago its intent to cut 30,000 jobs in the U.S. and Canada, cuts that amount to 17 percent ofitd labor force. Last week, Daimler-Chrysler said that it would eliminate 6,000 white-collar jobs, 20 percent of its administrative work See LAYOFFSyBC Doo-wop band wins settlement from Pepsi By Kim Curtis THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN FRANCISCO - A judge has ordered PepsiCo Inc. and its advertising company to pay $250,000 to the 1950s doo-wop band The Flamingos for using thrir recording, ‘T Only Have Eyes For You” in a commercial without permission. A federal judge in Chicago upheld an arbi trator’s decision in favor of the two surviving members of The Flamingos, Tferry Johnson and Tbmmy Hunt, and the estates of Ihe deceased members. A collective baigaining agreement with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists requires an advertiser to get permis sion and pay fees to the music publishers, the record labels and the artists themselves. “In our case, they didn’t even ask,” San Francisco entertainment lawyer Steven Ames Brown said Monday It’s not the first time Pepsi has ne^ected to pay a recording artist for a song. Brown said. He claims Pepsi has failed to pay black per formers for their songs in advertising cam paigns featuring supermodel Cindy Crawford ‘Tepsi routinely pays the Caucasian per formers who appear on camera, but refuses to pay the Afiican-American singers whose voic es are used in the soundtrack unless they sue,” Brown said. A spokesman for Pepsi said the failure to pay The Flamingos directly was an oversi^t and that Pepsi didn’t realize the song was subject to the collective bargaining agree ment. “That’s completely inaccurate,” said Dave DeCecco of Purchase, New York-based Pepsi. “We have a long history and strong track record of supporting div«:sity in our advertis ing.” Pepsi used the band’s best known 1959 hit in a television commercial that ran nation wide for about six months in 1997, Brown said. Brown said he successfully sued Pepsi on ■behalf of Doris Tboy, whose 1963 hit, “Just One Look” was used in another popular Crawford commercial, which also featured two young boys. TYoy died in 2003. Brown sued on behalf of The Flamingos in 2003. Hunt sang the lead vocal in ‘T Only Have Eyes For You,” which reached No. 11 on Billboard’s Tbp 40 in 1959 and remained on the cheirts for 11 weeks, according to the suit. PHOTO/WADE NASH Charlotte attorney James Ferguson (right) takes the baton of ownership of the Historic Excelsior Club from the former owner, N.C. Rep. Pete Cunningham. Excelsior Club legacy passes to familiar hands By Victoria Elmore THE CHARLOTTE POST The baton of ownership of the Historic Excelsior Club has been officially passed. The Charlotte dub’s former owner, N.C. Rep. Pete Cunningham recently sold the Excelsior to his fiiend of many years, dvil rights attorney James Ferguson H. At a cere mony last Friday, Cunningham reflected that the time to sell had arrived. ‘Tm 76 years old; I can’t take it with me,” he said. The Excelsior is a fixture in Charlotte’s sodal and political circles. As an entertainment venue, the dub has been visited by nationally-known perform ers like James Brown, Nat King Cole and the O’Jays. Tbday it’s known as a gathering spot for professionals and regular folks alike to unwind and sodalize. “It was a private ni^t dub. It was a sodal club where you wanted to go; you’d be in awe of being there,” said N.C. Sen. Charlie Dannelly a longtime patron. The Excelsior is not just a place for dancing and sodaliz- ing; it’s where organizations gather to discuss their plans and ideas. “This is a place where we help people. It’s not just a place where people come and hang out,” Cunningham said. Since Jimmie McKee opened the Excelsior in 1944, the dub has nurtured black leaders, a commitment that the new owner plans to continue. “I bou^t it because it is an insti tution in the community,” Ferguson said ‘Tt is progressive place where things have always happened and will continue to happen.” Many people who attended last week’s ceremony thanked Ferguson for carrying on such a legacy ‘T would like to say a big thank you to Ferguson, for one, accepting the baton,” Charlotte City Council member Anthony Foxx said. “My dream is that we will have an even bigger institution come throu^ this building. This place means a lot to me. I had my 10th birthday here.” Excelsior General Manager Keshia McGee voiced her appreciation for the club. ‘Teople are hei*e for you, what ever capadty you need them,” she said. ‘You know you’re safe here. It’s unique and the doors are always open.” Ferguson left; no doubt he will continue to uphold the dub’s legacy “The Excelsior has played a major role in the Afirican American community” he said “It