Delphi workers not pleased with new pact

Delphi workers not pleased with new pact

WARREN — Several Delphi Packard Electric workers interviewed today said they were upset with a proposed labor contract, but a union leader is pleading for time to explain the details.

“There’s a lot of misinformation and second-guessing going on,” said Mike O’Donnell, shop chairman for Local 717 of the International Union of Electrical Workers. “We’re trying to urge people to be calm.”

An informational meeting will be held when details of the tentative agreement, which was reached Sunday, can be assembled, he said.

Workers interviewed outside Packard’s North River Road complex seemed to have their mind made up.

“It’s a joke,” said Ron Bagaglia of Fowler, a tool and die maker.

O’Donnell said he hopes to explain that the IUE proposal is as good as one approved by the UAW.

The IUE proposal calls for production workers’ hourly wages to be cut from $27 to $16.50. They would receive a “buy-down” payment of $105,000 over three years.

GM has agreed to buy product from Packard’s local plants at current levels through 2011, and Delphi has committed to making $50 million in plant improvements.

For the complete story, see Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com.