LABOR RELATIONS
Union protests layoff of 33 workers at Delphi plant
IUE-CWA officials contend the company had agreed that layoffs after Aug. 5 would be voluntary.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
KETTERING — A union representing workers at Delphi Corp.'s Kettering plant said the bankrupt auto parts maker laid off 33 workers in the last week of November.
The union — the International Union of Electronic Workers-Communication Workers of America Local 755 — contends that the only workers who should be laid off are those who volunteer to be laid off.
Extras
In a recent newsletter sent to members, the local unit said that union and company agreed in collective bargaining that layoffs made after Aug. 5 this year will be "voluntary."
"Now, after calculating the estimated cost to a voluntary lay-off, they (Delphi representatives) refuse to acknowledge that was the intent of those discussions," Terry Grimes, local chairman, and David Hill, local executive secretary, said in the newsletter. "We regret that corporate greed has again raised its ugly head at the expense of the hourly workers."
Delphi, which is trying to emerge from Chapter 11 protection in early 2008, had identified auto parts maker Tenneco as a possible buyer of the plant on Forrer Boulevard. About 500 to 600 workers were employed there in recent months.
Told that the union had alerted members to 33 layoffs, Delphi spokesman Brad Jackson said, "That could well be." But he declined to discuss any agreement between Delphi and the union.
The bulletin said the union is being advised as to whether it should "file charges against Delphi with the appropriate government agencies."
Neither Hill nor Grimes could be reached Friday.
Jim Clark, IUE-CWA president, said the layoffs are not unexpected. He thinks the work force at the plant could drop as low as 200 "before it goes back up again."
"The (automotive) market should heal, but we don't expect it to heal near-term," Clark said.
Tenneco spokesman Jim Spangler said that his company remains a possible buyer of the local plant.
"It continues to be an opportunity that we're looking at," Spangler said.
He added that Delphi's layoffs are not being done at Tenneco's behest and have nothing to do with a possible plant purchase.
Meanwhile, a bankruptcy judge was weighing Delphi's disclosure statement — an explanation of how the company's creditors are to be paid — Friday in a hearing that began Thursday. Lindsey Williams, a Delphi spokesman, said the hearing was ongoing late Friday afternoon.
Delphi has sought to have its disclosure statement approved so it could begin pushing for approval of its plan to leave Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or
tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
