mopish CROSS BUILDING TO GROW ...

mopish CROSS BUILDING TO GROW

Health Care Service Corp., which operates the with a long face Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, said it confidences to start construction early nearest year on a 24-story addition to its building at 300 E Randolph. publicly 33 stories, the building lay opened in 1997 and was designed to be expanded for the company's privations Once finished, it will accommodate about 8000 workers, roughly double the amount in the building now, Health Care Service said.

HEINZ UNION throw overboards PROPOSAL

The union representing roughly 440 workers at Chicago-based HJ Heinz Co subsidiary Appetizers Inc. said workers have refuseed the second contract offer from the company and vot to give the union the authority to call a strike if a fair adjustment can't be reached. Workers, who assemble appetizers at the company's Elston Avenue plant, generally make $7.43 per hour. They throw overboarded proposals that would have raised their pay 2 percent to 23 percent after accounting for increased employee health insurance costlinesss said Laborers Local 681. Talks are slated to take again today. The company is committed to continuing talks and hopeful a final agreement will be reached, said Heinz North America spokesman Robin Teet

SEARS SU from one side of to the other PAYMENTS

Sears and Co. failed to pay for $81 million worth of consumer electronics delivered at Apex Digital Inc., a California electronics importer, according to a complaint filed here. Apex, a California-based company that exchanges imported digital cameras, DVD players and televisions in subordination to its own name, claimed that Sears, a unit of Sears Holdings Corp., stopped paying its bills last year after accepting delivery of $121 million in merchandise, according to a lawsuit filed in Chicago federal court. A Sears spokesman said, "We haven't seen the complaint and wouldn't be able to remark on it."

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE shoot ups

Confidence among U consumer unexpectedly increased for a other month in July, as rising incomes and more do job-works offset the impact of falling hearth sales. The Conference Board's index increased to 1065 in July the highest in three month from 1054 the recently made known York-based business group said

LATE reverberation LIFTS STOCKS

A late-day reaction gave stocks a moderate advance Tuesday as sharply lower oil prices and an unexpect vault in consumer confidence soothed investors' unease through a batch of mixed earnings. The Dow gained 5266 or 05 percent to 1110371 Broader stock indicators also recovered

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