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UAW Helps Accelerate Attrition at GM – May Be Forced to Fight
Delphi
by Bill Onasch / April 2006 issue of Socialist Action
newspaper
The
spirit of partnership with the employer remains alive and well at the UAW
"Solidarity House" headquarters. On March 22, they announced an "Attrition
Agreement" with General Motors that GM hopes will flush out the Job
Bank, where they must pay idle workers, as well as helping the company
reach their goal of permanent elimination of at least 30,000
UAW
jobs.
The
deal also aims at axing 5000 jobs at GM’s bankrupt spin-off, and major parts
supplier, Delphi. And, it is likely that similar programs will be
negotiated with Ford and Daimler-Chrysler as well.
In
so doing, the UAW bureaucracy threw in the towel in the union’s historic
fight to maintain jobs. They merely haggled over the dollar amount of
"buy-outs" and the number of workers who could keep their health-care
benefits when exiting (very few). They
did not involve the IUE, who represent over 8000 Delphi workers, about 25
percent of the Delphi unionized work force, in the bargaining. (The United Steelworkers
Union represents about 1200 workers in
Delphi
plants in Vandalia and Dayton, Ohio, while a few hundred workers in small
skilled trades units belong to several craft unions.)
Of
course, it remains to be seen how many GM and Delphi workers will be lured
away from their jobs by the cash payments. Those close to retirement, and eligible
to keep their health care, are offered only $35,000 to go now, considerably
less than a year’s pay. Those with
less than 10 years seniority get the largest sum, $140,000. But, they will
give up all GM
benefits.
To maintain their current Blue Cross health plan as an individual will cost
them anywhere from $484 to $1032 a month, depending on their age. Nor are the prospects good for finding
another job in the same pay range in such depressed towns as Detroit, Flint,
or Oklahoma City. The fact is they will be lucky to find something that
pays half of what they
are
currently earning at GM.
In
the long run, most workers would no doubt be better off keeping their
present job. But, that’s a roll of the dice. The Job Bank, which guarantees
standard wages and benefits even when a plant is shut down, almost
certainly will not survive past the expiration of the current contract,
September 2007, if indeed it lasts that long. Passing up this buy-out
entails the
risk
of future job and benefit loss without as much severance compensation. It’s
a tough call.
Even
if sufficient numbers of GM workers take the money and run, there is still
uncertainty at
Delphi,
under new management that doesn’t pretend to want to be the union’s
"partner." That company wants to slash far more than the 5000 GM
workers is offering to absorb through the buy-out.
They
want to close, or sell off, at least 14 plants. Only one plant would remain in the "home" state of Michigan.
Completion of their "reorganization" plan would mean the elimination
of 75 percent of UAW jobs in their U.S. operations.
Delphi
has become a truly global outfit, with more than 150,000 workers outside
the U.S. There are nearly twice as many in Mexico than in the
"homeland." These operations abroad are highly profitable, only
the American division is included in the bankruptcy. Delphi wants to slough off product lines
with low profit margins, such as spark plugs, and focus on juicer
electronics and fuel systems. And, they want to take the chain saw to the
union wage and benefits structure for those fortunate few that survive downsizing.
Before
completely severing ties from its parent, the parts maker wanted GM to
guarantee an additional $50,000 bonus to remaining Delphi workers to take
some of the sting out of a wage-cutting scheme it was trying to sell the
UAW and IUE.
Skilled
trades workers, now paid $32 per hour, would receive $28 per hour in July
and then fall to $24 by Sept. 3, 2007. Production workers would go from $27
to $22 in July, sinking to $16 next year. New hires would earn $12 per hour
for production jobs and $21.50 for skilled trades work. Next September the
workers remaining with Delphi would receive the one-time sweetener of 50
grand.
This
raises a giant new challenge to the UAW bureaucracy. Delphi is part of the
coordinated pattern bargaining with the historic Big Three automakers, and their
recent parts spin-offs. Only once in the union’s history have they agreed
to any cut in Big Three hourly wages. That was 25 years ago during the Chrysler
bailout, and the cuts were meant to be temporary. In fact, when Chrysler
returned to health, wages were restored to the industry pattern.
The
current pattern contract expires in September 2007. The UAW and IUE
bureaucrats don’t want to set the precedent of wage cuts in the run up to
those negotiations. Already they have had to give Ford essentially the same
mid-contract concessions on health care they gave to GM/Delphi. More
probably will be granted in this area in the next contract, and the Job
Bank will likely have to be given up as well. If bread-and-butter wages are thrown in to the mix of
givebacks,
the whole industry pattern will unravel. The bureaucracy correctly calculates that there is no way to
sell a retreat on hourly wages to their Big
Three
members.
After
the UAW balked, Delphi followed through on their threat to ask the bankruptcy
judge to terminate the UAW and IUE contracts. They want the court to impose
the company’s last wage offer on the Delphi workers, along with their plan
to jettison 24,000 jobs. As this is
written the situation is up in the air. The IUE has already voted to
authorize a strike if the
company
tries to terminate agreements through bankruptcy. The UAW will almost
certainly have to seek, and will get, similar strike authorization. Strike
action may in fact be delayed until the judge issues a decision, which
could take several months, just as strike plans have been on hold at another
bankrupt parts maker, Tower Automotive, while a judge ruminates.
Delphi
is by far GM’s biggest parts supplier and an actual strike would almost
totally disrupt that company’s production. Delphi also supplies components to
virtually every other automaker as well. The Delphi workers still have some
power - for now.
Unfortunately,
it’s not at all clear what the strategic objectives of the bureaucracy
would be in
such
an upheaval. They have already conceded massive job losses at GM. Will they
be able to hold the line during a strike over job destruction and wage cuts
at Delphi while their GM "partner" suffers because of the disruption
of parts flow?
While
there is widespread discontent among GM and Delphi workers, organized
opposition is still small and it too has failed so far to produce a
credible strategy. They are calling for job actions and strikes, and
demonstrations to build public support.
Those are good short-term tactics, worthy of support. But, to be effective in the long war
shaping up against the auto bosses, they must be part of a much broader
strategy. Such fundamental issues as health
care,
pensions, and job security cannot be addressed in today’s era of globalization
solely through such traditional collective bargaining tactics.
We
will return to the strategic questions in future articles.
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