Standard & Poor's Drops Steinway Musical Instruments' Ra

[connedbyselmer]

Well hopefully our nationwide boycott and worldwide support for striking conn-selmer workers contributed to this downgrade in Steinway musical ratings. Hopefully our goal in 2007 is to cost Steinway at least $ 30,000,000 in strike related cost as punishment for unethical treatment of its workers and stealing death benfits from retired workers and their families.
Messina may have thrown us out on the street like trash,but at least we enjoy rubbing the little mans nose in the dirt when it is pointed out by the experts what a bad job he is doing running the company.

Standard & Poor's Drops Steinway Musical Instruments' Rating to "B+" on Fiscal 2006 Results


NEW YORK (AP) -- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said Friday it lowered Steinway Musical Instruments Inc.'s corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings to "B+" from "BB-" with a "Stable" outlook, meaning it is unlikely to change.
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Both ratings are speculative grade.

The rating service had placed the Waltham, Mass.-based company's ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications on Nov. 3.

"The downgrade is based on Steinway's weakened operating performance in fiscal 2006 following several years of fluctuating profitability," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Patrick Jeffrey.

According to Standard & Poor's, a strike at Steinway's Elkhart, Ind., brass instruments manufacturing facility and bankruptcy filings by two customers hurt 2006 results, leading to higher debt leverage.

Jeffrey said he expects the company's performance to improve in 2007, but not enough to support a higher rating.

Standard & Poor's said Steinway's ratings are based on its high leverage, narrow product offering, inconsistent operating history and the discretionary nature of spending on musical instruments.

Steinway shares fell 29 cents to close at $32.12 on the New York Stock Exchange

[Parsifal]

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=LVB&t=1y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=

[UsedBits]

[DaveH]

There will be no balance when greed is involved.

Greed denies balance...someone wants it all.

[tim.jones]

Some story about a goose that laid golden eggs keeps popping into my head.

Tim Jones

[connedbyselmer]

Us striking workers will relentlessly pursue Steinway musical till we inflict enought damage on that morally bankrupt company and its evil leadership as they have on us striking workers.Slimway has resorted to lying, cheating, and stealing in negations from the start.
Strike related cost from last year reached almost $20,000,000. As the word gets out to musicians , dealers, unions, and schools ,of what kind of people that run this company, plus our world wide boycott, first quarter sales are down another 25%.
As witnessed by our most recent rejection of dirty dana's last, best and final offer ,a couple of days ago and his goal of breaking our union which is drawing very near, we will fight this parasite of corporate america and expose him for his ignorant leadership skills that has cost shareholders millions of dollars and take years to recoupe.

[UsedBits]

I'm still confused. If ConnedBySelmer were to be granted his wish to see his employer ruined, he'd be out of work. Wouldn't he? How does he win?

Another point of confusion. Don't most folks make a purchase decision based on the product? While it makes me feel good that a company might make a great product and treat its employees well, the employee part doesn't play a big part in my purchase decision.

Many of us shop at Wal-Mart. Do you think the goods it sells are made by companies that treat its employees by American labor union standards? Heck no - they're mostly overseas! Yet more and more of us continue to shop at Wal-Mart, the point being to underscore that most purchase decisions do not take employee relations into account.

While I totally agree with ConnedBySelmer that the quality of Bach instruments are, at best, going to have a much wider quality variance than those made by the longer-term, seasoned employees, I doubt that many, if any, high school students will give a hoot about who made their precious brand-spankin-new Bach trumpet.

I can't agree that the union's motives are entirely greed driven. There are probably many legitimate complaints and problems about which the company should be concerned. But to actively participate in the destruction of one's employer seems counter productive.

Might I mention that the purpose of a business isn't to employ people. Instead, it is to make a profit. People are a cost of doing business and costs must be minimized and controlled.

That said, if the employer screws his people, then the people will leave for other employment, leaving the 'bad' employer at higher risk of failure due to excessive turnover and related problems. The employer will ultimately suffer higher long-term costs, so in a pure economic system the employer is wise to treat its employees fairly.

Of course, we're dealing with reality where pure economics is rarely enjoyed. I don't fault ConnedBySelmer's employer for wanting to minimize and control costs, and I don't fault ConnedBySelmer's desire to be treated fairly. But it seems that both sides have entrenched themselves into an intractable position, out from which neither can come and from which neither can find a face-saving exit.

But I don't see where destroying the company and eliminating all the jobs benefits anyone. Customers lose, employees lose, owners lose, everyone loses.

It saddens me to see all the hate and name calling. I'm no fan of Bach, but it doesn't deserve this fate. If it is to fail, I would prefer to see a better trumpet manufacturer clean Bach's plow. That way at least the customer wins.
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