Business digest 11/17/04

Flight attendants to hold strike votes

PITTSBURGH -- The nation's largest flight attendants union said Tuesday it would hold strike-authorization votes at four major airlines, accusing the industry of using the bankruptcy process to cut workers' pay and other benefits. The strike votes should be tallied by the end of December. After that, union officials plan to await the outcome of the airlines' bankruptcy proceedings before weighing whether to walk off the job. The Association of Flight Attendants has 46,000 members employed by 26 airlines, but the four immediately at issue are United, US Airways, ATA and Hawaiian. It was unclear Tuesday how many flight attendants would strike if union members approved a walkout.

Hollywood files its first wave of anti-piracy suits

LOS ANGELES -- A trade group representing seven major movie studios filed a first wave of lawsuits against individuals they say are offering pirated copies of films using Internet-based peer-to-peer file-sharing programs. As part of a larger effort to combat piracy, The MPAA announced the federal court suits Tuesday, but did not say how many defendants were sued or where the lawsuits were filed. The group also did not immediately make available a copy of the complaint.

Monsanto buys Channel Bio Corp. for $120 million

ST. LOUIS -- Agriculture biotech giant Monsanto Co.'s newly formed holding company American Seeds Inc. has acquired seed company Channel Bio Corp. for $120 million cash, Monsanto officials said Tuesday. Monsanto said the deal will dilute earnings in 2005. Monsanto formed American Seeds to support regional seed businesses with capital, genetics and technology investments. The Channel acquisition adds another 2 percent of the U.S. corn seed market to Monsanto's 14 percent.

-- From wire reports