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Rick Wagoner says a feared clash between bankrupt Delphi Corp. and the United Auto Workers that could ensnare General Motors Corp. is unlikely because all sides have too much to lose.
And the GM chairman, in a wide-ranging interview just two days after announcing plans to eliminate 30,000 hourly jobs and close nine plants across the country, countered persistent critics who say his tenure atop the world's largest automaker has been marked by failed overseas ventures, missed opportunities at home and a decline epitomized by the looming confrontation threatening GM.
"If we all act purely in our self-interest," he said of GM, Delphi and the UAW, "any one of the three of us could blow the place up. That doesn't sound like a winning strategy. I don't see how anyone's interest is advanced by having the whole thing blow up. I would challenge you to tell me how that's better for Delphi, better for the UAW or better for General Motors.
"And the answer is, it's not."
Not for GM, whose shaky financial condition could be devastated by a debilitating Delphi strike that forced a GM shutdown in North America, dramatically increasing the likelihood of bankruptcy. Not for Delphi, which would be unable to ship parts to customers, forcing it to close even more U.S. plants. And not for the UAW, whose economic future and those of its members are tied to GM staying out of bankruptcy and Delphi saving as many plants as it can.
"If everybody steps back and thinks about what we really need to do here, the possibility of coming to a reasonable agreement is much, much better than the possibility of the thing blowing up," he said. "Much better. The probability isn't zero, and we all have to recognize that. No guarantees."
Wagoner says there's "clearer alignment" between the interests of the UAW and GM "because if the companies aren't successful, we see what happens to the unions and the people they represent."http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051125/OPINION03/511250396
And the GM chairman, in a wide-ranging interview just two days after announcing plans to eliminate 30,000 hourly jobs and close nine plants across the country, countered persistent critics who say his tenure atop the world's largest automaker has been marked by failed overseas ventures, missed opportunities at home and a decline epitomized by the looming confrontation threatening GM.
"If we all act purely in our self-interest," he said of GM, Delphi and the UAW, "any one of the three of us could blow the place up. That doesn't sound like a winning strategy. I don't see how anyone's interest is advanced by having the whole thing blow up. I would challenge you to tell me how that's better for Delphi, better for the UAW or better for General Motors.
"And the answer is, it's not."
Not for GM, whose shaky financial condition could be devastated by a debilitating Delphi strike that forced a GM shutdown in North America, dramatically increasing the likelihood of bankruptcy. Not for Delphi, which would be unable to ship parts to customers, forcing it to close even more U.S. plants. And not for the UAW, whose economic future and those of its members are tied to GM staying out of bankruptcy and Delphi saving as many plants as it can.
"If everybody steps back and thinks about what we really need to do here, the possibility of coming to a reasonable agreement is much, much better than the possibility of the thing blowing up," he said. "Much better. The probability isn't zero, and we all have to recognize that. No guarantees."
Wagoner says there's "clearer alignment" between the interests of the UAW and GM "because if the companies aren't successful, we see what happens to the unions and the people they represent."http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051125/OPINION03/511250396
