Topic: Ohio: GM News & Info

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 8/18/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Delphi delay is time to negotiate
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

WARREN — A local union leader applauded a judge’s decision Thursday to once again delay a hearing on Delphi Corp.’s request to toss out its labor contracts and impose lower wages and benefits on laborers.

‘‘I think it’s appropriate, and I’m glad to see it,’’ said Don Arbogast, shop chairman of Local 717 of the International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America at Warren based Delphi Packard Electric.

...

Associated Press Business Writer Vinnee Tong in New York contributed to this report.

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=7568

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 8/19/06 DDN:


6,300 at Delphi taking buyout
Workers leaving early are members of the parts maker's second-largest union, IUE-CWA.
By John Nolan
Staff Writer

Roughly 6,300 employees, 84 percent of those represented by Delphi's second-largest union, have accepted early retirements or buyouts.

About 7,500 hourly workers represented by the International Union of Electronic Workers-Communications Workers of America are eligible to participate. The union represents about 1,000 workers in Delphi's Kettering and Moraine plants.

...

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
 
http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/081906delphi.html

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 8/23/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


GM is on O.T.
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

LORDSTOWN — General Motors Corp.’s Lordstown Complex may have fewer workers than two months ago, but they’re certainly building lots of cars.

The complex’s roughly 3,800 employees are scheduled to work a pair of overtime shifts on two Saturdays in September to go along with the two this month to keep up with orders, spokesman Tom Mock said Tuesday.

‘‘Demand is strong,’’ he said of sales of the Chevrolet Cobalt and new Pontiac G5 small cars.

...

lringler@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=7769

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 8/26/06 DDN:


Delphi hiring to fill vacancies left by buyouts, exits
Company wants to maintain production levels while it works to emerge from bankruptcy.
By John Nolan
Staff Writer
Saturday, August 26, 2006

DAYTON — With newspaper ads and signs outside its plants, Delphi Corp. is striving to hire unskilled workers and skilled trade personnel quickly to replace hundreds of departing hourly workers.

A banner sign on a chain-link fence outside the auto parts manufacturer's Kettering plant on Friday solicited job applicants. Delphi's classified ad in the Dayton Daily News invited applications through the Job Center in Dayton for $30-an-hour jobs for skilled tradesmen including electricians, millwrights, plumbers and tool makers at the brake plant on Needmore Road.
 
...

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/business/ddn082606delphi.html

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 8/27/06 DDN:


Delphi workers: Stay or take the buyout?
By John Nolan
Staff Writer
Sunday, August 27, 2006

MORAINE — Hourly worker Bruce Sensabaugh is taking advantage of a buyout to leave Delphi Corp.'s automotive compressors plant in Moraine by year's end.

Timothy Wilson turned down the offer and plans to continue at the plant — aware that it is one of the factories Delphi wants to sell or close by 2008.

They are two among thousands of Delphi workers who have had to decide in a matter of weeks whether to stay with, or leave, the auto parts manufacturer as it prepares to slash jobs and close at least 20 factories nationwide — including four in the Dayton area — in order to emerge from bankruptcy reorganization.

...

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/business/ddn082706delphiworkers.html

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 8/29/06 DDN:


Delphi's new hires must await wage accord
Hundreds of jobs will come open when current workers take the buyout offers and retirement incentives.
By John Nolan
Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 29, 2006

KETTERING — Delphi Corp. plans to hire hundreds of temporary workers at its Dayton-area plants to replace employees who will leave through a buyout program. But some of the new hires won't be deployed until wage agreements are reached, a spokesman said Monday.

Delphi spokesman Lindsey Williams said the auto parts maker hopes to agree soon with the International Union of Electronic Workers-Communications Workers of America on wages for those who will replace the departing employees at the Kettering and Moraine plants the union represents.

The company had negotiated an agreement in the 1990s at the Kettering shock-absorbers plant to pay $8 an hour to new hires, said Willie Thorpe, chairman of the IUE-CWA Automotive Conference Board. But those wages aren't likely high enough to attract the numbers of new workers Delphi will need at Kettering, Moraine and other plants it eventually wants to close, Thorpe said Monday.
.......

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/business/ddn082906delphi.html
From the 8/29/06 PD:


Buyouts at GM will hit Parma in wallet
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Thomas Ott
Plain Dealer Reporter

Parma Buyouts that will slash a third of General Motors' Parma workforce will also take a big bite out of the city's budget.

