Bankrupt auto parts supplier Delphi said on Friday that 6,300 U.S. workers of the International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America, company’s second largest union, have choosen to leave through early retirement offers or buyouts. The 6,300 workers are 83 percent of those eligible. The IUE-CWA represented about a quarter of Delphi’s U.S. hourly workforce, second only to the United Auto Workers.

Workers will leave the company through the rest of 2006 under the program, leaving Delphi with about 1,200 IUE-CWA represented workers, Delphi spokesman Lindsey Williams said.

The mass departure of workers will help to reduce the chance strikes as the company negotiates wage and benefit cuts for workers who stay. Delphi has asked a bankruptcy judge for power to impose cuts if it cannot reach an agreement with its unions, and unions have threatened to strike if it does. The hearing into Delphi’s request has been delayed to Sept. 18 to continue negotiations.

Delphi expects to eliminate about four-fifths of its U.S. hourly workforce in the reorganization, which includes plans to shed non-core business lines and close or sell 21 of 29 U.S. union plants. Overall more than half of Delphi’s hourly workers have accepted buyouts.

“The unions were concerned about displacements, so the goal here was to provide options for employees, the plan has done that,” Williams said.

## Source: Reuters ##

Posted in: Manufacturing, GM, Delphi, Financial, Employment
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