Union left out of Delphi plans for new factory
When Delphi Electronics and Safety unveiled its plan to turn an $89.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy into a new manufacturing facility in Kokomo, a sizable group of company officials and politicians gathered to herald the arrival of jobs to Kokomo.
Gov. Mitch Daniels joined mayor Greg Goodnight in celebration of the economic development windfall. And a number of people were thanked for their efforts in securing what is expected to be the creation of more than 300 jobs over the next five years. Goodnight even took a moment to thank the leadership of United Auto Workers Local 292 for their efforts.
That moment of recognition on Dec. 18 was a bitter one for president Ginny McMillin and shop chairman Danny Hiatt. What wasn’t disclosed at the press conference was that the UAW won’t be a part of the new operations, at least for now. When asked after the event what the arrival of new jobs would mean to Local 292, the union leaders made it clear that they had been left out in the cold. The new Delphi plant will not be a union shop.