More than 860 of 2,500 workers will leave the Parma metal-stamping plant by the end of the year, plant spokesman Dave Nedrich said.

The departures and cuts in overtime will take a toll on city income tax collections. The city's take from GM employees, which totaled $4.1 million last year, will plummet to $2.7 million by the end of next year, city Treasurer Anthony Zielinski estimates.
 
A gain in income taxes from two hospitals and small businesses is expected to offset the loss, but expenses are rising. Though voters agreed in May to raise Parma's income tax, the city must figure out how to plug a $2 million gap in next year's budget, Auditor Dennis Kish said.

.....

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1156854603289890.xml&coll=2

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 8/30/06 Warren Tribune Chornicle:


IUE-CWA, Delphi talk staff levels
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

VIENNA— Nothing was resolved after a four-hour meeting Tuesday between national Delphi Corp. and union bargainers about how Delphi Packard Electric will operate with a depleted work force, the local union chief negotiator said.

‘‘We had thorough discussions of issues and options, but we reached no agreement on how to deal with them. That will be left for another day,’’ International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America Local 717 Shop Chairman Don Arbogast said.

Arbogast said a couple of members of Delphi Corp.’s national negotiating team came to Warren to meet with their union counterparts after he asked for a meeting last week.

....

lringler@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=8135

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 8/31/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Delphi hires outside company
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

WARREN — Delphi Corp.’s hiring of a company to manage its staffing needs isn’t related to Delphi’s efforts to replace union workers who left under an attrition plan, a spokesman for the auto parts maker said Wednesday.

‘‘This is not a labor announcement. It’s for administrative services,’’ Lindsey Williams said. ‘‘Delphi has with a number of contract suppliers. This names one supplier who will manage’’ the suppliers.

Delphi, which is reorganizing in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, reached agreement for Bartech Workforce Management to serve as master vendor for Delphi’s North American contract work force, Bartech said Monday.

.....

lringler@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=8162

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 9/7/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Delphi seeks billions from GM
By staff, wire report

NEW YORK — General Motors Corp. owes $26 billion to Delphi Corp., an investor committee for the auto parts maker said in a bankruptcy court filing.

The committee representing shareholders at Delphi said in papers filed late Monday that its calculation shows the automaker has obligations to its biggest supplier, which was spun off from GM in 1999.

GM, for its part, has filed an unsecured multibillion-dollar claim against Delphi, the parent of Warren- based Delphi Packard Electric said in papers filed last month.

...

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=8462
From the 9/7/06 Business Journal:


Packard Workers Exiting Plants
No Word on Hiring Replacements
Sept. 7, 2006 7:29 a.m.
By Dan O'Brien

WARREN, Ohio – More than 700 hourly employees have left their jobs at Delphi Packard Electric Systems over the last three weeks as the massive attrition plan begins to take hold in the Mahoning Valley. Don Arbogast, shop chairman of Local 717 of the International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America, says every day more and more of the 3,130 workers who accepted buyouts in mid-August at Delphi Packard retire or quit."Hundreds of people have left since this process began," Arbogast says.

Delphi Packard's 3,800 hourly employees had until Aug. 8 to sign up for an attrition plan that offered workers incentives ranging from $35,000 to $140,000 to either retire or sever all ties with the company. Initially, 3,385 employees accepted a buyout but 255 changed their minds and opted to stay with the company.

That means about 670 hourly employees will left to run Delphi's Mahoning Valley operations, which once employed more than 12,500. Delphi had targeted trimming Packard's hourly work force to 1,033, but the buyouts attracted more workers than expected.

...

http://www.business-journal.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=257&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1711&hn=business-journal&he=.com

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 9/8/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Talks called ‘mess’
By staff, wire reports

DETROIT — The president of the United Auto Workers said Thursday that wage and benefit negotiations with bankrupt auto parts supplier Delphi Corp. and General Motors Corp. are a ‘‘mess,’’ blaming greed.

‘‘We’re just very frustrated with that mess,’’ Ron Gettelfinger said of the union’s bargaining with Delphi and GM, its former parent.

Delphi, which is under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, should be competitive with concessions already agreed to by the UAW, including early retirements and buyouts for hourly workers, he said.

...

