Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 61

Money Arizona Bailn Star TUCSON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1982 PAGE ONE In brief Com pi lad from wire reports at Early retirement among cutbacks at Mountain Bell "ft. PHOENIX (AP) Mountain Bell said yesterday it will try to reduce its work force by offering early retirement bonuses. A company spokesman said craft people installers, cable splicers and other technicians would be those most affected. The announcement said as many as 1,000 "buy outs" would be available throught June 30. Mountain Bell has about 53,000 employees in its seven-state area and about 2,200 in Southern Arizona.

(Tucson spokesman George Mira-ben said the company may initiate further expense-reduction plans in coming weeks. While he would not discount the possibility of layoffs, he said i hat th company would first pursue other savings plans.) In Denver, company President Robert K. Timothy since the retirement program is a voluntary one, it is not known how many employees in a given area will be affected. Timothy also said that Mountain Bell is reducing its force of temporary employees, freezing management promotions, curtailing overtime and seeking voluntary sacrifices such as unpaid vacations from managers. Timothy said the actions, which follow the closing of the company's employment offices and several rounds of budget cuts, are needed because demands for new service and use of the long-distance network are much lower than projected.

"This isn't a step we take lightly," he said. "We have examined our situation carefully, and it's our reluctant conclusion that we must reduce our work force if the company is to remain financially healthy." Under the buyout plan, employees would receive 40 percent of their weekly salary, plus $8 a month for each year of employment, up to $375 a month, in addition to other pension benefits to which they might be entitled. The extra payments would cease after four years or when a retiree becomes eligible for Social Security. New U.S. construction fell in April to a pace 0.6 percent below that for March, continuing a slide of nearly 6 percent in the past year, the Commerce Department said yesterday.

April's decline wiped out a 0.6 percent March gain, according to newly revised figures. The April estimate of new construction at an annual rate of $232.8 billion was virtually identical to the (232.7 billion in January. The troubled Alfa Group, Latin America's largest business conglomerate, lost more than $120 million in 1981 and spent nearly $11 million buying out the jobs of 4,300 workers, president Bernardo "Garza Sada said in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. He blamed most of Alfa's troubles on delays in expected price rises of items Alfa makes, on high prices of imports the company needs and in the devaluation of the peso, which makes it much more expensive for Alfa to pay off its foreign debts, most of which are in dollars. Voting on a new contract plan begins Saturday among mechanics, baggage handlers and kitchen workers who struck Northwest Airlines more than a week ago, forcing a two-thirds reduction of domestic flights.

The new plan offers $63 million in pay and benefit increases $7 million more than the first offer for a 24 percent pay raise over three years. Pabst Brewing itself the object of a takeover bid, offered $35.56 million to acquire Olympia Brewing Co. of Washington, saying it expected the government to block its proposed merger with G. Heileman Brewing Co. Pabst said the $28-per-share offer was made after contacts within the Justice Department led Pabst to believe that the government would object to a takeover of the brewer by Heileman, which submitted a written offer Friday to take over Pabst for $24 a share, or $196.8 million.

Wiretap tapes allegedly showing that Teamsters union President Roy Lee Williams and four others conspired to bribe Sen. Howard W. Cannon, will be admitted as evidence in their trial In Chicago. U.S. District Judge Marshall rejected a defense contention that the evidence was Top stockholder may keep Westworld afloat i (J Joe Villi, The Arizona Daily Star destinations served by Texas International Airlines.

Gillett and Grugel had hoped to go to Cozumel, an island off the Yucatan peninsula, but were not among those who won tickets. Texas International yesterday took the Tucson flights of Continental Airlines, in which it owns a controlling interest. Dressed for travel Lenor Gil-lett, left, helps Sherri Grugel adjust her orange costume at the Inn at the Airport. The two were among about 700 would-be travelers who showed up at the inn dressed in costumes yesterday in hopes of winning one of 100 free round-trip tickets to some of the Buildup isn't making waves, just laps military-plant shores gathered illegally. The defendants are charged with conspiring to sell property in Las Vegas to Cannon in return for help in defeating a trucking deregulation bill.

Cannon was not charged and the bill became law. A Federal Express commercial that depicted postal workers ignoring customers is no longer on the air. The New York Metro Area Postal Workers Union took credit for killing the commercial, but Federal Express said the commercial had run its natural course in regional markets May 23. Egypt raised its crude-oil prices 60 cents a barrel to $32.60, sources said. Egypt thus became the third oil producer outside OPEC to raise prices for June.

Britain and Norway are increasing prices for their North Sea oil by $2.50 a barrel to $33.50. OPEC's benchmark price is $34 a barrel. A $2 million Chrysler Corp. promotion is providing cars made by competitors to help consumers compare competing models. The promotion, effective through August, is called the "Dodge Driving Machine Challenge" and' "Chrysler-Plymouth Value Showdown." It involves exhibits and sales teams traveling to fairs, major sports events and other areas of high pedestrian traffic, By Winston Williams By Edward Lempinen The Arizona Daily Star The majority stockholder of West-world the parent company of Old Tucson, appears ready to keep West-world afloat despite the recent erosion of its financial strength, a company official said yesterday.

