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To: NOW who wrote (41996)	11/30/2005 3:23:21 PM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 116555

BANKRUPTCY AND LABOR: Union protesters blast Delphi pay plan Local unions representing many of Delphi Corp.'s 34,000 hourly workers protested Tuesday against a proposal to give the company's higher-ups more money, while jobs for two-thirds of Delphi's hourly workers are in jeopardy. Workers nationwide staged informational pickets to challenge Delphi's request that a bankruptcy judge approve a severance pay package for 600 executives valued at $400 million. Workers called the proposal unfair. Union leaders called the program astonishing, given that Delphi filed for bankruptcy protection Oct. 8 after announcing it had money problems. The Troy-based auto-parts supplier plans to emerge from bankruptcy in 2007. Delphi originally was scheduled to defend its compensation plan in bankruptcy court Tuesday, but the company asked to delay the hearing until Jan. 5 so it could consider objections from the UAW and others. UAW spokesman Paul Krell said local unions decided to go ahead with their protests. Krell said the UAW encouraged its 23 Delphi local unions to hold informational pickets. At Delphi's East Flint plant, more than 400 workers protested along Dort Highway with homemade signs. Among the messages: "Execs get the gold, workers get the shaft" and "Are you next?" Steve Grandstaff, chairman of Flint UAW Local 651 with 29 years at Delphi, said his goal was to get the community's empathy. Several businesses showed their support, including Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and a McDonald's that provided hot coffee throughout the protest in 40-degree weather. "The equation doesn't fit," Grandstaff said of the executive compensation packages. "This is bigger than Delphi." Art Reyes, a 15-year hourly Delphi East Flint employee, called Delphi's compensation packages obscene. Moreover, he referred to the $12.50 average hourly wage the company has proposed for its hourly workers as draconian. Hourly workers on average now make $27 an hour. At a brake plant in Dayton, Ohio, about 40 people held up signs and cheered as passing motorists honked in support. The Dayton area has five Delphi plants that employ about 6,000 people. "We're kind of like the sacrificial lambs," said Tony Currington, vice president of UAW Local 696. "We're trying to stand up for what we think is right." As part of Delphi's proposed five-part compensation program, top executives would receive a lump sum on the day Delphi is sold or emerges from bankruptcy. For instance, Delphi President and Chief Operating Officer Rodney O'Neal, 51, with an average annual salary of $1.2 million, would receive $2.8 million; vice chairman David B. Wohleen, 54, with an average annual salary of $890,000, would receive $2.2 million; chief financial officer Robert J. Dellinger, 44, with a $750,000 average annual salary, would receive $2 million. In all, 486 executives would receive $87.9 million. The UAW and other unions aren't alone in protesting Delphi's compensation plan. Last week, a group of investors including public pension funds in Oklahoma and Mississippi filed an objection to the plan in bankruptcy court. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the federal corporation that insures pension plans, also has filed an objection. In unrelated news, Delphi won agreement Tuesday from its unions, major creditors and its top customer, General Motors Corp., on contract extensions with up to 11,000 suppliers. Delphi said its customers could face business interruptions if the contracts were not extended beyond the end of the year. freep.com