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=8502

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 9/12/06 DDN:


Retiree trying to recoup funds from Delphi
Man has filed a claim with the bankruptcy court to get back $38,000 he lost due to the auto parts supplier's performance.
By John Nolan
Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 12, 2006

DAYTON — John Walling, who retired from Delphi Corp. in 2002, says Delphi's declining business performance dragged down the market value of the company stock he bought for years as an employee.

As a result, he lost more than $38,000 when he sold the stock he had acquired for $120,000, he said. Walling, 62, of Dayton has filed a creditor's claim for that amount with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which will determine how much the reorganizing Delphi pays its creditors.

But, Walling conceded: "I doubt very much I'll ever see any of it."

...

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/oh/story/news/business/2006/09/11/ddn091206delphicreditor.html

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 9/13/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Some Delphi checks in mail
By RAYMOND L. SMITH Tribune Chronicle

WARREN — Former Delphi Packard Electric employee Katherine Pesa did not want to leave the auto parts maker after only 12 years on the job.

However, the major reshuffling in the auto industry made it clear her job was not secure. So when Delphi offered a $140,000 buyout, Pesa agreed to sever ties from the company from which she had hoped to retire.

Today, six weeks after leaving Delphi, Pesa and about a dozen other former employees say they still have not received their buyout checks.

...

rsmith@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=8719

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 9/14/06 Youngstown Vindicator:


Unions doubt agreement is near
Progress is being made in Delphi talks, but it may not be enough.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

One of Delphi Corp.'s unions says a new labor contract won't be reached before a court hearing Monday, while another says a deal is doubtful.

If negotiators come up empty, the showdown is set to move back to bankruptcy court in New York, where a judge is considering scrapping the current labor contracts and letting Delphi impose its own terms.

Ron Gettelfinger, president of the United Auto Workers, said at an automotive conference Tuesday that no deal would be struck by Monday, a union spokesman told Bloomberg News. Union officials could not be reached to comment Wednesday morning.

...

shilling@vindy.com

http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/287898833182499.php

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 9/15/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Delphi to hire temp workers
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

WARREN — Delphi Packard Electric will begin hiring as many as 300 temporary workers so current employees can train for new jobs in the auto parts maker’s ‘‘core’’ plants, the chief local union negotiator said Thursday.

But the agreement — reached after 2 a.m. Thursday at the end of a long day of bargaining at a Troy, Mich., hotel — doesn’t solve thornier problems of how to hire about 300 permanent workers the division will need, or how much remaining workers will get in wages and benefits, said Don Arbogast, shop chairman of Local 717 with the International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America.

‘‘This is not hiring normal employees. They can’t go into the core plants,’’Arbogast said, referring to Plants 10 and 11 in the North River Road complex, the Cortland and Vienna plastic injection molding factories and another plant in Rootstown.

...

lringler@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=8794

[buildingcincinnati]

From the AP, 9/16/06:


Delphi's hearings on labor, supply contracts have been postponed
Associated Press
Saturday, September 16, 2006

NEW YORK — — The bankruptcy court hearings to determine whether Delphi Corp. can reject its labor agreements and certain supply contracts with General Motors Corp. have been postponed, the company said on Friday.

Delphi, which was part of GM until it was spun off in 1999, said the court had granted further adjournments in both cases. It has scheduled a Sept. 28 status conference with the judge presiding over its bankruptcy case.
 
Friday was also the deadline for a second wave of UAW-represented Delphi employees to accept buyout offers. About 12,600 hourly employees have already taken early retirement offers.

...

http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/oh/story/news/business/2006/09/16/ddn091606delphi.html

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 9/17/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Delphi delays seen as good
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

WARREN — Union leaders aren’t convinced that another delay in hearings on Delphi Corp.’s motion to scrap its labor contract indicates progress toward a resolution, but two veteran industry analysts believe it does.

‘‘I think they’re getting close,’’ David Cole, the much-quoted chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., said after hearings that were scheduled to begin Monday in Judge Robert Drain’s Lower Manhattan court room were postponed indefinitely. ‘‘I don’t think the bankruptcy judge would provide this kind of delay if they weren’t.’’

Cole pointed to optimistic comments by General Motors Corp. Chairman Rick Wagoner that GM could reach terms with its Delphi, former auto parts unit, on financial support issues. The door then would be open for a settlement with the unions. Delphi’s latest wage offer of $16.50 an hour requires GM to make up the difference over Delphi’s original $12 an hour wage proposal.

