Issues in Dayton's GM strike

  Both sides of the Delphi Chassis brake strike remain deeply divided on several fronts - staffing, subcontracting, health and safety, outsourcing - all, in some way, related to jobs.
   Although no talks were scheduled locally over the weekend, negotiations continued on a national level in Detroit.
   In candid interviews, representatives said a settlement hinges on these issues:

Staffing levels

  Dan Warrell, plant manager, admits the plant is running thin - estimating the typical worker puts in more than 1{ extra shifts a week.The union says its closer to two extra shifts.
   But Warrell said the situation is temporary. If he hired more workers, he says, he'd end up laying them off as soon as business slows down. Meanwhile, overtime is voluntary.
   "We've tried to use overtime to float (employment) up and down and to try not to lay people off," Warrell said.
   Union officials say the argument doesn't make sense. "The problem is they already have people laid off at other plants that theycould utilize," said Joe Buckley, shop chairman for United Auto Workers Local 696, which represents the striking workers.

Subcontracting

  Another key issue is the use of outside people or companies to perform skilled trades.
   Warrell said he isn't sure why this is even an issue because 95 percent of the work is being done in-house and tradespeople can have all the overtime they want.
   Union officials say the opposite.
   "They've spent millions and millions of dollars on subcontracting that we can prove we're competitive on," Buckley said. He says that amount is on the rise as well.

Health and safety

  Union officials say the company has been running so thinlately that they haven't let workers off the shop floor to complete needed safety training.
   GM points to its record: the number of accidents reported has fallen 50 percent during the past two years, the number of lost workdays has slipped by 40 percent.
  But union officials say there is another record the company isn't mentioning. It recently showed poor results on two internal safety audits. In one, it failed 22 out of 22 items, and it failed 34 out of 38 in the other.
   "It's probably one of the worst in the whole corporation," Buckley said.
   Delphi spokesman Mike McCurdy counters that audits are designed to be stringent to help plants improve: "We're very tough on ourselves."

Outsourcing

  Perhaps no issue has been as divisive as outsourcing - or shifting work to outside companies.
   GM wants to make its core operations less dependent on its parts plants.
   Union members dont buy the idea that Delphi Chassis Systems is now a separate entity that must compete for GM's business.
   The philosophical difference came to a head a few months ago when the company notified the union that GM wanted to shift some of its business to outside companies, costing 125 jobs.
   Warrell said he was disappointed. He wanted the business. But he pointed out that new business more than offset the loss.
   The issue is further complicated because the union claims the company guaranteed them certain GM business in their local contracts, adding up to nearly 500 additional jobs, that never came through.
   "They flat-out lied," Buckley said. "They're not fulfilling their commitments."
   GM says the contract contained caveats - market conditions could change, the plants had to become more productive and the rest of the staff had to design products good enough to win the contract. Some of the business was simply delayed.
   "Everybody wants guarantees," Warrell said. "The only job security is to becompetitive."
   But as long as the union can shut down all of GM's North American production in a week or two, union officials feel confident workers' jobs are secure.

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LENGTH: Medium: 81 LINESSUBJ: STRIKE LABOR NEGOTIATIONS NA: GENERAL MOTORS CORP. DELPHI CHASSIS GEOG: DAYTON AREA AT: ISSUES ENHANCER: REF1