Auto Supplier Delphi Files for Bankruptcy

Associated Press | October 8, 2005 | DEE-ANN DURBIN

[OpusatFR]

This sets the stage for GM to file reorganization, and then in order to stay competitive, Ford.

The legacy costs will be shunted to the Pension Guarantee which is already underwater.

I expect to see everyone's pension plans disappear until there are none for the private sector.

Good news though....all those public pensions throughout the country will still be paid. Legacy costs for city state federal will continue.....forever and ever and ever and ever.....

[Frank_2001]

Well, at least it's not as bad as WorldCom.../s

[glorgau]

I expect to see everyone's pension plans disappear until there are none for the private sector.

The writing is definitely on the wall.

[Gay State Conservative]

Good news though....all those public pensions throughout the country will still be paid.

Exactly! And the Clintons,Kerrys and Kennedys wouldn't have it any other way.

[GungaLaGunga]

MEMO TO THE ROCKET SCIENTISTS OF THE UAW:

The land on which Solidarity House sits would is prime for conversion to luxury condos. Way to negotiate! You really showed Steve Miller/Delphi the what-for. Is there any better determinant for a corporate bankruptcy or plant closing than to have it's workers represented by the UAW?

[Dan from Michigan]

I saw this one coming for years.

[LS]

Living here in Dayton, I've known this was coming for a while. Delphi has (had) the most generous medical benefits one can imagine, and the company (like many these days) was paying more for medical than for the raw materials to make its parts. Even Starbucks (a totally lib firm) has stated that it cannot continue to pay such outrageous medical benefits.

We have to get away from employer-furnished health care and back to fee-for-service soon or there will be no companies left. Milton Friedman has suggested the quickest way to do this is to make all benefits taxable. That would force people to choose between (now) free medical benefits and cash.

[JohnnyGunns]

Well, there goes my pension, health care, and life style, and the American dream.

I was hoping Delphi would find some way to pull itself through before the new bankruptcy laws took effect.

After 35 years of service I was hoping I could enjoy the waning years of my life with the same level of dignity allowed to my father. Now I imagine myself as the most pathetic night manager Micky Dees ever saw.

Maybe they can end Social Security before I'm eligible in a couple years to further seal my fate and commit me to a life of struggle.

Save the heartless flames, I feel I paid my dues (and taxes) in this life, and this is going to be one miserable Christmas this year, and the next, and the next.
I'll probably have to unplug my internet next month to afford heat here in NE Ohio next month anyway.

*sigh*

[SamAdams76]

Wasn't Delphi an internet provider at one time? I vaguely remember the online service from the middle-1990s. Along with Prodigy (which I was a member of) and CompuServe and TIAC and Earthlink and a few others I can't think of right now.

Only a few years ago but it now seems so long ago.

[HAL9000]

Wasn't Delphi an internet provider at one time?

There was a Delphi online service, but it was a totally different company than the Delphi auto parts manufacturer.

I was a Delphi customer. It was the only way to get an Internet connection back in 1992, prior to the emergence of the World Wide Web, Mosaic, Netscape, etc.

[evaporation-plus]

Delphi had $16.5 billion in total assets as of June 30, the most recent figure available, and has total debt of $6 billion, Standard & Poor's said Thursday. The company had $4.3 billion in unfunded pension liabilities at the end of 2004, according to a company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Take the 16.5 billion in assets, pay off the 6 billion in debts, fund the 4.3 billion in pension obligations, that leaves approximately 6 billion. What's the problem?

[Lessismore]

You can get their 10K from http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=105758&p=irol-sec&secCat01.1_rs=11&secCat01.1_rc=10

Their balance sheet is a shambles.

The main problem seems to be that about half their sales are to GM and have been declining since separation from GM. However, due to union contracts and other constraints, they haven't been able to shut capacity and fire workers fast enough to stay viable. Nor have they been able to compete for and win other business to replace the GM losses.

[OpusatFR]

"Take the 16.5 billion in assets, pay off the 6 billion in debts, fund the 4.3 billion in pension obligations, that leaves approximately 6 billion. What's the problem?"

Aww......you know you can't spoil Carl Ichan's party, don't you.

[Lessismore]

Loyalty to anyone other than yourself, your family, and those who owe their positions to your family is a fool's game.

Follow the Bushes' example.

[The Last Rebel]

Don't worry, I'm sure the military will come to your rescue, that is the answer to all things lately.

And before anyone says it, No, I'm NOT a DUtroll.

TLR

[SunkenCiv]

The bankruptcy timing had to do with the coming change in the bankruptcy law.

[The Mayor]

This could mean the loss of 4000 jobs in Western NY, they are the largest employer in Niagara County.

The unions are breaking the backs in both private and public sectors.

[eleni121]

UAW refuses to compromise risking all their members' jobs.

Well, the gravy train is slowly coming to an end...the sooner the better.

[bert]

From the Curent Forbes...

"GM has thousands of workers collecting paychecks for not doing much. What would it take to get them off the payroll? Probably more than GM could afford to spend."

http://www.forbes.com/business/forbes/2005/1017/110.html

unbelievable such a situation could exist. Corporate welfare for real.