...

lringler@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=8836

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 9/19/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Delphi temp jobs attractive
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

LIBERTY — Tom Bettura of Girard sees $10 an hour as decent pay, especially since he’s been unemployed for nearly 1 1/2 years.

Ditto for Cortland resident Heather Bailey, who’s working for minimum wage.

They were two of the hundreds of hopefuls who showed up at the Holiday Inn Metroplex Monday to apply for as many as 300 temporary production jobs at Delphi Packard Electric.

More candidates are expected today as applications are being accepted from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Thursday. Applications also will be taken during the same time Monday through Thursday next week, according to Frank Flaminio, supervisor of the Trumbull County One-Stop, which coordinated the event with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and Mahoning County workers.

...

lringler@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=8963

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 9/22/06 DDN:


Union boss says Delphi will close Moraine plant
Willie Thorpe believes it will happen next year, adds that work may go to Mexico.
By John Nolan
Staff Writer
Friday, September 22, 2006

KETTERING — Union leader Willie Thorpe expects that sometime next year, Delphi Corp. will close its Moraine automotive compressors factory and transfer production to Mexico.

Thorpe, chairman of the International Union of Electronic Workers-Communications Workers of America's Automotive Conference Board, is watching the painful impact of plant closings, worker layoffs, buyouts and retirements unfold.

About 600 of the Moraine plant's 850 workers have accepted buyout or early retirement offers to leave the work force by Jan. 1. It is the same plant where Thorpe, as president of the union's Local 801 in the 1990s, negotiated labor contracts for 3,400 members at that time.

...

http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/oh/story/news/business/2006/09/22/ddn092206delphi.html

[buildingcincinnati]

Both from the 9/26/06 Business Journal:


13,800 UAW Members to Leave Delphi
Sept. 26, 2006 5:20 p.m.

TROY, Mich. -- Delphi Corp., the nation’s largest supplier of automotive components and one of the Mahoning Valley’s largest employers, announced today 13,800 hourly employees represented by the United Auto Workers will either retire or leave the company for good.

Delphi reported 1,400 UAW members elected to take buyouts and 12,400 opted to retire under an attrition agreement reached in March between the company and the UAW, which represents about 24,000 hourly employees.

Nearly all of Delphi’s U.S. hourly employees represented by the UAW were eligible for buyout and retirement incentives ranging from $35,000 to $140,000.

...

http://www.business-journal.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=5751&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1711&hn=business-journal&he=.com
2,130 Apply for 300 Delphi Jobs;
Job Fair Continues Through Thursday
Sept. 26, 2006 Updated 5:21 p.m.
By Dan O’Brien

WARREN, Ohio – Job seekers looking for temporary positions at Delphi Packard Electric Systems outnumber available jobs by more than seven to one -- and applications will continue to be accepted through Thursday.

At last count, more than 2,130 applicants had filled out forms for 300 available positions at Delphi Packard plants in Mahoning Valley. Applications are being taken at a job fair held by Trumbull County One-Stop at the Holiday Inn Metroplex. The job fair resumes today, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and will continue tomorrow and Thursday.

Bill Turner, an administrator at One-Stop, said he expected a large turnout. “It’s hard to say how many more will come through,” he said, noting the response probably won’t be as strong as last week. “We’ll gauge it day-by-day,” he said.

...

http://www.business-journal.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=5710&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1711&hn=business-journal&he=.com

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 9/27/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


1,400 more accept Delphi buyout offer
By staff, wire report

DETROIT — Another 1,400 hourly workers have decided to accept auto supplier Delphi Corp.’s buyout offers, meaning that the struggling company will lose more than 70 percent of its work force by the end of the year.

Delphi released the buyout numbers Tuesday, bringing to 20,100 the number of its production workers who have decided to leave this year either through buyout offers or early retirement packages.

Delphi had 27,500 unionized workers as of June 30, and 12,400 United Auto Workers union members previously accepted early retirement and buyout offers. Another 6,300 members of the International Union of Electronic Workers-Communications Workers of America also will take buyouts or early retirements, Delphi said.

...

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=9265
From the 9/26/06 Dayton Business Journal:


Thousands of local Delphi workers take buyout options
Dayton Business Journal - 10:51 AM EDT Wednesday
 
Nearly 2,400 local Delphi Corp. workers will leave their jobs through buyouts or early retirement, the company said late Tuesday.

