Unions Prepare For Battle

The Canadian Auto Workers union is threatening plant shutdowns if suppliers demand wage concessions and/or other benefit rollbacks from members.

Led by Delphi Corp., North American suppliers are seeking labor-cost relief in the face of increasing competition from developing nations.

Delphi has just one plant in Canada. The Oshawa, Ont., site employs about 200 people and was not included in the supplier's Oct. 8 bankruptcy filing in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the standoff at Delphi inspires the formation of an international labor coalition, Mobilizing@Delphi, to fight the supplier.

In mid-November, Delphi offered the United Auto Workers a new contract proposal that is marginally better than previous offerings, but the union says it will dismiss it without scheduling a rank-and-file vote.

Delphi first offered an average base wage of $10 an hour, down from the current $27.50, for production employees. The latest offer bumps that rate to $12.50 and includes health care and pension improvements.

The UAW says Delphi plans to cut the number of hourly workers in the U.S. by more than two-thirds, from 34,000 to about 10,000, over three years.