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Talk of the bay: Two companies trim local work forces

By Times Staff
Published October 2, 2007

About 300 people lost their jobs the past week at two large Tampa Bay area employers: Ceridian in St. Petersburg and Nielsen Media Research in Oldsmar. Ceridian let go about 50 customer call center staffers at its office at 3201 34th St. S. The human resources company employs about 1,200 locally. Nielsen, the TV ratings company that's downsizing after its acquisition by private investors last year, released 240 of its 4,252 Tampa-area employees. Most affected were call center, information technology and operations employees. Nielsen spokesman Jack Loftus said the company is finished with local layoffs for "the foreseeable future."

Talks on gambling to resume today

After talking all afternoon Monday, representatives of Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminole Tribe of Florida agreed to resume negotiations today over an agreement on expanded gambling for the tribe. They haven't resolved several details, including the state's cut of gambling revenue, said Barry Richard, a tribe attorney. He described negotiations as "very smooth" and predicted they'd have a document ready for the governor today or Wednesday. Crist, however, told reporters earlier he doesn't expect action on a deal for "a month or so." Earlier drafts of an agreement would allow the Seminoles to offer Las Vegas-style slot machines and the first state-sanctioned games of blackjack and baccarat at its seven casinos. Florida would reportedly receive around $200-million a year from the games.

Winn-Dixie CEO gets $6.5M, perks

Bankruptcy didn't just give new life to Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. It's been good for Peter Lynch, who was hired as chief executive for about $1.8-million a year with bonuses in 2004, then got a $1.5-million retention bonus to stick it out when the Jacksonville supermarket chain sought protection from creditors. Once the chain emerged from bankruptcy last November, however, Lynch got a new employment contract and walked off with $6.5-million during the fiscal year that ended June 2007. Lynch's new deal includes $259,000 for personal travel on company aircraft and new stock grants or options worth about $12-million, according to SEC filings.

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[Last modified October 1, 2007, 23:06:07]