A vote among members of the United Automobile Workers yesterday resulted in the group overwhelmingly giving their union permission to call a strike against the Delphi Corp. if a bankruptcy judge allows the company to void its labor contracts. According to the New York Times, more than 95% of union members who cast ballots voted for strike approval.
Last week, Delphi began making its case before a federal judge to void the union contracts that cover about 33,000 employees, 24,000 of whom belong to the UAW. If the judge decides in Delphi's favor, the company would be able to impose wage cuts, eliminate benefits and close factories without the consent of its six unions. Though the UAW's strike-authorization vote is considered a procedural step that's typically used as a bargaining tool, Delphi's second-largest union, the International Union of Electrical Workers, has also voted to authorize a strike.