The bankrupt automaker offered the deals to scale back its labor costs and prepare for potential plant closings. Delphi has said it would like to close or sell four of its five plants in the Dayton area.
 
For the first time, the company broke down the retirements and buyouts by plant.

...

E-mail dayton@bizjournals.com. Call 222-6900.

http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2006/09/25/daily10.html?surround=lfn
From the 9/27/06 Dispatch:


Delphi workers take buyouts
Georgesville Road operations mostly staffed by temporary employees now
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Paul Wilson
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
 
All of Delphi Corp.’s full-time hourly employees in Columbus have left or will leave the plant by the end of the year as part of a massive restructuring by the bankrupt auto supplier.

That leaves the plant with a staff of mostly temporary employees and an uncertain future.

Nearly 700 Columbus workers accepted retirement, buyouts or jobs with General Motors Corp., Howard French, chairman of United Auto Workers Local 969, said yesterday.

...

paul.wilson@dispatch.com

http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/09/27/20060927-D1-00.html
From the 9/27/06 DDN:


Bill would give tax help to ex-workers at Delphi, GM
By John Nolan
Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 27, 2006

A legislative proposal offered Tuesday in Columbus would authorize a tax credit for former employees of General Motors and Delphi for expenses for education, training or starting businesses.

The proposal introduced by Rep. Randy Law, R-Warren, would apply to expenses for taxable years beginning in or after 2006 and ending before June 1, 2009. Warren is home to a plant operated by Delphi, the auto parts maker spun off by GM as an independent company in 1999.
 
Law's proposal hasn't been assigned to a legislative committee. It is unlikely to receive a hearing until after the Nov. 7 election, said Karen Tabor, spokeswoman for Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering.

...

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/business/2006/09/26/ddn092706delphibiz.html

[dfly]

^ Now lets just hope that these people are smart with their money.  Unless they were already really close to retiring, it really wasn't a whole lot of money.  Those who were not close to retiring will have a hard time finding work that pays even nearly as well.  Then again, if you see the writing on the wall I guess I would be best to get a buyout check rather than an unemployment check.

Also, do retirees continue to pay union dues or do you only pay while you are working?

[buildingcincinnati]

Also, do retirees continue to pay union dues or do you only pay while you are working?

I would like to know the answer to that too, if somebody out there knows.

From the 9/28/06 Business Journal:


Delphi Packard Seeks IUE 717's OK to Hire 1,700 ‘Permanent Temporaries’
Sept. 28, 2006 4:20 p.m.
By Andrea Wood

WARREN, Ohio – Delphi Corp. wants to hire 1,700 “permanent temporary” employees at its five plants in the Mahoning Valley and pay them $10 an hour with no benefits -- a proposal the chief negotiator for IUE Local 717 says he flatly rejects.

Donald O. Arbogast, shop chairman, says August Lukasko, personnel manager for the Ohio Operations division of Delphi Packard Electric, delivered the low-wage proposal to his office Aug. 31.

“When he gave me that, I said I’m not interested,” Arbogast told The Business Journal.

...

Roberta C. Yafie contributed to this story.

http://www.business-journal.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=5766&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1711&hn=business-journal&he=.com

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 9/29/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Delphi Packard status at risk
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

WARREN –– Labor talks between Delphi Corp. and its second largest union appear to have entered a ‘‘dangerous’’ phase, an auto analyst said Thursday as the future of Warren-based Delphi Packard Electric suddenly came into question.

‘‘It’s very dangerous when you’re dealing with this kind of situation. It’s not like the company is solid,’’ David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., said of continued differences between International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America Local 717 and Delphi.

The differences came into sharp focus at a status conference before Manhattan bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain when Delphi attorney John W. ‘‘Jack’’ Butler Jr., indicated the auto parts maker may move Delphi Packard from a core facility to non-core — making it vulnerable to being sold or closed — if no labor agreement can be reached with Local 717, according to a labor lawyer.

...

lringler@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=9348

[buildingcincinnati]

From the AP, 9/30/06:


Delphi Corp. reports loss of $533M in August, cites buyouts
By Associated Press
Saturday, September 30, 2006

TROY, Mich. — — Auto supplier Delphi Corp. lost $533 million in August, mostly as a result of buyouts, the company said in its latest operating report filed Friday in bankruptcy court.

For the first eight months of the year, the loss totaled $3.7 billion, Delphi said.
 
