Payless ShoeSource, union settle on contract

Union members at Payless ShoeSource Distribution Center in Topeka on Tuesday approved a new, four-year employment contract.

The contract was given as an ultimatum by the company, said officials with Teamsters Local 696.

If it had not been approved, Payless officials had said they would begin diverting work to another center in California, said William A. Moore, president of the local. Moore said he didn’t know how much of an influence that ultimatum had on the union voters.

The contract passed with a vote of 348 in favor and 98 opposed, union officials said.

Under the contract, starting pay will remain at $9.15 per hour. Pay increases, however, will be 30 cents per hour this year and next year. That will increase to 35 cents per hour in 2006 and 2007.

Topeka

Westar issues stock to reduce debt levels

Topeka-based Westar Energy began offering 9.25 million new shares of the company’s common stock on Wednesday, the company announced.

The company will use net proceeds from the sale to reduce debt and for general corporate purposes. Standard & Poor’s Rating Services issued a statement saying the stock sale was expected to “enhance the company’s frail financial condition.”

Standard & Poor’s said the stock issuance could generate about $183 million for Westar, based on current trading prices.

Shipping

FedEx delivers increase in profits

FedEx Corp. reported a 41 percent increase in third-quarter profits, due mostly to growth in international priority shipments and savings from job cuts. The results topped Wall Street’s estimates and FedEx shares rose more than 5 percent.

The shipping giant reported earnings Wednesday of $207 million, or 68 cents per share, up from $147 million, or 49 cents per share, in the same period last year.

Those results included costs from an early retirement and severance program that cut the payroll of FedEx Express, the company’s cargo airline, by 3,600 employees.