Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 41

BUSINESS THURSDAY. JUNK 1. 2006 3 DETROIT FREE PRESS Retirees fidit Ford-s benefit change "If I knew they could change the contract, I would have kept working." LEO WOODWARD, who retired in 2003 at age 48 They oppose deal between UAW and automaker By SARAH A. WEBSTER FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER knew they could change the contract, I would have kept working. "Of course, I'd love to see Ford do well.

I worked there with my heart and soul. But what they're doing here is not right." Mark Baumkel, an attorney who represents 430 retirees who oppose the deal, said the UAW lacks the legal authority to negotiate a change to retiree health care. He emphasized that Ford would be allowed to renegotiate the terms of the deal in 2011. Borman did not say when he might make a decision on the case. Contact SARAH A.

WEBSTER at 313-222S194 or swebstenqfreepress.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. I That they were not permitted to vote on the deal. I The UAW's voting process was flawed and the results do not fairly represent the sentiments of even the active workers the union allowed to vote. I That they are being forced to pay for Ford's mismanagement.

Jack Vernier, 55, said he felt obligated to come to the courthouse to complain about the deal. He retired from Ford in 2002 after 33 years of work. "I couldn't sleep if I didn't come down here," he said. "Why wouldn't they let us vote?" Leo Woodward, who retired in 2003 at age 48, said he thought he had a contract with Ford that had to be honored. "My understanding of the contract was 30 and out, and I would be set," he said.

"If I ago after 30 years of service and she told U.S. District Judge Paul Borman that she objects to the contract change. "They always hit the little people," she complained. If the Ford-UAW deal were approved, the maximum annual out-of-pocket expense would be $370 for individuals and $752 for families. That mirrors the agreement approved in April for General Motors Corp.

workers. Ford, which lost $1.2 billion during the first three months of the year, spends about $3.5 billion annually on health care for 590,000 workers, retirees and dependents. The automaker would not disclose how many of those people are affected by this UAW deal, but it has said the deal would save the company an estimated prove the plan by July so Ford can maximize its savings. Ford says the agreement will shave $5 billion off its overall health care liability, estimated at $35 billion now. "Ford's financial difficulties are dire," he said.

"The plan that's being presented here is an extremely fair and generous plan." But retirees complained that they could not afford to pay more and should not have to. During the hearing, they alleged: I The UAW had no standing to negotiate a contract change. $650 million annually. Active union workers voted on the deal nationwide between Dec. 15 and 22 and approved it by a razor-thin 51 majority.

However, many active workers and retirees alleged the voting process was flawed and filed appeals and circulated petitions to nullify the results. The UAW has not publicly released the voting tally by plant local. In December, the UAW filed a lawsuit that asked a federal judge to approve the deal, to prevent legal challenges. Ford attorney Jonathan Abram asked Borman to ap About 150 angry and upset retirees faced off against lawyers for the UAW and Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday in federal court over a deal between the union and automaker that would force the retirees to pay more for their benefits than their prior labor contracts promised.

"We were told we would have security. That's a bunch of bull," Maryann Calabro, 55, said while she waited in a crowded hallway for her chance to speak in court. She retired from- Ford two years A expects troubles multiply Delph Parts maker records $192-million loss Delphi has never been consistently profitable. in April after sales to GM decrease to add flights to schedule By JASON ROBERSON FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER Delphi Corp. said Wednes By JEWEL GOPWANI FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER day it lost $192 million in April more than three times the losses in March due to a 28 drop in sales to General Motors its largest whether GM agrees to pay Delphi in hopes of avoiding a strike.

Delphi proposed cutting wages from $28 an hour today to $22 by September and $16.50 next year, assuming it gets aid from GM. If GM decides not to contribute, Delphi would cut wages to an average of $12.50 an hour by July. Delphi used to be GM's parts-making subsidiary. It spun off as an independent company in 1999, but it has never been consistently profitable. It lost $4.8 billion in 2004.

After losing another $741 million in the first six months of 2005, it filed for bankruptcy. Contact JASON ROBERSON at 313-222-8763 or jrobersonqfreepress.com. spokeswoman Claudia Piccinin said she did not know why sales to GM fell. The overall losses are a testament to Delphi's need to reach a cost-cutting deal with labor unions, she said. "We continue to experience losses, given our high fixed costs and an inability to respond to market conditions," Piccinin said.

The parts maker says it is burdened by restrictive labor contracts that require it to pay its employees far more than competitors do. The company says its 33,000 hourly workers in the United States make $27 an hour $78 an hour when benefits are added. It wants to cut 23,000 hourly jobs from the U.S. workforce and close or sell 25 of its 33 U.S. plants by 2008.

Delphi asked federal bankruptcy court to void the contracts, allowing the company to cut wages unilaterally. The UAW has threatened to strike if that happens. And a strike could disrupt GM quickly. As hearings progress, the bankruptcy judge has encouraged both sides to keep working toward a solution. Hourly workers who remain would have their wages and benefits cut sharply.

The total reduction would depend on From its bankruptcy filing on Oct. 8 through April 30, Delphi lost $1.4 billion, including $56 million in March. The lack of GM business was the most significant differ ence between April and March. In April, Delphi posted $761 million in GM sales, down from $1 billion in March. Delphi ICY RECEPTION FOR EXXON On Friday, the carrier filled 93.5 of its seats, an all-time high at Northwest for the number of seats filled in a day.

The carrier expects to break more records this summer. Meanwhile, Northwest travelers can look forward to their last flight on a DC10. Northwest plans to retire its fleet of 15 aging 273-seat DClOs by January next year, the memo said. The carrier stopped regularly using the DC10 out of Detroit Metro last fall, said Northwest spokesman Kurt Eben-hoch. Northwest will replace its DClOs, which on average are 25.5 years old, with 12 new Airbus A330 planes and three Boeing 747-400s it plans to put back into service.

