Tucson Citizen from Tucson, Arizona • 27

Gill) GM Delphi to offer retirement incentives Lay said to fret about Enron's credit rating severs all ties to GM and Delphi including health care and other post-retirement benefits Employees will keep their accrued pension benefits The automaker has been gradually cutting its US blue-collar work force in recent years mostly through natural attrition At the end of 2005 GM had 105000 active hourly workers in the United States down from 133000 in 2000 Falling vehicle sales have left GM with an excess of workers By JASON ROBERSON Detroit Free Press DETROIT General Motors Corp and Delphi Coip yesterday announced agreements with the United Auto Workers to reduce the number of US hourly employees at both companies through an accelerated attrition program The retirement incentives would be the largest single cutback by GM in recent memory and would accelerate CMs efforts to cut 30000 The agreement does not necessarily end a strike threat from the UAW against Delphi The three parties will continue to negotiate to reach an agreement on proposed salary cuts among other issues by March 30 If they reach an agreement then Delphi CEO Steve Miller will submit a motion to nullify' union contracts and impose changes at wilL announcement however is a significant step in reaching that agreement to participate in the plan Some Delphi employees may be offered a lump sum payment of $35000 to retire About 5000 UAW-repre-sented Delphi workers will have a chance to work in GM plants through September 2007 GM employees with 10 or more years of seniority will have the option of a one-time $140000 buyout GM employees with less than 10 years of seniority will have the option of a one-time $70000 buyout In either case accepting the buyout jobs across North America by the end of 2008 including 25000 in the United States Under the plan GM will fund lump sum retirement incentives for some of US hourly employees and allow Delphi employees to work at GM plants allowing Delphi to reduce its work force In addition certain GM employees can receive up to $140000 in a one-time buyout Approximately 13000 hourly Delphi employees may be eligible HOUSTON -Enron Corp founder Kenneth Lay worried that the financial problems would jeop- 1 ardize its credit rating and inquired about managing its accounting to avoid a down- grade former Enron treasurer Ben Glisan Jr testified today testimony outlined a series of what he said were public fabrications by Lay and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling about the health of the company During a break in testimony Lay told reporters I never heard so many lies in one day in i my whole Skilling abruptly resigned in mid- August 2001 Lay resumed as CEO and those problems grew Glisan said The Associated Press Dissecting credit card fine print My iOy Late cash-advance and foreign-conversion fees What It says: "For each purchase made a foreign currency we add an additional finance charge of 3 of the purchase amount after its conversion into dollars" Translation: Penalty and transaction costs increase your debt Contract changes What It says: may change the rates fees and terms of yotff account at any time for any reason" Translation: Think you snagged a low-rate high-reward credit card? Don't be surprised if those favorable terms go out the door Arbitration What If says: "Arbitration replaces the right to go to court including the right to a jury and the right to participate in a class action or similar proceeding Translation: If you have a dispute don't count on suing the credit-card issuer have to go through arbitration a private process that takes place outside ttte courtroom Interest rates What It lay: "AH your APRS may Increase if you default because you fail to make a payment when due or you make a payment that is not honored" Translation: If you pay late or your check bounces your interest rate could go up This makes it more expensive to cany credit-card debt Credit-card purchase protection What It says: limitations on nonpayment for unsatisfactory item or service You must have made the purchase in your home state or If not within your home state within 100 miles of your current address The purchase price must have been more than $50 Translation: You're protected for credit-card purchases but restrictions apply Garnet! News Service Survey: Only 44 read credit card contract Disclosures include interest rate late payment penalty On top of that there are penalty rates that can kick in if an hour late paying your bill or if you exceed your credit limit or if your credit score drops This penalty rate reaches a scorching 40 percent on some cards offered to people with the poorest credit records and up to 30 percent on mainstream cards according to Robert McKinley CEO of CardWebcom Keep in mind too: The rate for cash withdrawn from your card ia typically 5 percentage points high- TERM continuedPage 3D By KATHY CHU USA TODAY Making sense of the fine print on credit card contracts can be as exciting as curling up with the Form 1040 at tax time But doing so just like doing your taxes can keep you on top of your finances