Struggling auto parts maker Delphi Corp. expects to have as few as about 2,300 United Auto Workers union members at its four remaining plants by 2012, the company said in a recent court filing.
When Delphi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2005, it employed more than 24,000 UAW members, and its UAW membership has since dropped to about 17,000 due to buyouts and early retirements, The Detroit News reported Saturday.
By the end of this year, the company expects to have 4,703 UAW employees, Delphi said. That is expected to fall to between 3,101 and 3,604 by 2011, and total UAW employment could drop to as low as 2,306 in 2012.
Delphi spokesman Lindsey Williams noted that the company earlier had announced its intention to exit most of its core businesses. As a result "you're going to be a smaller business," Williams said.
Workers with the UAW, Delphi's largest union, last month approved a historic contract agreement that cuts wages for many longtime workers but secures thousands of jobs at plants that once were in jeopardy.
The pact would leave Delphi operating four UAW plants: Grand Rapids; Kokomo, Ind.; Lockport, N.Y.; and Rochester, N.Y.
