Are the leaders of the UAW just doing a bit of gorilla-like chest thumping, or are they resigned to the truth? I’ll
let you readers make up your own minds about their most recent comments, because I’m not sure (and to be realistic,
it’s probably a bit of both).
With Delphi pushing back the deadline for a possible request to cancel the union contract, and GM waiting in the
wings to play some sort of unknown role that it can’t afford to do but can’t afford not to do, we’re at the
point where there’s little new data – but there definitely is a struggle to win in the court of public opinion. A fine
example of this effort is
Ron Gettlefinger’s
column in last week’s Detroit News, which does a pretty good job of summarizing the “charges” against Delphi
management. For its part, management has been trying to demonstrate just how
expensive its labor really is, which ultimately comes
back to blaming the previous management team. That’s an angle that doesn’t seem to be playing so well here in the
Midwest.