Published: June 09, 2009 05:48 pm      

Letters to the editor - Wednesday, Jun. 10, 2009

One cannot trust Delphi executives

As Steve Miller, Rodney O’Neal and their merry band of incompetents ride off into the sunset, their saddlebags full of our benefits and pensions, the Delphi salaried retirees are left holding the proverbial bag. Inside this bag are broken promises, self-pay benefits, defaulted pensions, a note that says, “Thank you for giving your life for our company but, gee, we just couldn’t work things out, and by the way you are now wards of the government.” And in the very bottom, there was a pill that was bitter when swallowed.

This answer, “we just couldn’t work things out,” was never good enough while we were working, and it should not have been. No matter what the problem, production issue, parts outage, quality issue, maintenance problem, we always worked together and found solutions to satisfy the customer and make the company stronger.

Not only did they take our benefits away April 1, now they are trying to take our pensions. What is sad is that most of us had 25-plus years with GM before we became Delphi. What Delphi and GM are doing is absolutely wrong, despicable and disgusting.

We will, however, survive this despicable, immoral, Pearl Harbor-like attack on our retirement life. I for one will not let the self-serving Delphi executives affect the rest of my retirement. Yes, we will all have to make some changes, but we will overcome this issue as we always did at work. We will stand together and fight to get what is already ours.

I reference Pearl Harbor because that is exactly what it is like, a sneak attack on our benefits and now our pensions. Delphi knew it was coming out of bankruptcy and could not have any pending legal actions. That was the only reason it finally bargained with our group. We do owe a huge thank-you to those who stepped forward and organized our group, the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association, in record time. These people also worked tirelessly to obtain legal counsel, network with other retirees who have been robbed, and represented us to at least obtain some hardship funds and a meager VEBA. They have also been working nonstop to prevent our pensions from going to the pension guarantee fund. We have been sending letters to members of Congress and the automotive task force, but we need more support. All I’ve heard about in the news locally is that Delphi is emerging from bankruptcy and all is well. I am glad that they will be out of bankruptcy too, for the sake of those working and our community, but we are getting hurt here.

I do have some advice for those still employed at Delphi: Remember even though you may now be part of GM or another company, you still have the same self-serving, good ole’ boy network of incompetent Delphi managers.

If you are hourly, keep your labor union strong and back your agreements. You see what has happened to us. If you are salaried, get out if you can. If not, get as much as you can in writing and save all documentation because, as we have seen, you cannot trust a greedy, self-serving Delphi executive.

Don C. Eades

Kokomo

Sheriff, firemen have legitimate concerns

As a taxpaying citizen, I really have some concerns!

Why are we not supporting our firemen? They are short-staffed, under-paid and being mistreated by our mayor. I personally do not know a soul on any fire department, but I’m concerned. Shorten your office staff and let’s keep the ones who protect us!

And why is Sheriff Talbert being ignored when he is asking for support with extra stop signs and speed bumps? Putting down those ridge strips in the road would help us be aware of stopping up ahead. It is definitely a must going east and west because of the sun.



Judy Hill

Kokomo