United Auto Workers president Ron Gettelfinger has said there has been “very little” progress on negotiations with Delphi due to the enormous amount of time devoted to bankruptcy court proceedings related to a labour contract dispute.
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“There’s been very little, if anything, going on at the bargaining table,” Gettelfinger said in an interview with Detroit radio station WJR, Dow Jones reported. The UAW had been engaged in talks with top customer and former parent General Motors aimed at helping Delphi cut its labour costs without the court’s help.
“The court proceedings are taking up a lot of time,” the union chief reportedly said, referring to ongoing bankruptcy court hearings concerning Delphi’s motions to have labour contracts thrown out. Delphi filed its motions on 31 March and, since then, talks have been stuck virtually in neutral, Gettlefinger reportedly said. He did say that the court proceedings are “part of the process and we’re prepared to do that. There’s still time and we’re always available to meet.”
According to Dow Jones, Gettelfinger said there had been momentum prior to the filings due to an accelerated attrition agreement made between the UAW, Delphi and General Motors. Delphi, however, slowed momentum when it asked the court to approve its request to have contracts thrown out, Gettelfinger said. Delphi argues that its current contracts with unions are not competitive and that it needs to cut labor costs significantly as soon as possible.
The news agency noted that, on Tuesday, the union said 95% of voting UAW workers at Delphi plants approved a measure that authorises the UAW to strike against Delphi if the judge eventually gives the company a green light to scrap contracts.
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By GlobalData“It should be taken very seriously,” Gettelfinger said of the strike authorisation vote. “We had hoped that it wouldn’t come to this point, but apparently it has.”
Dow Jones noted that Delphi bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain isn’t expected to rule on the motion until at least mid-June.
UAW spokesman Paul Krell told the news agency that the slow pace of talks with Delphi and the amount of time the UAW devotes to court proceedings is crimping trilateral talks between Delphi and GM. “It’s hard to have three-way talks when two of the sides aren’t negotiating,” Krell said. The spokesman said GM and the UAW continue to talk on a variety of issues on a regular basis.
GM spokesman Jerry Dubrowski told Dow Jones GM continues in discussions with Delphi and the UAW on an almost daily basis. He said the motions are helping to set the stage for future labour talks.
