G.M., which lost $8.6 billion last year, hopes the new contracts will help the company cut costs and modernize its information technology systems.

This contract helped to ensure that all stray animals in the city received proper care and treatment.

The new contracts help hospitals retain and recruit experienced nurses, officials say.

The new teachers' contract, with healthy raises of 16 to 22 percent, should help the city hire and retain good instructors.

Authority officials said they believed a negotiated contract would help insure the technological quality of the system.

In many areas where military contracts help fuel the economy, immediate layoffs remain more a distant fear than a reality.

He indicated he was not about to retire, though a generous new contract next year would help.

His current contract is helping a company create an online documentation management system.

Brown's hefty contract, with a base salary of $2.5 million this year, did not help his cause.

The new contracts, officials say, have helped the hospitals retain and recruit experienced nurses.