Spark plug production winding down

Spark plug production winding down

FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

By Todd Seibt
tseibt@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6315
FLINT - The first phase of expected spark plug production cuts has occurred at Delphi Flint East, and more are on the way as Delphi Corp. completes major contracts with General Motors, union and company officials say. "It didn't halt totally, but it dropped down, and it's in the wind-down stage," Steve Grandstaff, shop chairman of UAW Local 651 in Flint, said of spark plug production. Grandstaff noted that most of the employees were absorbed into other open positions at Flint East or took temporary layoffs.

About 200 employees involved in spark plug production were affected by the cuts, workers said. The rest face reassignment as spark plug production continues to decline. Delphi has about 3,500 hourly and salaried employees in Genesee County, split between East and the Flint Technical Center.

A spokesman for Troy-based Delphi, Brad Jackson, declined to discuss specifics of the spark plug moves. Delphi, citing below-cost prices set by contracts with its former parent, GM, has said it needs to quit making spark plugs. Steve Miller, Delphi's chief executive, has said Delphi must exit unprofitable product lines or move them overseas, where labor costs are much cheaper. Delphi will continue to exit the spark plug business through 2006. Because of product demand and contractual obligations, the precise end date for all spark plug production is not known but is likely to occur in the spring, Grandstaff said.

Workers said the changes are creating havoc for them, and some blamed management. "I think it's a bunch of crap - mismanagement," said Jim Harris, a job setter in spark plugs. "I've been in spark plugs for 11 years. My job ended Dec. 23. I stayed to help train new people coming in. Their jobs are done March 1. "They've taken a company over 100 years old and run it into the ground. I'm moving to Saginaw; I've got to support my family. I've got to do what's right for my family. Probably, in the next three to four years, there won't be anybody working at this plant."

Jill Brazeal, injection mold job setter, sees the cuts as having a long-term impact. "The more jobs they take out of here, the more we are going to end up on the street," Brazeal said. Sylvia Cabell, a production worker, agreed. "It's going to affect a lot. It's people's livelihood," Cabell said. "You don't know what the future is going to hold. Most of my friends are ready for retirement. They are just going to have the lower seniority move to another plant. Nobody is happy about it."

GM, which owns the rights to the well-known AC Delco brand, wants to pay the "global" price for plugs, which is about $1. While it costs East about $2, on average, to make a plug, GM pays about $1.50, GM, UAW and Delphi insiders have said. Historically, East has been GM's prime source for spark plugs, and has made plugs for decades.

Journal staff writer Kris Turner contributed to this report.
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