Company proposal rankles workers

One worker expects a 'miniature hurricane' from Delphi cutbacks.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
WARREN -- Grim-faced workers trudged out of Delphi Packard Electric Systems, mostly downcast Monday after receiving a list of concessions proposed by the company.
Pam Fisher of Warren was angry. She says she's upset that the company has filed for bankruptcy while executives have received multimillion-dollar bonuses and invested profits in building plants overseas.
"Where did all the money go?'' she asked while standing in the parking lot of Packard's North River Road complex.
She's lost money in her retirement account as Delphi stock has dropped to 38 cents. Now, Delphi has proposed cutting production workers' hourly pay from $27 to $10.
Fisher, who's worked 33 years at Packard, said she has wrist and shoulder injuries and wears a waist belt to protect her back.
"Now that we're worn out, they don't want us anymore," she said.
Carol Miller of Youngstown is worried -- not just for herself but also for the community.
"I think we're going to have our own miniature hurricane here," the 10-year Packard worker said.
She expects Packard to bear the brunt of Delphi's restructuring efforts because of its size.
Numbers
Packard's Mahoning Valley operations have 3,800 hourly workers who are represented by the International Union of Electrical Workers. Delphi has told the IUE that it wants to trim its 8,500-member IUE work force to 3,000 with plant closings, sales, retirements and attrition.
Many workers are worried about losing their jobs, Miller said.
"There's going to be a whole lot of people suffering over this," she said.
She's hopeful that she will still have a good income if she retains her job because she works in fabrication and repair. Delphi has proposed that such skilled trades workers be paid $19 an hour, a handout from the union says.
Miller said, however, that some workers already are looking for work and sending out r & eacute;sum & eacute;s. Others aren't sure what they will do because they don't want to leave the area and aren't hopeful about finding another job with good pay, she said.
John Wozniak is wondering what will happen to the retirement he was planning.
"I was hoping to retire within a year," said the 58-year-old Mineral Ridge man, who has 32 years at Packard. "Now, I may be retiring into no medical coverage."
Delphi has proposed ending health care for retirees.
He said Packard workers may be living through a replay of the demise of the Mahoning Valley's steel industry.
"We're the steel workers 25 years later," he said.
Not as pessimistic
Not everyone was as pessimistic about the future, however.
Two workers who didn't want to be named said they expected negotiations to reduce the cuts that Delphi is demanding. They said it's better to wait and find out what the final outcome is before worrying about it.
"This is just BS right now," one of them said.
Other workers said they would be willing to give Delphi some pay and benefit concessions, but not to the extent Delphi has requested.
Besides the large percent pay cut, Delphi wants to eliminate cost-of-living adjustments, drop dental and vision coverage, reduce holiday and vacation allowances and have workers pick up a bigger portion of health-care costs.
Delphi has given the IUE and the United Auto Workers, which represents 25,000 hourly workers, until Dec. 17 to accept concessions or it will ask a bankruptcy court judge to void its union contracts. Delphi said it will continue meeting with union officials.
shilling@vindy.com