Still, continued losses are expected in the coming year as the company pays off expensive short-term debts assumed to finance gas- and oil-drilling operations, said Jeffrey L. Powers, Westworld's vice president-treasurer and a nominee to its board. In a statement issued late last week with its 1981 annual report. West-world reported a net loss of $5.4 million on revenue of $4.8 million for the nine months ended March 31. Developer Johnny Mitchell, who now owns about 84 percent of West-world, traded 110,000 shares of his Texas-based Mitchell Energy Development Corp.

for nearly 1.8 million shares of Westworld in March to shore up Westworld's finances. But the attempt to infuse new strength into Westworld may have backfired at least temporarily because the value of Mitchell Energy stock has declined in recent months. Powers said about half of recent losses in net worth have resulted from a decline in the value of Mitchell Energy stock and other securities. Most of the remaining losses resulted from poor performance at Westworld's Old Vegas theme park in Henderson, he said. Powers said renovation plans for the park have been shelved indefinitely, though he would not comment further.

He declined to outline Old Tucson's financial performance. The price of Westworld stock has fallen from about $6 a year ago to about $1 recently in over-the-counter trading. Westworld also announced in the report that its annual shareholders meeting, which was to have been held last December, had been canceled. A meeting now has been scheduled for October. "The figures are lousy, but you have to read between the lines," said Hank Smith, executive vice president of Young, Smith Peacock, a Phoenix-based brokerage house that specializes in Arizona stocks.

"The way Mitchell keeps putting his own capital into the company (Westworld), I don't think that he is prepared to let this thing go under. If the company needs additional funds, he will be around to do it." Powers agreed, saying: "It appears that way." He declined further comment. Out of total borrowing of $11.9 million, Westworld has $6.6 million in short-term debt on which it must generally pay 2 percentage points above the prime rate, the report indicates. The company is obligated to pay off or renegotiate at least $6.2 million of the short-term debt between April 30 and Oct. 30.

About $2.9 million falls due this month, according to the financial statement. The loans have been used primarily to finance participation in joint oil-and gas-exploration projects by Westworld Oil Gas another subsidary. The company reports finding potentially productive wells in 24 of 55 attempts, a record that Smith called encouraging. 1 982 The New York Times CHICAGO The first ripples of the Reagan administration's huge military buildup are reaching the nation's factories. At the sprawling Northrop Defense Systems plant in Rolling Meadows, 111., for example, the company has doubled its manufacturing space in the past two years.

It has spent millions of dollars on new equipment, sales have tripled and the job roll has grown 26 percent to 2,500. Still, growth at Northrop and at other military plants has slowed except for engineers and other technical personnel, and is not expected to pick up again for eight to 10 months. In other ways, too, the full impact of the $1.5 trillion, five-year military buildup will not be felt for some time. (At Hughes Aircraft Co. in Canoga Park, and secondarily in Tucson, full-scale engineering development is under way for Amraam, a medium-range air-to-air missile, but production won't begin until at least 1985.

(Hughes personnel, including employees working under Amraam production manager Joe Mano in Tucson, have been working since December to develop 94 test missiles. (Many of the 12-foot test missiles are to be produced in Tucson, where the volume of later regular production and other contracts will determine the size of the work force. For now, the company is reluctant to comment about the possi- ble number of jobs involved, though Pentagon officials say production could total 13,000 missiles for the Air Force and 7,000 for the Navy at a cost of $6 billion.) Dan Pennic, vice president of the Boeing Aero also, that spending for arms crowds out investment for commercial production. However, because of the current deep recession, including sharp contractions in. the commercial shipbuilding and aerospace industries, many of these fears have faded.

Prime contractors and subcontractors are burdened with excess capacity. Waiting periods for parts such as landing gears and computer chips have dropped sharply. And price increases are moderating, although the inflation rate for weapons systems is still two to three percentage points ahead of the broader price indices. But the rising military expenditures, analysts believe, will have only a slight effect on the unemployment rate. The Pentagon expects the military-related industries to add about 350,000 workers by 1984, bringing contractor employment to 2,865,000.

About 1 million related jobs would be created by what economists call the "multiplier effect." Several factors are expected to retard any surge in employment. The investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in state-of-the-art production equipment has reduced the need for production workers. Also, a large portion of the military spending plan is earmarked for new systems, like the B-l bomber and the MX missile, which at first require technical, professional and managerial personnel rather than production workers. The McDonnell Douglas the nation's largest arms contractor, does not expect any significant employment increases until 1984. General Dynamics, with a $13 billion backlog of military contracts, sees a rise in employment of just 10 percent in the next few months.

