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NEWS & LETTERS, October-November 2006Delphi UAW members fight buyout concessionsRemember their wordsMay 18, 2006. The union's shop-chairman claimed that Delphi will not hire temporary employees to replace older workers taking the Special Attrition Program (SAP) [an attrition plan offering early retirement to Delphi’s 24,000 UAW workers-Ed]. I argued how this can be true if the SAP language clearly states that Delphi can hire temporary employees to fill needs? Now in September 2006 there are hundreds of temporary employees who should not only be protected and made full-time, but should be given 100% UAW representation like the rest of us, and above all they should all be immediately given equal top pay like the rest of the membership as according to our UAW constitution. Where is the Local 292 leadership now? March 25, 2006. The shop-chairman responded to a handbill of ours by saying the membership should never be allowed to vote on the SAP, as Soldiers of Solidarity rallied for last summer. He stated, "The UAW has nothing to do with the SAP." Yet as we argued, clearly the UAW international negotiated the agreement and it was supported by the Local 292 caucus on the shop floor. April 11, 2006. The shop-chairman and the president of Local 292 signed a handbill with top Delphi brass in Kokomo saying that "The UAW and Delphi have approved the Special Attrition Program." The next day they hosted a joint question and answer session with management at our own union hall, resulting in labor relation representatives and upper plant management standing behind a UAW podium conducting a union meeting. CRIME FOR CRIME The dominoes are falling now. It’s crime for crime. Without a militant rank and file, democracy is nothing but a closet to hang slogans in. The Concession Caucus scrapped the charade at Delphi. There won’t be any more Local 262 Union elections—until further notice. All vacated positions will be filled by appointment. It’s not pretty but it’s lean, and it sheds more light than shadow on bargaining behind the scenes. All a rep really represents is a transfer of power from the many to the few. We can vote for the best, the brightest, and the toughest, but if we aren’t willing to fight the boss ourselves, we may as well give him the keys to our house. Delphi didn’t bust the union. It self-destructed. Thanks to the SAP, union members chose to vacate. Now temps dominate the workforce. By January the only "old union" members left will be rehired retirees, the remedial affect of whom will be less than a crust of blood over a wound. Like the son of a curse, Delphi Chairman and CEO Steve Miller got more than he bargained for. A pretty theory for an ugly fact. The worst is yet to come. Consumers are driving cars worth less than their loans. Home owners hold more debt than equity. Wages are dropping like bombs. We can’t afford to pretend the system works anymore. The Concession Caucus responded to the crisis by whipsawing locals, promoting competition between workers, and pushing two-tier wage schemes that sacrifice the next generation for a pimp’s promise. No one questions for whom the bell tolls. The dominoes are falling now. It’s crime for crime. — Todd M. Jordan, Delphi Workers Committee, Kokomo, Ind. For more, see www.futureoftheunion.com |
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