Deplhi could be tipping point for Detroit

NEW YORK, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- The chief executive officer of the newly bankrupt Delphi Corp., says his company's descent could become the tipping point for Detroit automakers.

Delphi Corp., General Motors Corp.'s largest auto parts supplier, filed to restructure its struggling U.S. operations under Chapter 11 on Oct. 8.

"What's happening at Delphi is just a small part of a huge national problem," Steve Miller told Newsweek in the October 24 issue. "This is our country's dilemma as we talk about Medicare and Social Security."

Detroit, the last bastion of blue-collar affluence, is collapsing under the weight of pension and health care costs, said Miller.

Delphi could not convince the United Auto Workers union bankruptcy was the only option if the union did not take a two-thirds compensation cut.

"If they can't modify their labor contracts," says Miller, "Ford and General Motors are very much at risk of spiraling down into an ultimate bankruptcy."

Delphi's employees have cast Miller as the villain, but he says he stays up each night responding to every piece of hate mail he gets from his workers.