Yet only 44 percent of us read every word of our credit card contracts according to a 2003 FindLawcom survey 5 tempting to make paper airplanes out of those dense disclosures But why you should the agreements says Fntz Elmen-dorf of the Consumer Bankers Association a trade! group think happy with the nature and detail of the Here are some biggies to watch out for: Interest rates: They can differ and can jump Increasingly different interest rates apply to purchases cash advances and balance transfers payment required Others are switching fixed rates to variable rates that rise with short-term interest jates As of mid-February 82 percent of credit cards had variable rates compared with 64 percent a year ago according to CardWebcom a card-research firm Lenders recognize that the credit card language can be intimidating is a lot of that banks are required to disclose in read them first: If shopping for a credit card the terms tell you how much going to pay and what happens if you pay on time If you already have a credit card you need to stay alert to higher rates or changes in rewards programs especially true at the start of the year when many issuers send out revised cardholder agreements Some issuers are raising the minimum monthly NASA business forum scheduled The Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will pres- I ent a regional business forum on the NASA marketplace April 4 at the Tucson Convention Center The event will begin the previous evening with a reception from 530 to 730 The forum will feature representatives from the Marshall Space Flight Center Langley Research Center NASA headquarters the General Services Administration and the Small Business Administratioa Topics to be presented include business opportunities marketing to the federal government and new NASA programs The $130 registration fee includes breakfast and lunch To register call the Tucson chamber at 792-2250 and speak to Shirley (Ext 132) or Arlene (JJxt 135) On the move Keith Klein Northwest- em Mutual Financial Netwoik in Tucson has named Klein managing director A mem- ber of the Million Dollar Round Table Klein has been associated with the Northwestern Mutual Financial Netwoik since 2000 A native of Saginaw Mich he received a degree in economics from Eastern Michigan University in 1993 0 Submissions for this section may be sent to David Pittman at dpittman tucsoncitizencom or faxed to 573-4569 KWBA-TV will join the new CW network in fall the and Arizona Diamondbacks baseball will continue Joan Lee promotion manager for KWBA said she was to learn the station would be affiliated with CW something we worked really hard Lee said looked at things like visibility in the community and how we branded the network and it feels like a big KWBA prevailed over competing applicants for the affiliation including the current UPN affiliate KTTU-TV which is on Channel 18 on broadcast television Channel 2 on Cox Cable and Channel 3 on Comcast However Nick Nicholson president and general manager of K'lTU said the new network was not a good fit for his statioa were interested in that affiliation but as we learned more about business model we found that it work well for our television he said CW controls the majority of advertising in its 3 to 5 pm programming time slot our current configuratioa all of that advertising time is Nicholson said adding that keeping control of that commercial tinje would provide more friendly busintS for KTTU Nicholson said KTTU is talking to My Network an operation of News Corp which owns the Fox Network He said My Network would supply about the same amount of programming as is now being provided to the station by UPN Lee said the marriage of CW and KWBA a perfect because the new network will program the same time periods The WB is now programming increase in the value and viewer-ship due to the CW affiliation going to be a great year for the station and for the new network in CW will launch in September KWBA can be found on Channel 58 on broadcast television and Channel 8 on cable Programming for the new network will include current WB and UPN shows as well as newly launched programs Shows that are expected to make the cut for the new network include The and as well as Hates Next Top Model" and Other programming that runs on KWBA including Wife and in By DAVID PITTMAN dprttmantucsoncitizencom KWBA-TV in Tucson will become the affiliate of the newest network the CW in the fall officials of CBS and The WB announced yesterday The station will broadcast the full CW lineup which consists of the combined programming from the UPN and WB networks The new network is a joint venture between CBS the parent company of UPN and Warner Bros owner of The WB is a clear win for the station and a compliment to the staff as well as an acknowledgement of our technical said Carol LaFever CEO of Cascade Broadcasting the owner of KWBA anticipate strong growth and a continued Stocks of local interest CO CO GO Citizen TCIHSItSYJ I The space race begins The race to blast tourists into outer space is on with the first launch late next year pending federal approval ce LU CQ foy fnN (Wfh iTW 1f (A'l.