Posted on 04/01/2006 3:56:19 PM PST by Flavius
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- Delphi Corp. workers angered by the auto parts supplier's proposal Friday to close or sell many of its plants said the plan would ruin some employees' lives and hurt communities that rely on the facilities for jobs and tax revenues.
ADVERTISEMENT "You're going to see the tumbleweeds," said Allen Huguely, who works at one of five Delphi plants in the Dayton area that employ 6,000. "This whole city is going to suffer."
Delphi asked a federal bankruptcy court to void its labor contracts as part of a restructuring plan that includes selling or closing 21 of its 29 U.S. plants, including six of its 10 plants in Ohio that employ 7,500 people. Four Dayton-area sites and plants in Columbus and Sandusky are on the list for closure or sale, along with plants in Milwaukee; Wichita Falls, Texas; New Brunswick, N.J.; and Flint, Adrian and Saginaw, Mich.
"Spark plugs went away. Oil filters went away. Anytime that you see something like this, it's a blow," said Art Reyes, vice president of United Auto Workers Local 651, which represents the 2,700 workers at the Flint East plant in Michigan.
"It's pretty frustrating for all of our members, and myself included; quite a big disappointment," added Tom Basner, bargaining chairman for UAW Local 699, which represents about 4,000 workers at the Saginaw steering plant.
Delphi, its unions, and General Motors Corp., Delphi's former parent and largest customer, spent months negotiating but were unable to reach a wage agreement.
Henry Reichard, chairman of the International Union of Electronic workers' automotive conference board in Dayton, said Delphi's plan will hurt efforts to avoid a strike.
"We will not be threatened or intimidated into accepting an agreement that dismantles our plants and devastates our membership," he said.
Products made at the plant still could be profitable for another owner, Reichard said.
"Just because Delphi doesn't consider them core businesses doesn't mean they're not necessary," he said.
Jim Hurren, president of UAW Local 467 which represents workers at the Saginaw brake plant, agreed, saying his site has a lot of assets.
"We make a good quality product. We've got an experienced work force," he said.
Delphi, which has 13,000 workers in Ohio, has identified eight U.S. plants that are considered critical to its U.S. operations. Plants in Warren and Vandalia, Ohio, are included among those critical facilities, which the company said will focus on product lines such as safety features, electronics, diesel and gas powertrains and climate control products.
Twenty-one plants that do not make core products -- including those that make brakes and chassis, instrument panels, door modules and steering components -- would be sold or closed.
The Sandusky plant is the area's second largest operation, and closing it would be devastating, said Mark Litten, head of the Greater Erie Marketing Group, an economic development agency in Sandusky.
The plant in northern Ohio has been profitable the last five years and remains a vital supplier for GM, Litten said.
"My guess is it will be sold rather than closed," he said.
In the Dayton area, Delphi plants have an annual payroll of $260 million and in 2005 paid about $12 million in income and property taxes to local governments.
"It's a blow. There's no question about that," Montgomery County Administrator Deborah Feldman said.
Huguely, 52, of Dayton, has put two of his children through college during his 31 years working for Delphi and GM and still has a child in high school. He worries that the brake plant where he and 1,600 fellow employees work will close instead of getting a new owner.
"It's going to have a tremendous impact on us," Huguely said. "You don't just move the jobs. You destroy a city. You destroy people's lives."
Co-worker Tony Henderson, 54, of Dayton, has 21 years of service.
"I was planning on working a few more years," Henderson said. "I'm mad as hell, but what can you do?"
I agree with you! That's what inspired union leadership woud do. But they will probably stubbornly force the companies to go to China, instead.
And how many people suffered? 50,000-75,000 We aren't talking about small numbers here. That is the point I am trying to make.
Over paid multimillionaire executives feed, educate, medicate, etc. at least 1000 people every year from their earnings. Yes, he lives like king but the rest of the people who live off of what he spends on his family do alright too.
This squinty eyed view of people who make a very good living has lots of benefits for other people too. Now if the guy who makes millions just sat on the cash without putting it in a bank (who loans it to the community) or living the good life (and spending freely) there wouldn't be any benefits for others, would there?
I don't know if it is jealously that prompts the hatred of the wealthy or what but I think it is very narrow minded.
Lost lost of jobs ... and women, but my life is not ruined yet.
Businessess *must* turn profit, or die. The alternative of taxpayer subsidization is unsustainable with 8+ trillion in national debt.
Funny how times can change things. At one time in the early days of unions it was said they were extracting as much money as they can out of legitimate American Businesses.
I'm no expert on unions... perhaps they were always parasites.
Agreed.
Unions have pushed the pendulum so far that it will now start swinging back and hurting the people the union claims to represent.
How long can you pay people $60,000 per year to play cards and sleep on the job for half of every working day?
I have friends who worked at GM plants in the summer. They were threatened by union thugs to slow down. They saw tents set up on the factory floor so workers ("Workers in Name Only") could sleep on the job after they hit their artifically low quotas.
Does a job like that deserve $60,000 per year?
Which is why it's stupid if people stay there. The US has the most mobile workforce in the world. The only thing you need to go to work in Orlando instead of Seattle is a U-Haul.
"You reap what you sow" keeps drifting though my head.
Being unemployed, unable to find another job, declaring bankruptcy, losing your house and becoming homeless may not "ruin" your life.
BUT IT SURE SUCKS!
No, what I have is a sense of perspective.
Losing a job can certainly be difficult, as I know from first-hand experience. But it does not ruin your life unless you allow it to.
No one is likely to starve if the local Delphi plant closes. Most will find other ways to make a living. No doubt there will be adjustments, some of them challenging. But in America, challenges have a way of bringing opportunities.
By the way, this "ruining my life" complaint is the sort of thing teenagers say to get what they want. Most adults have enough sense to see through the ploy.
Hey maroon, as the CEO of Delphi pointed out, the lawn mower guy makes $64 an hour.
Yes, he is union.
Without overtime, that is $125k a year. Still back unions? See tagline.
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