IN BRIEF

UAW leader credits GM for agreement

United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger credited General Motors Corp. on Monday for a tentative wage-concession deal with Delphi Corp. meant to help the struggling auto supplier emerge from bankruptcy and avoid a strike.

Meanwhile, Gettelfinger continued to criticize Delphi’s leaders, who he said wanted to drag out the bankruptcy and put the Troy-based Delphi in foreign hands.

“If it weren’t for (GM Chief Financial Officer) Fritz Henderson and his team … this agreement never would have come about,” Gettelfinger said in an interview with a Detroit radio station.

Delphi spokesman Lindsey Williams said the company would not respond to Gettelfinger’s comments.

Gettelfinger wouldn’t give details of the agreement, signed Friday by Delphi and UAW leadership.

The deal still must be approved by the 17,000 UAW members and a federal bankruptcy judge in New York.

Longtime Nevada law firms to merge Aug. 1

One of Nevada’s oldest law firms will merge with Phoenix-based Lewis & Roca effective Aug. 1. Pending a lengthy conflict review, all 34 Beckley Singleton attorneys will join Lewis & Roca’s 24-member Nevada operation. Beckley Singleton has served clients for 45 years, briefly becoming the state’s largest firm in 1989.

Dan Polsenberg, a longtime Beckley Singleton partner, said every attorney in the firm agreed to join Lewis & Roca after a six-month “courtship.”

“We are doing this all together. We didn’t want to go our separate ways,” he said.

Tom Ryan, Lewis & Roca’s chief Nevada partner, said that in addition to the merger, the firm plans to add six or seven attorneys to its Nevada offices this year.

CHICAGO

Walgreen says profits up nearly 20 percent

Drugstore Walgreen Co. said Monday that an increase in prescription sales, especially among profitable generic medications, helped its third-quarter profit climb nearly 20 percent.

The nation’s biggest pharmacy chain by revenue reported a profit of $561.2 million, or 56 cents per share, in the quarter that ended May 31. During the same period last year, the company posted earnings of $469.2 million, or 46 cents per share.

Revenue climbed nearly 13 percent to $13.7 billion from $12.2 billion last year, but fell short of Wall Street forecasts. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 54 cents on revenue of about $13.8 billion.

DETROIT

Pilot shortage blamed for canceled flights

The Northwest Airlines pilots union said Monday that a pilot shortage is to blame for a recent flurry of cancellations that have stranded travelers on hundreds of flights nationwide.

The airline canceled 193 flights Sunday and 163 flights as of late Monday, according to the Airline Pilots Association and www.flightstats.com. The union said at least 450 cancellations have occurred since Saturday.

Northwest spokesman Dean Breest blamed the cancellations on weather-related disruptions due to scheduling.

Other airlines, however, are not reporting similar problems.

WASHINGTON

Compromise urged in patent dispute

A judge suggested a possible compromise in a patent dispute between Internet phone carrier Vonage and Verizon Communications that would allow Vonage to continue signing up new customers while it modifies its technologies.

Judge Timothy Dyk, part of the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, made the remark during arguments Monday.

The panel is considering Vonage’s appeal of a March jury verdict that found Vonage infringed on three Verizon Communications patents in constructing its Internet phone system. The jury in awarded Verizon $58 million, plus future royalties for continued patent infringement.

WASHINGTON

Interest rates rise on Treasury bills

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday’s auction with six-month bills climbing to the highest level since early May.

The Treasury Department auctioned $14 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 4.685 percent, up from 4.490 percent last week; and $14 billion in six-month bills at a discount rate of 4.810 percent, up from 4.715 percent last week.

The three-month rate was the highest since three-month bills averaged 4.710 percent three weeks ago. The six-month rate was the highest since 4.815 percent on May 7.

NEW YORK

Bond prices claim additional gains

Treasury prices made further gains Monday, as investors continued to favor U.S. government bonds amid concerns about spillover from the subprime mortgage market and broad credit quality concerns.

At 5 p.m. EDT, the 10-year Treasury note was up $4.06 per $1,000 in face value, or 0.41 points, from its level at 5 p.m. Friday. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, fell to 5.08 percent from 5.14 percent.

The 30-year bond rose 0.69 points. Its yield fell to 5.20 percent from 5.25 percent.