The Troy-based company said it took charges of $372 million last month to pay for buyouts and early retirements. Delphi said this week that 20,100 workers, or more than 70 percent, have agreed to take the incentives to leave by Jan. 1.

...

http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/oh/story/news/business/2006/09/29/ddn093006delphi.html
From the 9/30/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Union denies stonewalling talks
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

WARREN — Union contract bargainer Don Arbogast fired back Friday to dispel any impression that he’s stonewalling contract talks at bankrupt Delphi Corp.’s Warren operations.

The shop chairman of International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America Local 717 said that since Delphi Packard Personnel Manager August Lukasko laid the division’s ‘‘site rationalization plan’’ on his desk at 4 p.m. Aug. 30, he’s heard nothing from management about negotiating.

...

lringler@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=9369

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 10/5/06 Youngstown Vindicator:


GM proposes hiring 115 temps locally
GM is considering bringing workers from other plants to Lordstown.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

LORDSTOWN — General Motors Corp. has proposed hiring 115 temporary workers at its Lordstown complex as it examines whether to add permanent workers.

The temporary workers would be on the job until the end of the year to replace workers who have taken retirement and buyout incentives and to fill in for workers who are being trained on new jobs. Typically, temporary workers are used only in the summers as vacation fill-ins.

GM's request must be approved by the Detroit office of the United Auto Workers. A decision is expected within a week, said Jim Graham, president of UAW Local 1112 in Lordstown. Dan Flores, a GM spokesman, said officials are examining staffing needs, so it's too early to say whether permanent workers will be added after the temporary workers are done. Jan. 1 is the final day for workers to leave under the incentive packages.

...

shilling@vindy.com

http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/287190392739756.php

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 10/8/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Area leaders debate the cause of Delphi’s slide
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

Storm clouds had been gathering for months, even years: slumping orders from its largest customer; retirement of its founding chief executive; plunging stock price; hiring a CEO with a history of taking companies into bankruptcy.

Still, few workers at Warren’s Delphi Packard Electric fully expected their parent, Delphi Corp., to seek bankruptcy court protection. It was the king of auto parts suppliers, with sales of $28.6 billion and 180,000 workers around the world. It sprang from the most regal of automotive royalty — mighty General Motors Corp., the world’s largest automaker and Delphi’s steadiest customer.

‘‘I thought there was no way a big company like this could go bankrupt. I’d hoped it would be the last job I’d have,’’ Austintown resident Tad Pocatko said of the company that for decades had provided a stable paycheck for generations of local workers.

...

lringler@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=9707

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 10/10/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Delphi touts area division’s expertise
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

Delphi Packard Electric’s future has yet to be decided, but its parent company is touting the Warren-based division’s expertise and products ahead of an industry show in Detroit.

Delphi Corp., which is reorganizing in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, issued a news release Monday that touts Delphi Packard’s skills in electrical/electronic design and production of wiring harnesses and other parts.

Troy, Mich.-based Delphi Corp. said Delphi engineers use ‘‘proprietary design tools and software to create a virtual model of the (electrical/electronic) architecture — down to the last connector, electrical center, electronic module, wiring harness and serial data network.’’

...

lringler@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=9775

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 10/11/06 Toledo Blade:


PHOTO: David Culps, left, of Canton, Mich., and Barry Butts, of Hudson, Mich., work on lower case assembly at Powertrain facility.  ( THE BLADE/LORI KING )

PHOTO: Toledoan Gary Ely puts on driver extensions for test stands.

Local GM plant blooms in October
General Motors part of Toledo 90 years
By JULIE M. McKINNON
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER

October is a significant month for General Motors Corp. and Toledo.

Ninety years ago this month, the 8-year-old automaker bought one of its parts suppliers on Central Avenue, establishing GM's first manufacturing foray in Toledo. Fifty years ago, GM essentially replaced that factory with a revamped Alexis Road plant, building its first transmission there on Oct. 16, 1956.

And this month GM started erecting steel for the factory's latest expansion, with production scheduled to begin in October, 2008. Though that $500 million project calls for eliminating another task GM originally did on Alexis Road, die-casting transmission parts, officials say it will help set the plant up for decades to come.

...

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061011/BUSINESS02/610110337/-1/BUSINESS
From the 10/11/06 Youngstown Vindicator:


Work to keep Delphi here, Heltzel suggests
Treat Delphi as if it were just thinking about locating here, the commissioner said.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

WARREN — Trumbull County Commissioner Paul Heltzel says recent news that Delphi Corp. might shut its local plants could be "positioning" by the company, but the community should take the threat seriously.

