I don’t see how the UAW can avoid a strike at Delphi, without agreeing to massive concessions. As reported today in the Wall Street Journal, the UAW is about to lay down a last offer:

The United Auto Workers union is preparing a last-ditch, take-it-or-leave-it offer to Delphi Corp. and its private-equity partners, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that signals potentially turbulent labor negotiations with Detroit auto makers this summer.

The union is making the offer, which will include some modest concessions, in hopes of ending a stalemate that has delayed the auto-parts maker’s exit from bankruptcy proceedings, these people said. But it also signals the tough place in which the union finds itself, as it tries to keep its leverage despite massive job losses and the intense competition facing U.S. auto makers.

For example, the private-equity investors who are interested in buying Delphi out of bankruptcy for as much as $3.4 billion are asking the union for wages beginning at $12 an hour. The union previously agreed to concessions that would put new UAW-Delphi hires at about $14 an hour at the start, with an all-in cost of about $25 an hour once benefits are included. The new request, said people familiar with the matter, has union officials questioning where the UAW stands in a remade Detroit.

    This is an ugly situation. Let’s not forget that the Delphi CEOs made sure they were being paid a pretty penny–millions of dollars in pay and benefits as part of the bankruptcy plan.