Delphi: Union workers cost $76/hour

[towstrap]

Delphi Corp. -- the employer in bankruptcy of 14,700 Michiganders -- said a new study it commissioned shows it pays its unionized workers $76 an hour including benefits, double what its competitors pay, and $11 an hour more than workers received in 2004.

Delphi proposed Nov. 15 cutting that $76 an hour figure to about $35 an hour.

"We simply want what they have already given to our competitors," Delphi spokesman Lindsey Williams said Friday of the company's recent proposal.

Pay and benefits are the main issues between Delphi and the United Auto Workers, which has called the proposed cuts an "insult." The UAW has not ruled out a strike if talks fail.


http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051126/BUSINESS01/511260313/1014

[nydriver]

That's incredible.....I can't believe a company like Delphi just found out what they pay their unionized employees. Delphi signs a contract and doesn't know what's in the contract? What kind of management buffoons work there? I just don't believe it.!!

[Cowboy]

This is a good example of a Union forceing a company out of bussiness. The sad thing is the union leadership only care about what the get in dues and not what they do to the rank and file worker.

[saddletramp]

I have to ask Cowboy, why do you feel a union would force a company out of business? If they did, then their represented workers would not have a job so they could pay those dues right??

How would that benefit the "union"?? ;)

[LSMR]

I rarely visit this forum.As a mechanic I have worked in union & non union shops for Ryder Truck Rental plus I have operated my own business for the past ten years.

I always have to wonder when companies show these high per hour costs for union employees exactly how much per hour it costs for the companies top executives.

Personally I think is terrible how the pay gap is widening between top management and the average working man.

[Uturn2001]

Personally I think is terrible how the pay gap is widening between top management and the average working man.
I always have to wonder when companies show these high per hour costs for union employees exactly how much per hour it costs for the companies top executives.

Which is something of a sore spot among workers. You rarely hear about the top management types taking pay cuts when they want to cut the pay for the rank and file. When asked about this the answer is always the same: Cutting their pay would make little difference on the company bottom line.

This sore spot becomes even worse when the workers hear about the top execs voting themselves pay increases at the same time or soon after cutting the workers pay.

Regardless of what this does or does not do to the companies bottom line (exec pay packages) it has a big impact on company moral and employee/management relations, which in turns has a big impact on efficiency.

[saddletramp]

One thing folks that rarely gets discussed about these wages is what the total wage AND benefit package is. Yes, Delphi paid the workers 76 bucks per hour; but how much of that TOTAL package is wages, and how much is going into health and welfare benefits, plus into retirement plans.
At UPS my total wage and benefit package is negotiated between the company and the Teamsters. So much goes into my hourly pay, and the rest is divided up into H&W benefits and retirement. I won't post here what the total package is because I don't feel it is needed in this forum but when someone says "That union guy gets 76 buck an hour" remember how that money is distributed out. ;)

Even your mileage pay and load percentages are figured with any benefits that the company you work for or leased to may be providing to you.

[saddletramp]

Here is an interesting update on the Delphi debackle:

http://www.labornet.org/news/0406/delrupt.htm