is the forum for p^ pie to network, which is critical for the vision of preservation and prcgress.” SOUTH CAROLINA Group forms to help black-owned businesses THE ASSOCIATED PRESS COLUMBIA - A new group that hopes to become a uni fied voice for black business leaders has formed The Afiican-American Business Roundtable, led by chairman Stephen Beiyamin, hopes to improve the econom ic climate for black South Carolinians. The group will lobby and work fen* minority- owned businesses. “This is an effort to buttress and siqrport and compliment all the other efforls that are going on,” said Beryamin, a Columbia attorney "It is not lost car us that if we improve the quality of life for Afiican- Americans, we improve it for the entire state.” There was a need for an organization focused strictly on the state’s minority-busi ness climate, said Jonathan Pinson of Greenville, the roundtable’s vice chairman and chairman-elect. “Our whole goal is to get results. We want to see progress being made in the Afirican-American business sector,” said Pinson, head of Pindrum Staffing Services. Beryamin said the group will first develop a black eco nomic development strategy for the state and will do some lobbying, thou^ it will be limited because its seeking norqrrofit status. “I think it is important that once we have developed our agenda that we go out and promote it actively with our elected leadership,” he said The roundtable is envi sioned as a non-partisan, nonprofit corporation and hopes to one day be viewed with groups like the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, South Carolina See GROUPS ONSTAR Council on Competitiveness, The Palmetto Institute and Palmetto Business Forum. The roundtable ailready has membership overlap with those groups. Chamber president Hunter Howard said he welcomes the new group. ‘When we go set ting the agenda next year, we will go and talk to them,” he said The roundtable’s goals are consistent with the cham ber’s in terms of getting busi ness people more engaged in public policy, he said. Another issue for the roundtable is the small num ber of black senior business executives in the state. The roundtable wantf to help businesses through recruit ment, internal retention and mentoring. And while it wants to be a Updated navigation system unveiled By Dce-Ann Durbin niEASSOCIAIED PRESS DETROIT — Tbn years after it first introduced the OnStar safety and naviga tion system. General Motors Corp. is making a significant upgi*ade that will allow cus tomers to get real-time direc tions as they’re driving. GM plans to announce the new option Wednesday at the Chicago Auto Show, the seune venue where it intro duced OnStar in 1996. TVim- by-Tum Navigation will debut on the Buick Lucerne and the Cadillac DTS in March and will gradually be added to other GM vehicles. GM says it will be available on approximately 1 million cais and trucks by the 2007 model year. Around 4 million drivers now have OnStar, a service unique to GM. That will increase exponentially in the next few years, since GM plans to make OnStar stan dard on all vehicles by 2007. OnStar has always been able to give directions, track a stolen car, unlock a car when the keys are left inside or summon an ambulance after an accident. Gradually, other features have been added, such as the ability to make handsfi*ee calls and send monthly vehicle diag nostic reports. Right now, OnStar owners can press a button to dial an operator arid get audio direc tions based on their locatirai, which is pinpointed by satel lite. Tlie directions are read off immediately The system lets customers tape the direc tions and play them back as they drive, but it doesn’t keep track of the vehicle’s progress as it follows the route. ^^Tth the new system, dri vers will call an operator and ask for audio directions, which are downloaded by the operator. A computerized voice will come on and talk the driver through each step of the route as they’re dri ving. If the driver leaves the route, the system will alert the driver and recalculate the directions based on the new location. OnStar President Chet Hiiber said the new system is easy to use and safer than screen-based navigation because drivers never have to take their eyes off the road. It also will be less expensive than installing a navigation screen, which can cost between $1,500 and $3,000, he said. Directions are available in English, Spanish or Preiwh. “It will demystify the user interface with navigation,” Huber told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “It will be easy to xise. Normal pe^le will be able to get value out of it.” Huber wouldn’t give the exact cost of the Tlim-by- TVim Navigation option, but See ONSTAR^
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