European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 05, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday March 5, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 17 today s tip signs Are emerging that the nations real estate slump May be near an end for both residential and commercial property the nations top Bank regulator says. William Seidman chairman of the Federal Deposit insurance corp., believes Home prices and in the rest rates in the United states have fallen enough to bring housing in much of the country to its most affordable Point since 19777 a it certainly does t say the real estate recession is Over but there Are some indicators that its bottoming out a Seidman  rates London up mondays closing rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at $363.25 an ounce Silver at $3 76 a Quot a. March 1 March 4 British Pound. 1.8970 1 8970 German Mark 1.5245 1 5345 French franc .5.2380. 5 2400 dutch Guilder .1.7315. 1.7355 belgian franc31.64 31 67 italian lira. 1,149.10 a 1,149 60 Swiss franc. .1.3280 1 3365 greek drachma. .164 70 165 70 turkish lira. 3,350.60 3,363 40 saudi arabian Riyal 3 7504 a 3 7504 Spanish peseta.,. ,. 95.50 95 85 portuguese escudo134 05 134 55 Canadian dollar.1.1495 a 1.1548 austrian Schilling. .10.7875 10 8300 norwegian Krone-., 6 0020 60200 danish Krone. .5 8940 5 9140 these Are unofficial rates As reported by wire service and blinking sources and they Are listed to give some idea of daily currency fluctuations. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will be 1.50 tuesday based on mondays noontime , Mazda agree after reservists face loss of european jobs Detroit apr the United Auto workers and Mazda motor manufacturing Usa inc. Reached a tentative contract agreement monday after bargaining through the night. The contract is the Only one the Law has at a japanese owned Assembly Plant. The agreement which came 5/2 hours after the old three year contract ran out covers about .2,900 hourly workers who assemble Mazda mx-6 and 626 and Ford probe cars at a Mazda Plant in Flat Rock 25 Miles from Detroit. Details of the agreement were not inv. Mediately released. Law spokesman Karl Mantyla said d ratification vote has not been scheduled. About 45 maintenance workers at the Plant reported for their regular shift at 10 p m. Sunday and continued working past Midnight even though the old pact had an out said Bob Madden second vice president of Law local 3000. Unit it has contracts at other joint n�?�, manufacturing projects in California . Other japanese owned Assembly plants Are in Ohio Indiana Tennessee and Kentucky. A by Randy Mcclain financial writer . Military reservists who live in Europe and work for foreign companies May be in for a rude Awakening when they return from the persian Gulf War. Some May be without civilian jobs a a we re hopeful things will be resolved so no one is left out of the net but at this stage we re not certain a said Jerry Shiles a Legal adviser with the 21st theater army area come in Kaiserslautern Germany. He is the Point Man for the . Military on the sensitive Issue. Shiles said he knows of one army reservist in Belgium who was let Girby his employer shortly after being called to Active duty in the Gulf War. The reservist who had been on the company a payroll for 17 years has since hired a lawyer and has taken his Case to a local labor court. Shiles declined to provide the persons name or other details about the Case. But Shiles did say that the reservist in Belgium Isnit the Only one staring unemployment in the face As a result of Mili Tail service in the War with Iraq similar cases have Arisen in Germany Over the last few months and . Reservists working for companies elsewhere in Europe May be at risk As Well. A we know of a number of cases at least 25 to 30 Overall that we have been involved in a Shiles said. A a a have worked out Many of them merely by making phone Calls to employers a but there Are at least 10 remaining cases in Germany alone in which satisfactory settlements Haven to yet been reached he Saichy a a the problem in a nutshell is that no european country has a Law granting Job Protection to american military reservists called on to fight for their Home country outside Europe. European countries generally give some sort of Job Protection to their own citizens but that does no to extend to americans said International Law experts with the . Army in Europe. In the United states reservists who Are activated must be Given their old jobs Back when military duty ends. Workers must be re employed with the same seniority status and pay they had before going to War. Civilians who work for the . Government overseas Are similarly protected. Shiles said . Officials Are quietly negotiating for the same sort of Protection for americans employed by european firms. But that has t been arranged yet. A a we re presently working through diplomatic and congressional pressure to re so be this a but other countries can to be forced to rewrite their Laws just like that. He said. A. "7 a we can to Start meddling with the sovereignty of other nations a Shiles said. A a it a a much More difficult and time consuming process. We can make suggestions and even give them a proposed format. But those nations will have to decide what action to take themselves. We done to carry a big stick in these types of  maj. Bill Mccloskey assistant Deputy chief of staff for operations with fhe 7th army Reserve comte in Heidelberg Germany said a relatively Small number of personnel a surely not As Many As 100,�?