Delphi's demand: Take $9 an hour

The Detriot Free Press reports:

If Delphi Corp. has its way, workers for the nation's largest auto parts supplier would be paid as little as $9 per hour under 65% wage cuts, and be hit with a tenfold increase in health-care costs, no dental and vision care and other sharp reductions in benefits, according to a proposal revealed on the Web site of a UAW local.

The document shows for the first time the severity of the cuts the bankrupt company has told the union it needs to survive.

The cuts are even stiffer than the company's final proposal to the union before it filed for Chapter 11 on Oct. 8, further infuriating workers already angered by the threats to their livelihood.

"How in the hell do they expect anybody to live?" asked Andy Loughran, a 54-year-old Delphi worker from Dayton, Ohio. "You think you're going to get a good quality product at $9 an hour?"

Loughran, who has worked for General Motors Corp. or Delphi for 33 years, makes $28 an hour. He said if his wages are reduced under Delphi's most recent proposal to $9.50 an hour, he will not work.

"I spent all my life in these wages," Loughran said. "How do they expect me to live in my house?"

Mr.Loughran asks an important question.Some advice:you might not want to get long real estate in Mr.Loughran's area right now.