European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 07, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters monday november 7,1994 today s rates following Are fixed rates a which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for personal use British Pound. 1.65 dutch Guilder. 1.66 German Mark. 1.49 note the rates above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren cies "  austrian Schilling. 10.7045 Bahrain Dinar. 0.37698 belgian franc .31.29 British Pound. 1.6125 Canadian Dollar. 1.3593 danish Krone. 5.9615 dutch Guilder. 1.7011 French franc. 5.221 German Mark  1.5213 greek drachma. 233.20 italian lira. 1,562.25 Kuwait Dinar. 0.2981 norwegian Krone. 6.6375 portuguese escudo. 155.45 saudi rial 3.751 Spanish peseta. 126.73 Swiss franc 1.2718 turkish lira. 36,070.00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $383.90 an ounce Silver quote $5.27 an ounce sources merchants National Bank 4 Trust co. And the associated press one big Mac it May be All in Day s work by the associated press president Clinton the country s most famous big Mac Ophile May want to con Sider moving the White House to the Windy City. A study released thursday by Union Bank of Switzerland said that the average chicagoan wage earner would have to work the least amount of time about 14 minutes to afford a $2.99 meal of a Mcdonald s big Mac and French Fries. On the opposite end workers in Lagos Nigeria must labor 683 minutes More than 11 hours to afford the meal. The study by the Bank s economic re search department was an attempt to illustrate the purchasing Power of workers based on a Survey of prices wages and hours worked in 53 cities worldwide. The study was adjusted for currency fluctuations. Houston at 17 minutes and los an Geles at .19 minutes ranked right behind Chicago in the burgers to minutes ratio new York the Only other american City on the list ranked eighth at 23 minutes. . Airlines drop flights to some i 11 is in europ e London a More people Fly across the Atlantic each year and the number of available airline seats has grown rapidly but that does t mean air lines Are making it easier for people to reach their  big . Carriers which aggressively expanded in Europe during the Early 1990s, Are spending the Winter knocking cities off their route  in recent losses have forced airline executives to Cut costs on All fronts and Money losing routes Are being scrapped when airlines think they can do better putting their jets in other markets. Many of the routes attract enough Pas sengers during the Peak summer travel season but during the slow Winter they bleed Money and not enough High pay ing business travellers Are interested. Even while the airlines drop cities from their schedules they Are adding flights tothe More profitable routes they continue to serve. Delta air lines pulled out of Oslo Norway and Stockholm Sweden two routes it bought in 1991 from defunct pan american world airways. Delta dropped flights Between Cincinnati an Munich Germany and from Miami to London in the september cutbacks. United airlines is abandoning Athens Greece and Geneva in january and plans to suspend flights Between Seattle and London in  airlines is halting flights be tween Chicago and Munich and from Paris to Raleigh Durham n.c., while cutting Back service Between Chicago and Glasgow Scotland to summer Only. United and Northwest airlines Are leaving Glasgow entirely this May sound like a great Retreat from Europe but airlines insist that in t so. American dropped routes that did t make Money because it could t afford to keep using them said a London based spokeswoman Lizann Peppard. We re still growing Overall she said. Delta s Dean Breest said that As the Carrier seeks to become profitable in the trans Atlantic Market and identifies routes that make no sense we would either sell pm Trade pm or walk  by walking away airlines might Shore up their Bottom lines but they leave trav Elers with fewer choices. When direct service Between two cities is suspended passengers get stuck waiting in Airport for connecting flights. Or if a . Carrier drops a route and leaves Only a european rival flying it travellers should t hold their breath wait ing for a Fere War. At United airlines vice president for International affairs Cyril Murphy said the adjustments were a necessary follow through to decisions by airlines to cancel plans to buy or lease hundreds of air planes in the past few years you re now seeing that manifested in the marketplace Murphy said. Us Tiberi starts after 60-year Warsaw Poland a the first opel Astra car rolled off the general motors Assembly Plant in Warsaw on saturday four years after the .-based corporation made Poland s democratic government a cooperation offer. The $19.8 million Plant in the Northern Warsaw District of Zeran is expected to produce 10,000 four door Astra sedans with 1.4r and 1.6-liter engines for the pol ish Market in 1995. The new Plant is pm s return to Poland following 60 years of absence. Be fore world War ii Chevrolet were assembled in the country. But prospective polish buyers with an average salary of $265 will find the As tra s Price High. It costs the equivalent of $13,000._ i last december Germany s Adam opel a.g., a subsidiary of pm and Poland s second largest state owned car maker Fabryka Samo Chodrow Osobow Wych agreed to open the Assembly Plant at the so s unused facilities. The joint venture was completed in april. With unemployment running at 17 per cent the new Plant offers polish workers jobs and pm is to use polish parts sup pliers. Purchases Are expected to reach $13.2 million this year and increase to $33 million by the end of 1995. Astra is currently the Best Selling imported compact car in Poland. A total of 9,533 opel cars in various models were sold in Poland in 1993, but italian pro Ducer Fiat dominated last year grabbing Janina Konysz cuts a cake shaped like an opel Astra at saturday s opening of a Gener Al motors Assembly Plant in a Warsaw District the factory is expected to Roll out about10,000 astras next year. " nearly 55 percent of the 243,000-Strong second step in operations in Central and car Market. In 1992, Fiat purchased to Eastern Europe after opening an engine land s largest maker of Small cars the Plant i Hungary in 1992. Fam the Warsaw Plant will initially have the Warsaw Assembly Plant is pm s 125 employees working a single shift. Rules to Stem computer injuries re Washington a new Federal regulations to protect primarily office workers from repetitive motion injun. Ries which account for 60 percent of All new occupational illnesses Are reportedly in their final draft stage. The proposal would require employers to address potential ergonomic hazards using a checklist of various risk factors and to Correct them within 60 Days according to a summary of it reported Sun Day by the Washington  than 120 million workers in All but the smallest companies would be Cov ered by the new occupational safety and health administration standards under the latest draft the newspaper said. Ergonomics a term that surfaced in the 1940s, is the science of adapting working conditions to the human Phy Sique rather than making workers adapt their bodies to the design of a machine. Repetitive motion injuries such As car pal Tunnel syndrome and Back Strain have proliferated with the Rise of a serv ice Economy in which the number of workers using computers has risen from 25 percent in 1983 to 47 percent last year. Half the people who suffer carpal Tun Nel syndrome an injury to the wrist and lower Arm frequent among Long term computer users miss More than 30 Days of work typically longer than absences caused by amputations and fractures according to the Bureau of labor statistics. The draft regulations the Post said identify As at possible risk any workers who perform the same motions every few seconds for More than two hours. Use vibrating tools for More than two hours. Lift or carry anything weighing More than 25 pounds without assistance More than once during a shift. Work in awkward positions for More than two hours such As while kneeling stooping squatting or bending. Do piece rate or machine paced work for More than four hours work on the proposed regulations near began during the Bush administration setting off an intense struggle Between business and labor groups Over their con tent. Osha had indicated last summer that it hoped to have them out by lat fall. The Post quoted assistant labor Secretary Joseph dear who is in charge of Osha As saying the proposed regulations would be issued soon As soon As i can do it the paper said he gave no timetable however. But issuing a proposed Standard is just one plateau in lengthy Rule making procedures in which each step can be slowed by objections from competing interests