� Are either at risk of losing their civilian jobs or have been harassed by their employers. But he said the problem is serious. 7 Quot probably some people will return from the War and find they have a problem a Mccloskey said. Quot i Hope that if we do have people in that situation some thing can be worked out. We hold an reservists in War and peace last in a series a amps Gus Schuettler Jerry Shiles obligation to those Guys to help them  v a a Mccloskeyy a office oversees army reservists in Germany Italy and the United kingdom. Shiles said a a lot of informal discussions have taken place Over the last several months to save reservists from Sticky situations with their european employers. However one american executive who works for a German insurance company in Frankfurt said he Felt pressured into resigning from the army reserves shortly before his unit was mobilized last november. He said his employer  guarantee head have a Job upon his return. The Man who has lived in Germany for several years asked that his name not be used out of fear that his employer  like it. I looked at my situation and it was too much to put on the line a he said. A if i had the same Protection As someone working for a company in the United states i would have gone to saudi. But no one could guarantee me  an american banker in Frankfurt Germany who is also a lieutenant Colone in the army reserves said he personally helped a number of anxious reservists before operation desert storm started. The 45-year-old reservist who spoke on the condition that his name not be used said he negotiated with several companies and managed to work out deals to save jobs. In one Case he said a German supermarket Chain at first threatened to fire a major in the reserves attached to the 3rd army div if he Vas deployed to the Middle East for a lengthy period. 7 _ after an Appeal to the company a president the majors civilian Job was protected the banker said although he Isnit receiving a Penny of his German salary while on Active duty. The major remains in the persian Gulf Region and could not be reached for comment. In a few cases late last year the banker added reservists who were threatened with the loss of their civilian jobs were granted emergency transfers from one military Reserve unit in Europe to other units not scheduled to be deployed. A handful of transfers took place Only in cases where a reservist it to a in danger of severe financial hardship tie banker said. 7 a a .7 / 7. A a a a Shiles confirmed that several moves like that took place when it did t interfere with military considerations. A a it a a real Touchy subject a the attorney said. A How do you Tell someone who a in danger of losing his Job that someone else Wasny to deployed and kept their Job that a something we really done to want to address too  several factors figured into such decisions Shiles added including whether other reservists were available and willing to fill in  unit and whether they had the right Job skills. A it was All a command decision a he said. The american banker said transfers to non deploying units helped save some reservists from financial ruin. A it he situation is such that every reservist including myself wants to fight for his country Quot he said. A but the problem is that too Many i of the burdens of this War Are placed on a few people because of a legislative  Shiles said discussions aimed at solving the problem Are scheduled to be held this summer at a nato meeting that will be attended by the Heads of various Allied Power so Reserve forces. He said the Issue As been discussed at various Levels for the past year and a half but the recent Gulf War has caused a heightened sense of urgency. A the . Isnit foot dragging. We be tried to keep it on the front Burner a Shiles said. He added that a final solution will require help from top defense department and state department officials in Washington and in european capitals. Despite promises of Quick action though some reservists who live and work in Europe done to think Progress is being made fast enough. The reservist banker in Frankfurt said . Officials Are guilty of a bureaucratic inertia on the Issue. A the problem is on the political Side a he  corp. Loses another verdict Pittsburgh a us corp. Suffered another Legal setback when a Federal judge upheld most of a $638.5 million verdict against one of its affiliates 7 7 a _ a. A . District court judge John p. Full Amr ordered the Bessemer amp Lake Erie Railroad to pay $601.8 million in damages to competing steel makers who filed an antitrust lawsuit against a ample and other railroads in 1983. At the time Monroeville based a ample was owned by . Steel now known As us. A. Ltd steel National steel Wheeling Pittsburgh steel and Sharon steel accused the railroads of conspiring to control the movement of Iron Ore from Lake Erie ports to their steel Mills. _ Cox corp., Norfolk Southern corp., and Conrail were also sued. They settled out of court leaving a ample As the Lone defendant