Posted on 12/11/2005 11:18:40 AM PST by Brilliant
KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) -- At least a thousand people rallied in central Indiana against steep wage cuts proposed by auto parts manufacturer Delphi Corp., which has filed for bankruptcy protection.
Workers say the proposed cuts -- from $27 an hour to between $10 and $12.50 -- are unfair, especially as Delphi has given bonuses to managers and other executives. United Auto Workers officials have said a strike against Delphi appears increasingly likely.
"To the Delphi workers here and everyone else, there are 380,000 union workers in the state of Indiana who will march in this battle with you," said Indiana AFL-CIO President Ken Zeller. "You are not alone."
Workers carried signs that read, "Delphi cooks the books/Workers get BURNED."
Delphi spokesman Lindsey Williams declined comment.
One in three jobs in Kokomo is tied to manufacturing, and the Howard County community is poised to take a heavy blow as its two big employers -- Delphi and DaimlerChrysler -- eye layoffs or pay cuts.
Delphi has been operating under bankruptcy protection since October and is seeking to cut hourly workers' wages by more than 60 percent.
Based in Troy, Mich., Delphi has about 6,000 employees in Indiana, most of whom work at the company's Electronics & Safety Division headquartered in Kokomo.
The company was founded in 1999 as a spin-off from General Motors. With 185,000 workers worldwide, Delphi is the nation's largest auto supplier.
I have.
Membership elects the union, not management...the membership got the union it deserves.
Sure...and when they are unemployed, they'll get the sympathy they've earned.
"Compensation for any work performed is based on the value that work brings to the product... It is up to the individual to make themselves valuable to the business. There are no gurantees."
Good points. Unless a union ties these ideas to the payscale, I agree the union is self-defeating.
The days of high priced labor are over in a world where labor can be had for 30 cents an hour in Asia. Watch these jobs move to China just as fast as Delphi can manage it.
Steve Miller famously said it doesn't make economic sense to pay someone $85/hr to mow the lawn.
dumb dumb dumb you want slaves don't you
That is exactly what they want and this mentality is why we have unions. The gilded age breed the unions.
That does seem to be the mentality. I wonder if they are considering that the Internet means that anyone who wished can listen to them vent.
Nothing ruins a person faster than a sense of entitlement.
The right to collective bargin is all unions are really about, without the right to collective bargin, labor would be 30 cents an hour here in the usa and there would be no middle class. Some unions have abbused the power collective bargining gives them to force short sighted management into unsustainable long term contracts. But the real problem facing labor in the USA is free labor in Asia. As long as labor is free in Asia, labor in the usa is screwed. And remember most of us that work for a living are labor. Skilled, unskilled and proffesional, we are all labor as far as upper level management is concerned.
Why is it slavery to determine a wage in an area of the country and offer that to folks applying for a job? No one is forced to work there - but a Union saying you WILL pay this amount or we'll ruin you is blackmail
Bingo.
"The high wage begins down in the shop. If it is not created there it cannot get into pay envelopes. There will never be a system invented which will do away with the necessity for work."
-- Henry Ford
There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.
-- Henry Ford
Unfair, they say...welcome to the real world, where economic ignorance will not save you. Fact of the matter is, Delphi can hire all the union labor they want at what they are required to pay. Union employees aren't going anywhere (voluntarily) when the company files for BK because they've got no attractive options. That's because their wage is well above the market. That's why there's talk of a strike.
Management, on the other hand, is being paid at market, and THEY HAVE OPTIONS. Competent executives can find manufacturing based employment at the same or a higher wage. What's more, they are the ones running the company. They can't be easily replaced, and anyone brought on board would be ineffective while they learned the company. Time is not something companies in BK have a lot of.
Delphi can't afford to lose those employees.
I agree 100%. Asia will be pumping out lower priced goods forever so it looks bad. A nation that does not manufacture cannot dominate. We are coasting on the past achievements of our mighty industries. China is taking the industries we're shucking off. Many Freeper idiots exult as GM goes down the tubes and Toyota gains more market share
The industrial unions pushed it too far and now they're hurting bad. My real enemy are government unions and I have family in them. Government workers at all levels are being vastly overpaid, it's scandalous and will bankrupt counties and states as bloated pension costs come home to roost. I can never despise a union member who actually makes useful things such as automobiles and auto parts (Delphi)
Yes and those wages should be determined by whoever owns/manages the company, not by a paid rep from outside the company
Bill Gates would disagree.
"there are 380,000 union workers in the state of Indiana who will march in this battle with you"
There may be 380,000 union workers in Indiana but they all will not march with you. That is from an Indiana union worker.
Good point.
With that post and user name, I would guess you work at the big B.
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