Delphi wants bigger pay cuts

Delphi Corp. has proposed an even bigger pay cut for its workers, a union official said.

Delphi negotiators said the company can’t win new business by paying production workers $16.50 an hour, as it proposed last March, said Mike O’Donnell, shop chairman for Local 717 of the International Union of Electrical Workers.

“I would describe that as being extreme and unwarranted,” O’Donnell said.

Production workers now make up to $27 an hour with cost-of-living adjustments. The auto parts supplier has said it needs new union contracts with lower wages if it is to emerge from bankruptcy court protection.

O’Donnell said IUE negotiators asked Friday that Delphi provide them with more information about why the offer is being reduced. The talks went into recess and are expected to restart later this week or next week, he said.