Stop & Shop strike vote delayed; other business briefs

LONG ISLAND

UFCW strike vote delayed

The union representing Stop & Shop's meat, seafood and deli workers postponed a strike vote until Monday. The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 342, which represents about 800 Long Island workers, had scheduled a strike vote for Friday, after almost two years of negotiating with Stop & Shop officials, the union said. Workers have been without a contract since Oct. 2011. The delay "gives us time to determine whether or not Stop & Shop is truly ready to work with us," union spokeswoman Kate Meckler said in a statement. A "yes" vote gives union leaders authority to call a strike. Stop & Shop said this week it intends to schedule more negotiating dates and hopes to devise a "fair and competitive" compensation package. -- Keiko Morris

NATION

Buffett: A 'subpar' year

Investor Warren Buffett says last year was "subpar" for his company even after posting a 45 percent increase in profit, because the value of Berkshire Hathaway trailed the overall market. Buffett said yesterday 2012 was only the ninth time in the past 48 years that Berkshire's book value per share failed to outpace the S&P 500. The legendary investor also confessed the two investment managers he hired over the last few years left him in their dust. Berkshire's net income soared in 2012 to $14.8 billion, up from $10.3 billion the previous year, but most of the increase came from paper gains on investments and derivative contracts. Without those gains, operating earnings advanced 17 percent to $12.6 billion, up from $10.8 billion.

Apple investor drops suit

A disgruntled Apple shareholder pressing the iPhone and iPad maker to create a new class of preferred stock has dropped a lawsuit that prompted the company to change its agenda at its annual meeting Wednesday. Lawyers for hedge fund manager David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital notified U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan they no longer planned to pursue the lawsuit. Einhorn had already achieved his goal last week when Sullivan issued a preliminary ruling blocking an Apple Inc. proposal that would have required shareholder approval before preferred stock could be issued. Apple withdrew the proposal from the agenda. Separately, a federal judge in California Friday erased nearly half of the $1 billion in damages a jury decided Samsung Electronics should pay Apple in a high-profile trial over the rights to the design and technology running some of the world's most popular smartphones and tablet computers. Apple's slumping stock fell $10.93 to $430.47, near its 52-week low. -- AP