Union leaders reject plan for concessions

Delphi's latest offer calls for hourly wages between $10 and $12.50.
STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
DETROIT -- Delphi Corp. has made another proposal to its unions in an effort to win wage and benefit concessions, but on Wednesday union leaders called the offer ridiculous.
The impasse has led to speculation that there could be a strike at Delphi that would cripple the auto industry and especially General Motors Corp., which spun off Delphi in 1999 and relies on the supplier for billions of dollars in parts.
Ron Gettelfinger, the United Auto Workers president, would not reveal specifics of the new Delphi proposal, but said it still has workers who now make $27 an hour taking drastic pay cuts.
"It's ridiculous. They know it's ridiculous," Gettelfinger said at a news conference in Detroit.
Company response
Delphi said its proposal is competitive with other union-represented suppliers and is based on market wages. Delphi said it would pay workers base wages of between $10 and $12.50 an hour, more than it offered in its first proposal to the unions last month.
"This proposal results in a wage and benefit package cost of more than $21 per hour, placing Delphi in a competitive base pay and benefit range with its U.S. unionized and nonunionized competitors," Delphi said in a statement. "We believe that the focus of the discussions should move toward a solution, given that the transformation needs facing Delphi have been well defined."
Gettelfinger said the union does not believe Delphi wants to make a deal and said the company would have to raise its offer considerably "before there's any chance of us reaching an agreement."
Gettelfinger would not comment when asked about the likelihood of a strike, saying he preferred to negotiate.
The offer was first presented last week to some of the seven unions representing Delphi's more than 33,000 hourly workers, union officials said. The UAW received it Tuesday.
Union leaders met jointly Wednesday to plan strategy in negotiations with Delphi.
Background
Troy-based Delphi, the largest U.S. auto supplier, filed for bankruptcy protection last month, citing high labor costs. The company has said it will ask a bankruptcy court judge to void its union contracts in mid-December if it has failed to reach an agreement with its unions to cut wages and benefits.
Locally, 3,800 hourly workers are employed at Warren-based Delphi Packard Electric Systems. They are members of the International Union of Electrical Workers.
Meanwhile, Delphi has decided that its 16,000 salaried workers will pay roughly the same amount next year for health care, The Detroit News said. Packard has about 1,300 salaried workers in the Warren area.
The newspaper quoted Lindsey Williams, a Delphi spokesman, as saying salaried workers are not being asked to pay more because they have been paying more than hourly workers.
As in 2005, Delphi's white-collar workers will pay 27 percent of their health-care costs in 2006, he said. By comparison, the company's hourly workers paid 7 percent of their health-care costs this year.
The newspaper said Delphi has asked union employees to accept "out-of-pocket" expenses of $2,500 a year for an individual and $5,000 for a family.
Under the plan, workers would have to pay monthly premiums of up to $240 and deductibles of up to $1,800. Prescription drug costs would increase to $10 for generic and between $20 and $40 for name-brand drugs.
Also, The Wall Street Journal reported that General Motors Corp. and the UAW are talking about the possibility of GM's offering buyouts to encourage older workers at Delphi to retire.
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