From the Reporters

Woe is a Bankrupt Dinosaur

 

The largest auto supplier in the country, Delphi, filed for bankruptcy on Saturday putting the 50,000 American jobs at risk, particularly in Michigan which was home to the largest number of workers. Delphi executives were seeking benefits and wage cuts of up to 63%, down from the $25-30 to the $10-12 from UAW members. You can probably guess how that played out.

Chapter 11.

It's fair of Delphi to try and bring wages in line to national average, since its were double. It's quite another, however, to propose the unseemly plan to offer some $88 million bonuses to executives who see the bankruptcy through. {Umm, don't they share some of the blame here? Are these the bright lights to lead Delphi out of the darkness? Isn't this at least a 50-50 deal?}

It's the biggest bankruptcy filing in US automotive history and could lead to an even bigger calamity. General Motors agreed to cover Delphi's pension and health costs for eight years when the company was spun-off in 1999, which could bring its retirement costs to a massive $11 billion. And let's face it, with an S&P junk credit rating, GM wasn't exactly merrily rolling along as it was.

Outside of empathy for the wave of unemployed that's sure to come, I'm not sure what this means. If anything, even if GM ends up filing its own Chapter 11. (A real possibility, considering GM already pays $1,500 in per-vehicle health care costs, which will increase if it adheres to its arrangement with Delphi). Does Delphi's (or any other corporation's) bankruptcy filing matter to you? Are there reasons for concern when industrial American giants in the auto, steel and airline industries falter? It sure seems like that's the direction they're headed.

Did anyone shed a tear for the dinosaurs as their extinction unfolded?