Almost like they planned it, part 1

Last month's agreement between Delphi Corporation and the United Auto Workers is really, really bad. In exchange for preserving current wages, benefits and employment for some union members, UAW gave away the store. Not like the union, threatened by a hostile bankruptcy court as well as threatened Chapter 11 for GM, really had a choice at this point. Delphi, which had 24,000 union employees in 2005, estimates they will have 2300 by 2012. Hourly wage, now around $27, will be $14 for new employees. Of course, no pension.

All this to enable Delphi to get out of bankruptcy, sort of. Following planned closings of four of its eight US plants, Delphi plans to "exit its core business." This isn't strictly true, of course: current CEO Robert S. Miller, Jr. has made a good business of buying companies, loading up with debt (tax-deductible), and gutting the pension plan, which these days passes for value-added, at least until you can sell the company again. Miller, when threatening bankruptcy in 2005, spoke about the company's "noncompetitive business structure."

That is, decent jobs. Which leaves the increasingly few companies that have living wages, health care coverage, a pension, and a union, even more "noncompetitive."