Flint see bluff but not strike in Delphi/GM/UAW poker game

In his column Backstreet Driver, Jerry Flint of Forbes dismisses reports of union strikes and the resulting collapse of General Motors. After discussing what he believes is the American media's blatant bias towards negative news, he points out that:

• Any strike by the unions would begin in June or later, giving GM and Delphi enough time to stockpile necessary parts.
• The UAW would rather let the Delphi positions go than face losing 100,000 jobs from a crippled GM.
• Dephi could bypass a strike by pulling parts from its foreign plants.
• The strike may reach national attention since other automakers, such as Toyota, buy parts from Delphi. Such attention would result in compromises suiting no one.
• GM will eventually support Delphi's plan.

Flint also believes Delphi's management is actually quite competent. Unfortunately, he reasons, the supplier was placed in an unenviable position by GM-- not only to accept union wages, but also to grant price cuts to the automaker. Given enough time, Flint muses, Delphi would have been able to do both, but unfortunately, the clock is running out.

[Sources: Forbes; Reuters]