Company postpones filing court motions

Delphi Corp. for the third time in as many months delayed filing a court motion to reject its collective bargaining agreements and terminate its hourly post-retirement health care and life insurance plans with six unions.

Delphi postponed petitioning the U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Feb. 17. The company originally planned to file the motions last December and again in January.

Delphi representatives said they will continue talks in an effort to achieve a comprehensive agreement no later than March 30. Absent agreement with all parties, they said Delphi will file its motions by March 31.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and Vice President Richard Shoemaker, who directs the union’s General Motors and Delphi departments, said in a statement:

“We have said consistently that the only basis of finding satisfactory resolution to these matters is through the use of the collective bargaining process with Delphi, GM and the UAW at the bargaining table. In recent weeks the parties have held several such meetings. While there are many significant issues to be resolved, Delphi’s decision to delay the filing of the Sections 1113 and 1114 motions provides the opportunity for that process to work and is certainly a positive action.”

The UAW is Delphi’s largest union, representing 24,000 hourly workers. Led by the UAW, Delphi’s six unions last November formed a coalition representing more than 33,000 active Delphi workers, and threatened to strike if its contracts are nullified.

In a related development, on Feb. 10 a judge ruled Delphi could give 466 executives the opportunity to earn up to $38 million in bonuses if the company reaches certain revenue targets. Delphi claims bankruptcy is “demoralizing the executive rank.”

Jennifer John

For Delphi updates, visit http://www.uaw.org/delphi/index.cfm.