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IUE-CWA Making Stand in Delphi Bankruptcy
IUE-CWA is fighting for the jobs, wages and benefits of 8,500 members working at Delphi Corp., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Oct. 8.
For now, Delphi is using $950 million in loans to continue paying its employees and suppliers. In a major victory for IUE-CWA, the union has been named as one of only seven members of the creditors' committee that will determine who gets paid and how much.
Delphi wants to slash the number of IUE-CWA-represented workers to 3,000 through layoffs, retirements and selling or closing six of the 10 facilities where they work.
"It's going to be a tough fight," IUE-CWA President Jim Clark said. "The bankruptcy law in this country - like our broken labor law system - favors large corporations over working families."
Clark said that makes events like International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10 especially timely. "It's important that we stand with all of our union brothers and sisters in demanding that our laws begin to put human rights first," he said. "We're talking about people's lives."
Among the draconian cuts Delphi wants: a drop in wages to $9 to $10 an hour for production workers, cuts in dental and vision coverage, reduced holiday and vacation time, workers to pick up a bigger share of health care costs and frozen accrual of service credited toward a pension as of Jan. 1, 2006.
Delphi's proposed contract also would eliminate all job security provisions, successor clauses, the job bank and any right to strike. As the CWA News went to press, the union was in the process of preparing a response.
"We will move forward cautiously and deliberately," IUE-CWA Automotive Conference Board Chairman Henry Reichard said, warning the company that the end result must be "jobs worth having." He added, "This can't just be a wish list. Delphi has an obligation under the bankruptcy code to provide documentation."
Through its national agreement, eight local union agreements and two agreements the division holds outside of the national pact, IUE-CWA has one of the seven largest claims in the proceedings.
The union has engaged additional legal counsel specializing in bankruptcy, and through the creditors' committee, "IUE-CWA is well positioned to ensure that our members' sacrifices to keep Delphi competitive will be heard by all the major players," Clark said. "Contrary to popular opinion - and the media spin - Delphi's problems cannot be laid solely at the feet of its union workers. Our story must and will be told."
For now, Delphi is using $950 million in loans to continue paying its employees and suppliers. In a major victory for IUE-CWA, the union has been named as one of only seven members of the creditors' committee that will determine who gets paid and how much.
Delphi wants to slash the number of IUE-CWA-represented workers to 3,000 through layoffs, retirements and selling or closing six of the 10 facilities where they work.
"It's going to be a tough fight," IUE-CWA President Jim Clark said. "The bankruptcy law in this country - like our broken labor law system - favors large corporations over working families."
Clark said that makes events like International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10 especially timely. "It's important that we stand with all of our union brothers and sisters in demanding that our laws begin to put human rights first," he said. "We're talking about people's lives."
Among the draconian cuts Delphi wants: a drop in wages to $9 to $10 an hour for production workers, cuts in dental and vision coverage, reduced holiday and vacation time, workers to pick up a bigger share of health care costs and frozen accrual of service credited toward a pension as of Jan. 1, 2006.
Delphi's proposed contract also would eliminate all job security provisions, successor clauses, the job bank and any right to strike. As the CWA News went to press, the union was in the process of preparing a response.
"We will move forward cautiously and deliberately," IUE-CWA Automotive Conference Board Chairman Henry Reichard said, warning the company that the end result must be "jobs worth having." He added, "This can't just be a wish list. Delphi has an obligation under the bankruptcy code to provide documentation."
Through its national agreement, eight local union agreements and two agreements the division holds outside of the national pact, IUE-CWA has one of the seven largest claims in the proceedings.
The union has engaged additional legal counsel specializing in bankruptcy, and through the creditors' committee, "IUE-CWA is well positioned to ensure that our members' sacrifices to keep Delphi competitive will be heard by all the major players," Clark said. "Contrary to popular opinion - and the media spin - Delphi's problems cannot be laid solely at the feet of its union workers. Our story must and will be told."