UAW negotiator: Delphi strike "appears more likely than not"

[Thom Little]

A key United Auto Workers negotiator has told local union leaders that a strike against auto supplier Delphi Corp. "appears more likely than not," a UAW spokesman said Wednesday.

UAW spokesman Paul Krell said Vice President Richard Shoemaker discussed the possibility of a strike with around 250 union leaders Tuesday at a closed-door meeting in Detroit.

Shoemaker said "under current circumstances, a strike appears more likely than not. That can change, and we hope it does," according to Krell, who attended the meeting.

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Delphi, which filed for bankruptcy protection in October, has asked its unions to agree to cut hourly workers' wages by more than 60 percent, from $27 an hour to between $10 and $12.50. Delphi says those wages are competitive with other union and nonunion suppliers.



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