The company has said negotiations here must go favorably or Delphi Packard Electric could move from a core operation that keeps operations here after the parent company emerges from bankruptcy to a noncore operation, which could mean a shutdown.

"It's time to say what's good for the area," Heltzel said, speaking at a Trumbull County Planning Commission meeting Tuesday.

...

http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/325302590838797.php
From the 10/11/06 (WSU) Guardian:


Student workers speak on Delphi
Tina Pandza
Issue date: 10/11/06 Section: News
 
Delphi Corp., the world's second-largest parts manufacturer and the biggest supplier to General Motors Corp, shocked the American auto industry in August of last year when it filed for bankruptcy and laid plans to dramatically downsize its U.S. operations.

In a proposal to lower labor costs and lay ground to exit from bankruptcy by the middle of 2007, Delphi has been cutting its work force rapidly.

Delphi employs about 13,000 workers in Ohio in the Dayton, Warren, Columbus and Sandusky areas. It has offered buyouts and early-retirement incentives that have persuaded 20,100, more than two-thirds of its hourly employees, to leave the company by the end of the year.

...

http://www.theguardianonline.com/media/storage/paper373/news/2006/10/11/News/Student.Workers.Speak.On.Delphi-2342211.shtml?norewrite200610142029&sourcedomain=www.theguardianonline.com

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 10/12/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Reports: Delphi, GM deal near close
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

A top negotiator for workers at Delphi Packard Electric said Wednesday he hasn’t heard if Delphi Corp. and General Motors Corp. are close to a deal because he’s focusing on getting the best terms for his members.

‘‘Right now our biggest thing is getting temporary (worker) language done. We’re trying to save our three locations,’’ said Willie Thorpe, chairman of the International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America Automotive Conference Board.

The IUE-CWA represents Local 717 members at Delphi Packard, where as 3,130 workers have taken lump-sum payments to retire or quit.

...

lringler@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=9832

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 10/14/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Delphi keeps ‘core’ status
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

WARREN — Delphi Packard Electric management re-affirmed the company’s intention to continue operating five local ‘‘core’’ plants when Delphi Corp. leaves bankruptcy, the lead union negotiator said Friday.

In addition, union members who are still working will be able to stay on the job through the end of the year before they retire or quit under the company’s attrition plan conducted this summer, International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America Local 717 Shop Chairman Don Arbogast said.

In a new development, workers who wish to stay after Jan. 1 as temporary workers at $10 an hour with no benefits will be able to do so, he said.

...

lringler@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=9913
From the 10/14/06 Detroit Free Press:


New beginning at Delphi comes with high price tag
Company loses billions. UAW bleeds members
By Jason Roberson
Detroit Free Press

DETROIT - A year ago this week, Delphi Corp. became the nation's largest manufacturer to file for bankruptcy. Since then, the company and its work force have changed forever.

Delphi said it filed for bankruptcy because it was losing money, needed to shut down uncompetitive businesses and could no longer afford to pay the full wages of its unionized workers.

Progress has been made on all of those fronts -- but at a price.

...

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/business/15758736.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_business
DELPHI'S GOALS
Delphi says it has focused on five key areas during its bankruptcy:

• Modifying labor agreements to be competitive with other suppliers.

• Concluding negotiations with General Motors to finalize financial support for labor costs and to clarify GM's business commitment to Delphi.

• Streamlining its product portfolio to capitalize on technology.

• Transforming the salaried work force to ensure its cost structure is competitive and fits the product portfolio.

• Devising a solution to its pension situation, whether it is to stretch out pension payments or to develop an alternative solution.

SOURCE: Detroit Free Press

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/business/15758731.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_business

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 10/15/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Delphi woes point to need to adapt
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

WARREN — Neatly dressed in a light blue-striped shirt and slacks, Girard resident Vince Carkido went hunting for work at a job fair in September.

What the 12-year Delphi Packard Electric manufacturing veteran, and many of his co-workers also at the fair, discovered is making ends meet on what’s being offered will be difficult.

One small fabrication shop, he said, offered $5.50 an hour, a far cry from the $25 an hour he was making at Delphi Packard before he took a buyout as Delphi Corp. tries to cut its work force in order to emerge from bankruptcy.

