UAW says no talks between union, Delphi

CHICAGO (Reuters) – The United Auto Workers and bankrupt
auto parts maker Delphi Corp. have had no formal negotiations
since the company submitted a modified wage and benefit cutting
plan to the UAW in mid November, a union spokesman said on
Friday.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger told reporters at a
breakfast in Detroit there are no discussions and Delphi must
withdraw its current proposal and a plan to offer bonuses to
executives to restart talks, spokesman Paul Krell said.

Vice President Richard Shoemaker, a top UAW negotiator,
also reiterated that, under the current circumstances, a strike
appears more likely than not, Krell said.

Delphi spokesman Lindsey Williams said Delphi continues to
focus on reaching agreements with its unions.

The modified proposal is representative of what other large
auto parts makers pay U.S. hourly workers, many of whom are
represented by the same unions, Williams said. It provides a
structure Delphi must have to bid on and win new business, he
said.

A strike could quickly disrupt U.S. operations at Delphi,
the largest U.S. auto parts maker, and within days cripple
production at General Motors Corp., the company’s largest
customer and former parent.

Delphi failed to reach accords with its unions before it
filed the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. automotive history in
October. It has said it must slash wages and benefits of its
U.S. hourly workers and cut some manufacturing operations, to
reorganize in the United States.

Initial proposals in October would have slashed wages to
about $9 or $10 per hour from $27 and make steep cuts in
benefits. The November proposal would cut wages to an average
of about $12.50 per hour.

But the UAW has called the second proposal “a road map for
confrontation.” The unions that represent nearly all of
Delphi’s 34,750 hourly workers in the United States have formed
a coalition to oppose the cuts.

Delphi has said it will begin the bankruptcy court process
of rejecting the current labor contracts in January if it
cannot reach agreements with its unions by then.