Delphi's economic toll: $10 billion

The Detriot News reports:

Michigan's economy is one of the most vulnerable to ripple effects from Delphi's bankruptcy, along with New York, Ohio and Alabama, Anderson said. These states will likely see companies that rely on Delphi close or lay off workers due to decreased work.

"One of these states will inevitably be big losers," Anderson said. "We don't know which ones right now."

David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, who reviewed the report, didn't dispute his estimates.

"He's a careful, smart guy," Cole said of Anderson. "The numbers sound generally on track."

Cole and Anderson say Delphi's bankruptcy forces the issue of reducing hourly wages and benefits for Michigan's union auto workers under pressure from low-cost global competition.

Those wages have been the gold standard since Henry Ford's 1914 introduction of the $5 dollar day, which doubled the pay of his 15,000 assembly line workers.

The average annual pay for a Michigan factory worker was $52,003 in 2002, the latest figure available. The annual average for all workers was $38,135.

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