Northwest's DClOs typically are used on international routes, including flights between Amsterdam and Mum-bai, Minneapolis and London and Memphis and Amsterdam. Amid volatile fuel prices, the Airbus planes will save Northwest money. The planes burn up to 30 less fuel than the DC10, Ebenhoch said. The fleet changes and expansion will take place if the airline's flight attendants and ramp workers ratify wage-cutting contracts, the memo said. Northwest Airlines which has been shedding costs and cutting flights in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, expects to start growing early next year.

That could mean more Northwest flights at its Detroit Metro Airport hub, where the carrier has cut nearly 90 flights from its daily schedule since May of last year. It also means Northwest won't have to furlough more pilots this year, according to a memo the airline sent to pilots last month. By early next year, Northwest plans to increase flights for its fleet of Boeing 757s. The carrier did not say how many flights it will add because it is still determining the new routes and schedules, according to the memo. "It's a move in the right direction," said Minneapolis-based airline expert Terry Trippler.

The expansion, Trippler said, is part of Northwest's climb back to being the nation's fourth-largest airline. Continental Airlines took that spot this year, as Northwest dropped to No. 5. Since May last year, Northwest has cut back its daily flights by 14 to 1,246 across the board. With fewer flights, Northwest's planes are filling up.

mmm k. Contact JEWEL GOPWANI at 313-2234550 or jgopwanifreepress.com. New diesel Grand Cherokee to debut L.M. OTERO Associated Press LaSorda to show 2007 model today By DEE-ANN DURBIN ASSOCIATED PRESS An Exxon ice sculpture slowly melts as protesters gather outside the Exxon Mobil shareholders meeting in Dallas on Wednesday. Shareholders gathered Wednesday for the oil company's annual meeting while demonstrators protested that the company is helping to slow down action against global warming.

The protesters used the melting sculpture to demonstrate how the company's policies are affecting the environment. CADILLAC Don Massey, a fixture among metro Cadillac dealers since 1967, sold his empire of dealerships to Sonic four years ago. Cherokee in five states California, New York, Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts because of emissions laws. The diesel-powered Grand Cherokee will get an estimated 19 miles per gallon in the city and 23 m.p.g. on the highway.

By cbmparison, the 2006 Grand Cherokee Limited equipped with a V8 engine gets 17 m.p.g. in the city and 20 on the highway. Chrysler said sales of the diesel version of the smaller Jeep Liberty have exceeded the company's expectations since its introduction in the 2005 model year. More than 11,000 diesel Jeep Liberty SUVs have been sold, the company said. Still, Chrysler will have a lot to overcome as consumer inter DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group plans a significant addition to its diesel lineup in the United States next year, part of a plan to win over skeptical U.S.

consumers and establish a dominant presence in the growing diesel market. Chrysler Group President and CEO Tom LaSorda was to introduce the diesel-powered 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee today at the annual Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island. The 2007 Grand Cherokee will be offered with a 3.0-liter common rail turbo diesel engine built at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Berlin. The vehicle is to be built at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit. Diesel sales have been slow to take off in the United States because of environmental concerns and bad memories of belching diesels of the 1980s.

Chrysler won't be able to sell the diesel-powered Grand outside the dealership, Lince said. Don Massey, himself, could not be reached for comment. However, DeTata stepped off the picket line for a few minutes to speak to a young man behind the wheel of a Cadillac Escalade, who he said was Massey's grandson. The young man declined to comment. DeTata said he hopes that Don Massey customers, the majority of whom are GM employees including many union members, will stay away, putting financial pressure on Sonic.

As he spoke, drivers whizzing by the dealership honked their horns in support of the picketers. "People are driving by giving us the thumbs up," Hachigian said. "I haven't seen anything but a thumb." Contact MICHAEL ELLIS at 313-222-8784 or mwcllfoa frcepress.com. Salesmen picket at dealership From Page IE statement to the Free Press that it does not discuss personnel matters, But the "personnel actions at issue were taken for legitimate business reasons and these personnel decisions are completely unrelated to the outcome of the May 17 union representation election," Sonic wrote. The Teamsters union filed an appeal to the National Labor Relations Board in an attempt to get the four salesmen their jobs back, charging that Sonic engaged in unfair labor est in SUVs wanes in favor of smaller crossover vehicles.

Grand Cherokee sales were for the picketers. Officials from the Teamsters union patrolled outside the dealership to keep car transport drivers, who are also members of the union, from dropping off new Cadillacs. "The Escalades are hot right now, but those orders aren't going to get filled," said DeTata, 64, who worked 16 years at Don Massey. The Teamsters have other plans to pressure Sonic. Some of the salespeople sell cars directly to autoworkers at GM plants in Toledo, said Todd Lince, an organizer for the Teamsters Local 283.

"We'll put a stop to that tomorrow," he said. About 25 UAW members turned up in support of the Teamsters and also picketed Sonic said in the statement that it will vigorously defend any claim that its actions were unlawful. Adas and Hachigian said they'll continue to picket outside Don Massey, and they have no intention of seeking work elsewhere. "Somebody's got to make a stand," Hachigian said. Other salespeople at the dealership were at their desks inside the dealership, but there were few customers around on the sunny Wednesday afternoon.

One man who declined to give his name said the picketers didn't stop him from picking up a new Cadillac STS sedan that he ordered. A security guard with a video camera in hand kept an eye out down 22 in the first four months of this year compared with the year before, while overall sales of the Liberty were down 17. Chrysler isn't placing all its bets on diesel. The company also will offer a 2007 Grand Cherokee with a 4.7-liter V8 engine capable of running on E85 etha nol..