Boeing says its military-related employment is "increasing somewhat." At Tenneco's Newport News shipbuilding division in Virginia, the Navy's largest contractor, employment is down slightly from 1981. Officials do not expect it to return to the level of 28,000 reached Chrysler said. About 588,000 trucks will be built in the United States in the second quarter, up 16.7 percent from 504,000 last year, says Ward's Automotive Reports. The increase, along with the 3 percent firstquarter rise, could push truck production for the first six months up 10.1 percent from 956,000 last year. Sabino junior honored for $764 in pen sales Scott Stone, a Sabino High School junior who sold $764 in pens with Southwestern emblems, won the top sales award at the Junior Achievement of Tucson Inc.

dinner last night at the Doubletree Inn. Among about 200 students honored at the dinner were Junior Achievement vice presidents Carlos Briones of Amphitheater High School, Pra-shant Marathay of Special Projects High School and Richard Lloyd of Santa Rita High School. Ava DeBartolo of Catalina High School was named the winner of the organization's speech contest. The students over the past school year created their own businesses, issued stock, elected officers, manufactured a product or service, paid salaries, rent and taxes, and promoted and sold their products, said Russ Hall, executive vice president of Junior Achievement of Tucson. More than 5,000 students participate in the program.

Car dealer Jim Click, the president of the board of directors, was the master of ceremonies. Average car costs 244; a mile Highway Administration booklet, "Cost of Owning and Operating Automobiles and Vans, 1982." The publication also reveals it now costs 26.6 cents per mile to drive a lrge-size car, 21.4 cents for a compact, 18.9 cents for a subcompact, and 33.2 cents for a van. The booklet said the average age of an American car 6.6 years is higher now than at any time since right after World War II, and that a car or van usually has at least three owners in its lifetime. WASHINGTON (AP) The cost of buying and driving an intermediate-size American car miles over a 12-year period is $28,640, or 23.8 cents a mile, a government publication reports. That estimate includes the $7,449 price tag; $7,699 (excluding taxes) for 6,314 gallons of gasoline; $6,033 for maintenance and repairs; $3,991 for insurance; $939 for parking and tolls; and $1,586 in automotive taxes.

The figures are in a new Federal space says the days of Rosie the Riveter of World War II are gone, referring to the huge immediate stimulus that previous military buildups once provided for the economy. Opponents of large military budgets have often complained that arms spending creates few jobs. They also argue that hefty budgets are inflationary because they push up the prices of critical raw materials and skilled labor, while creating shortages and bottlenecks. Some critics argue, in the early 1970s. "There's a lot of money in the pipeline, but the impact hasn't been felt yet," said Edward A.

Swo-boda, a military analyst in the Congressional Budget Office. "It vion't be until 1984 or 1985 before we see any surge in employment." 'Vise of uncertainty' gripping market Stocks NEW YORK (AP) Stock prices fell to a 10-week low yesterday in listless trading dominated by takeover news. The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials, which had tumbled 49.66 points since May 7, shed another 4.57 to close at 814.97. It was its lowest finish since the blue-chip average closed at 805.65 March 19. More than nine stocks fell in price for every five that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

Analyst Monte Gordon at Dreyfus Corp. said the decline in relatively light trading indicated a lack of buying interest rather than a selling wave as "a vise of uncertainty" grips the market. Traders returning from a three-day weekend remained preoccupied with the Cities Service is offering $17 a share for 51 percent of Mesa's stock. But Mesa is offering to acquire Cities Service stock in a deal valued at $50 a share. In another merger development, Pabst Brewing said it will seek to acquire 49 percent of the stock in Olympia Brewing, offering $28 a share.

Pabst fell 2, to WB, as Olympia soared 4, to 22 in the over-the-counter market. Meanwhile, G. Heileman Brewing, which is bidding for Pabst, was unchanged at 25 on the NYSE. Canadian oil stocks fell in active trading on the American Stock Exchange. Monday, the Canadian government proposed a package of tax breaks and incentives for the industry.

course of interest rates and the economy. Big Board volume totaled 41.65 million shares, down from 43.90 million in the previous session. Nationwide turnover in NYSE-listed issues, including trades in those stocks on regional exchanges and in the over-the-counter market, totaled 47.89 million shares. Mesa Petroleum, in a takeover battle with Cities Service, topped the active list as of the 4 p.m. EDT close of the NYSE, up 2 at 19.

It was closely followed by Cities Service, up V4 at 38. Federal Savings Loan, says each will have about 500 units. They will be at 3600 W. Orange Grove Road, 2424 N. Miracle Mile, 2525 S.

Sixth Ave. and 2855 S. Pantano Road. Storage boom Hiiro Construction Inc. has begun work on four National Self Storage centers to open this month.

Robert president of the venture with Home "I'M Wf..