Union chief: Delphi still hiring in Dayton, Vandalia
Thursday, July 24, 2008
As surprising as it may seem, bankrupt Delphi Corp. is actually hiring workers in the Dayton area.
Visitors to last weekend's Vectren Dayton Air Show may have noticed the banner at Delphi's Northwoods Boulevard Vandalia plant, a banner inviting applicants to seek jobs within.
What's perhaps more surprising: The auto parts maker still has 350 to 450 workers at its Chassis Home Avenue plant in Dayton and is still hiring there, even though that plant is slated to close eventually, said the president of the plant's union.
"We're actually hiring at both of our plants," Dennis Bingham, president of United Steelworkers Local 87, said Thursday, July 24.
The Steelworkers represent about 200 workers at the Vandalia Thermal plant, in addition to the Home Avenue work force.
"We're still running the business as usual," Bingham said of the Home Avenue plant. "The jobs haven't left yet."
A Delphi spokesman asked for time to gather information Thursday before responding to questions.
In 1999, Delphi employed about 15,000 workers in the Dayton area at several plants.
By 2001 — two years after Delphi was spun off from General Motors Corp. — the company was down to 8,000 hourly workers locally. By September 2005 — a month before the auto parts producer sought court bankruptcy protection — the company had 4,200 hourly workers, with a salaried work force of about 1,500.
Today, Delphi's Kettering Boulevard plant in Moraine has been closed since late 2007. Some 750 workers from Delphi's Needmore Road brake plant were transferred to GM distribution sites in Butler County and Trotwood.
Bingham said he didn't know when the Home Avenue plant would close. "There have been all kinds of conjectures and rumors."
New workers are being hired at lower wages compared to veteran workers, many of whom have retired or accepted company buy-outs, Bingham said. For example, new starting wages at Vandalia's Thermal plant are about $8.
But Bingham said the Vandalia plant expects "new work" soon, work he said he couldn't discuss.
Asked how many more workers the Vandalia plant needs, Bingham said, "It's going to depend on the future."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
