Union works to build rapport with new Delphi

By Don Shilling

WARREN — A new Delphi has emerged from bankruptcy as a leaner company with lower costs, but this is no time to celebrate, a union official said.

“We have quite a ways to go,” said Karen Krolopp, president of Local 717 of the International Union of Electrical Workers in Warren.

Local 717 represents just over 700 workers at the local operations of Delphi Packard Electric, including nearly 100 who are laid off. To bring back those workers or perhaps expand operations at the auto-parts supplier, some uncertainties will have to be resolved, Krolopp said.

First, the auto industry will have to pull out of its sales slump, she said.

Second, the new owners of Delphi will have to develop their plans for the local operations, she said. Packard plants in the area produce cable, plastic parts and metal parts for wiring harnesses.

Krolopp said union officials are working on building relationships with the new Delphi owners.

The Michigan-based auto-supplier emerged from bankruptcy Tuesday with a new name, Delphi Holdings, and under the control of its lenders from the bankruptcy case, Elliott Management and Silver Point Capital.

“I remain hopeful that the Ohio operations will be a survivor, and as bargainers, that’s what we’re working toward,” she said.

Now that Delphi has lower operating costs and debt, the company should be in a position to expand by gaining new contracts, she said. Union leaders are hoping that will lead to more business for the local operations, she said.

Krolopp added that Delphi’s emergence as an independent company is somewhat somber because of what has happened since the auto-parts supplier filed for bankruptcy in 2005.

In 2005, Packard’s local operations employed 3,800 hourly workers and more than 1,000 salaried workers. The salaried work force has been reduced along with the hourly staff, but Packard is no longer releasing its number of salaried workers.

But with more than 3,000 jobs lost, the entire Mahoning Valley has suffered, Krolopp said.

“I’m glad this brutal phase is over. This phase has changed the lives of our members, their families, their friendships and their communities,” she said.

Most of the workers who left Packard received buyout packages that included cash payments and promises of pensions and health benefits.

The retirees’ health plan was eliminated recently, however, and replaced with a more expensive plan designed to cover catastrophic illnesses.

Also, pension plans were turned over to the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which will mean a cut in benefits. General Motors, Delphi’s former parent company, has agreed to make up the difference so hourly employees wouldn’t have their pensions cut, but that deal has not been approved by the bankruptcy court. Salaried retirees are fighting to stop their pension cuts.

Production workers who remained at Packard had their wages cut from $28 an hour to $17 an hour, and recent hires make less than $12 an hour.

shilling@vindy.com