Delphi Asks Judge to Cancel Contracts

The same week that IUE-CWA charged that Delphi Corp. has failed to bargain in good faith, the auto parts maker asked a bankruptcy judge to cancel its labor contracts.

"Every working man and woman in the United States should share our disappointment and our concern," IUE-CWA Automotive Conference Board Chairman Henry Reichard said March 31 after Delphi filed motions to void its contracts and eliminate retiree health care and life insurance. "If left unchecked, actions like this threaten the very existence of the middle class in this country."

Several days earlier, IUE-CWA charged Delphi with bad-faith bargaining after the company delivered a proposal and demanded an answer within the week. "I find it hard to believe that Congress intended to let a company ignore a union for months and then expect them to reach an agreement in one week that radically transforms their wages and other terms and conditions of employment," Reichard wrote to Delphi management. "You have not yet given us the information necessary for the evaluation of your proposal. This is not good faith bargaining."

IUE-CWA members at seven of eight Delphi plants have overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike if an agreement cannot be reached, but the union cannot legally strike unless the court throws out the existing union contracts.

General Motors, Delphi and the United Auto Workers have agreed to a massive buyout and early retirement program that would pay between $35,000 and $140,000 each depending on a number of circumstances. IUE-CWA is assessing the best way to structure such a program for its facilities. For more information, go to www.iue-cwa.org.