Gov. Mitch Daniels joined mayor Greg Goodnight in celebration of the economic development windfall. And a number of people were thanked for their efforts in securing what is expected to be the creation of more than 300 jobs over the next five years. Goodnight even took a moment to thank the leadership of United Auto Workers Local 292 for their efforts.

That moment of recognition on Dec. 18 was a bitter one for president Ginny McMillin and shop chairman Danny Hiatt. What wasn’t disclosed at the press conference was that the UAW won’t be a part of the new operations, at least for now. When asked after the event what the arrival of new jobs would mean to Local 292, the union leaders made it clear that they had been left out in the cold. The new Delphi plant will not be a union shop.

But Hiatt wants to change that situation.

“When they made the announcement, I made sure to tell the politicians — especially the Republicans — I’d make it my life’s work to organize Delphi again,” said Hiatt. “But I’ve got my own set of problems with General Motors now, and organizing is a regional issue for the UAW. They would be remiss if they didn’t try to organize the new plant.”

Hiatt said that Local 292 officials haven’t had an opportunity to speak to Delphi about the issue, and the decision to house the new manufacturing operations in a site away from the plants along U.S. 31 and Lincoln Road wasn’t accidental, he claimed. It boils down to the company wanting nothing to do with the union.

“Delphi put up a Plan B,” said Hiatt. “Plan A was to put the work in our plant. The stimulus package proposal was made before the split to GM. Once there was a split, Delphi took the position that they no longer wanted to be involved with the UAW and made other arrangements as far as getting a building on Morgan Street.

“There was always an undercurrent running about them taking it somewhere else. But the federal aid was earmarked for Kokomo. They manufacture in Kokomo, or they don’t get the money. That was the attitude from the government. It’s great that Kokomo is getting jobs, but let’s face it. We don’t need poverty jobs. We need jobs that will help sustain the community and make the workers viable members of the community.”

Hiatt is facing a battle on two fronts if he chooses to push for organization of the planned Delphi facility. His attention at present is being focused upon the creation of a new national agreement with GM.

“The UAW shifted strategies, so instead of a master agreement for the five (former) Delphi sites, they are having each site look at things they need in a national agreement as separate agreements,” Hiatt said. “I’m not clear on what it’s going to mean. I’m overwhelmed by the thought of having to put together an entire agreement.

“We have some guidelines, so it’s not like we’re going to start all over from page one, but the bottom line is we can’t continue to lose money or GM doesn’t want us. We have to come up with a competitive agreement that will help make us profitable.”

Local 292 has been tasked with creating its own national agreement, and the future of GM in Kokomo rests on the outcome of the negotiations. Fortunately, the union leadership has some experience in searching out cost-cutting measures and profitability opportunities.

“At one time we put together a Win the Business team, and we came up with cost-saving ideas to make FAB III profitable,” said Hiatt. “We haven’t implemented those ideas yet, but we see where we can cut costs. Now we need to do that with the rest of the business. All of our business is fragile. GM is not going to keep us around if we cost them money month after month.

“It’s a shame that it had to come to this, but because of the economic situation, volume is a big factor to our success. With our products, we’re not profitable if we’re not making high volumes. The overhead costs don’t change.”

There appears to be some promising signs in the economy in recent weeks that may assist Local 292 in fashioning an agreement that keeps the 850 GM production jobs in Kokomo. The auto manufacturer is experiencing increased demand for certain of its products. That means more work locally.

“What I’m hearing is that GM is going to reopen a closed plant to help meet the increased demand for their crossover vehicles — the Equinox, the Cadillac crossover, and the Buick Enclave,” said Hiatt. “We’ve seen some increased scheduling here, but it hasn’t been enough to make us profitable. It has been significant enough to slow the loss.”