...

lringler@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=9973

[buildingcincinnati]

Both from the 10/19/06 Detroit News:


Delphi bankruptcy fees approach $100M
By David Shepardson
The Detroit News
Thursday, October 19, 2006

WASHINGTON — A federal bankruptcy judge will decide next month whether to approve another $58 million in legal, accounting and consulting fees at Delphi, which filed for bankruptcy protection a year ago.

In total, Delphi's two dozen law firms, accountants and consultants have billed for about $97 million through May 31, according to the most recent filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.
 
The latest batch of bills run from February through May. In the first round of bills filed in March, April and May, lawyers, consultants and accounting firms billed Delphi about $39 million. Those were approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain.

...

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/business/2006/10/18/ddn101906delphilegal.html
Ex-Delphi execs likely to face fraud charges
SEC expected to file civil charges against up to a dozen former executives following a 27-month probe.
By David Shepardson
The Detroit News
Thursday, October 19, 2006

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to file civil fraud charges this month against up to a dozen former Delphi Corp. executives following a 27-month investigation into accounting fraud at the bankrupt auto supplier, people familiar with the situation said.

Among those expected to face civil charges are John Blahnik, the former Delphi vice president of treasury, mergers and acquisitions; Laura Marion, who had served as director of financial accounting and reporting; and Paul R. Free, former chief accounting officer, the sources said.

The SEC also is expected to file civil charges against several officials at other companies involved in improper transactions with Delphi, The Detroit News has learned.

...

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/business/2006/10/18/ddn101906delphifraud.html

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 10/19/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Delphi case back in N.Y.
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

WARREN — Union bargainers representing Delphi Packard Electric workers are counting on Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain getting a better report today on progress toward keeping local plants running.

‘‘I’m sure our people will inform him’’ of agreements reached last week between International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America Local 717 and Delphi Packard, Shop Chairman Don Arbogast said. ‘‘That’s the way it’s supposed to be.’’

Lawyers for bankrupt auto parts maker Delphi Corp., unions and other key parties are scheduled to update Drain at a chambers conference at 2 p.m. today in federal bankruptcy court in Lower Manhattan.

...

lringler@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=10121

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 10/20/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:


Delphi reports progress
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

NEW YORK CITY — The idea of shifting Delphi Packard Electric’s Warren plants to noncore status wasn’t mentioned Thursday in a chamber’s conference in a lower Manhattan Bankruptcy Court.

‘‘The report the company made to the court is they felt there has been substantial progress,’’ International Union of Electrical Workers-Communication Workers of America attorney Tom Kennedy said.

‘‘There is still quite a few difficult issues, but there was no repeat of discussions about putting Warren into noncore status. We are pleased with that,’’ he said.

The update for Judge Robert Drain was the first since IUE-CWA Local 717 and Delphi Packard agreed last week on a number of issues to help keep the Warren plants running as several thousand workers retire or leave.

...

lringler@tribune-chronicle.com

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=10161

[buildingcincinnati]

From the AP, 10/21/06:


Lawyers for Delphi and union say talks are progressing
New Nov. 8 deadline gives both sides more time, but 'issues' remain on plans to cut labor costs.
By Tiffany Kary
Associated Press
Saturday, October 21, 2006

NEW YORK — Lawyers for Delphi Corp. and one of its unions said Thursday that talks toward an overall framework for a bankruptcy reorganization plan are progressing, and that a new Nov. 8 deadline will give them more time to find a way to avoid a confrontation.

Jack Butler, a lawyer for Delphi, said U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain gave Delphi until Nov. 8 to continue negotiations with its unions on proposals to cut labor costs. By Nov. 6, Delphi must notify the judge whether it wants to negotiate further or resume a court fight over its proposal to scuttle union contracts.
 
The deadline extension for negotiations covers both Delphi's labor talks and the company's bid to alter the terms of more than 5,000 contracts to supply parts to General Motors Corp., its biggest customer. Delphi has said it has lost billions because of those contracts and has sought court permission to scrap them. Tom Kennedy, an attorney representing Delphi's second largest union, the IUE-CWA, said there has been "substantial progress" on Delphi's labor negotiations but there are "still issues." He said that a Warren, Ohio, plant that previously had been a sticking point wasn't discussed at the closed-door meeting with Drain Thursday.

...

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/business/2006/10/21/ddn102106delphiunions.html