Struggling parts maker Delphi Corp has told the United Auto Workers it, and the domestic US auto industry, faced intense challenges, but released no details about what it told union leaders in an annual business update, Reuters reported.
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The news agency noted that Delphi has struggled under high wage and benefit costs since its spin-off from General Motors in 1999 and from GM light vehicle production cuts in recent quarters. It expects later in June to restate results in connection with accounting improprieties that forced out four top executives.
President Rodney O’Neal and Kevin Butler, vice president of human resources management, briefed UAW international and local leaders in Detroit, the company said in a statement cited by Reuters.
“It was really a fairly clear and accurate candid discussion of the current state of the industry and the state of where we are as a company, and it has to go from there,” Ronald Pirtle, president of Delphi’s thermal and interior division, told Reuters after the meeting.
Pirtle reportedly declined to comment on whether executives talked about possible job cuts or relief from high health care costs, though a union official who declined to identify himself said job cuts were not discussed at the meeting.
Reuters noted that Delphi has been restructuring since its spin-off and 2005 plans include cutting 8,500 jobs, trimming some non-core business and consolidating or closing unprofitable plants.
