WBEN Radio (Buffalo, N.Y), March 31, 2006, Friday

Delphi Likely To Ask Judge To Toss Out Unions
Friday, March 31, 2006 06:30 AM - The AP & WBEN
http://www.wben.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=04689

Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - In a move that would send shudders through an ailing U.S. auto industry, Delphi Corp. was expected to ask a federal judge to cancel its union contracts today following months of trying to reach an agreement with General Motors Corp. and its unions to lower workers' wages. Delphi, the largest U.S. auto supplier, had set a deadline of Thursday to reach an agreement to lower wages for 34,000 U.S. hourly workers, including almost 4,000 of them at company's Thermal Systems plant in Lockport on Upper Mountain Road
The Detroit News says the Lockport plant is one that will be likely to survive plant closings, after workers eventually take wage cuts.
In a message on its Web site, the UAW said Delphi would file motions to void its contracts this morning. Delphi wouldn't comment on that posting, but others suggest it is the next step without any true sense of finality.
"Nothing wil happen except them asking to throw out the contract," Cornell labor professor Art Wheaton tells WBEN. "That doesn't meant they will throw out the contract, they're asking a judge to think about it and they can use the next 6 or 8 weeks to continue negotiating until the judge acts." .
Delphi spokesman Lindsey Williams said Delphi was still in talks with GM and it's unions and hadn't set a deadline for those talks to end.
Analyst George Magliano with Global Insights tells WBEN Friday's move is not an automatic strike trigger, even if it does enrage the rank and file.
"I don't think the union wants (a strike), I don't think the UAW wants it, and GM is willing to work with them both," Magliano says.
On three other occasions, Delphi has delayed filing motions to cancel its contracts to continue negotiating with GM and its unions. The company has the option of delaying again.
Delphi insists wage cuts are a necessary part of its restructuring. The company, which filed for bankruptcy protection in October, says it was saddled with uncompetitive labor agreements when it spun off from GM in 1999. Delphi says it is now paying workers $75 an hour in wages and benefits.
But the UAW, which represents most of Delphi's hourly workers, reacted angrily this week to Delphi's latest proposal, which calls for lowering workers' wages from $27 an hour to $16.50 an hour in 2007. Local union leaders have said the UAW won't take the deal to its members for a required vote.
GM's cooperation in a settlement also is key, since Delphi would depend on GM, its former parent and largest customer, to supplement its wage offer and pay for one-time, $50,000 bonuses to union members. If GM doesn't agree to supplement workers' pay, there would be no bonuses, and wages would fall to $12.50 an hour, according to the UAW.
GM spokesman Jerry Dubrowski said there was no settlement as of Thursday afternoon, but he confirmed all three parties were still in negotiations.