Pardon my language, but how fucking nice. Contracts and legal agreements mean nothing, I guess.

Does this mean I don't have to pay my mortgage or car loan? After all, if a large corporation can do it, why can't I?

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Does this mean I don't have to pay my mortgage or car loan? After all, if a large corporation can do it, why can't I?

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Depending on where you live you can. Chapter 11 is rarely used for personal bankruptcies since the legal fees are likely to exceed the value of your mortgage (or your house for that matter) but people can and do declare bankruptcy and walk on their debts.

Individuals usually file under

Chapter 7 or Chapter 13.

http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/03/31/ap2637981.html

If the bankruptcy court rules that Delphi can indeed nullify the labour contract, not only will that be the end of Delphi, but in all likelihood GM as well.

I also believe this will be the beginning of the end for the UAW.

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If the bankruptcy court rules that Delphi can indeed nullify the labour contract, not only will that be the end of Delphi, but in all likelihood GM as well.

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I think it's the end of Delphi either way. If the courts don't let them nullify the labor contracts, the company goes bust. In that case, the pension liabilities get dropped onto the PBGIC and all pensioners will see their benefits slashed by a very significant percentage (look at United Airlines if in doubt). I haven't seen anything about retiree medical but I'd expect those benefits to go the way of the dinosaur as well. Someone may pick up a few of the pieces although it's more likely to be in the form of an asset purchase than a purchase of the company [i.e., someone will buy those few physical plants that can potentially be run at a profit but will not buy "Delphi" per se so there will be no ongoing labor contracts].

If the courts do allow the rescision of the contracts the unions go on strike and Delphi goes bust anyways. Same results as above.

In either case GM is in trouble - I keep expecting to wake up one morning to hear that the PBGIC has taken over their pension obligations and all retirees are suddenly going to get about 30 cents on the dollar with respect to their ongoing pensions. And again, no retiree medical benefits.

I'd expect that if that happens GM is going to go out of business. Note that GM does have other things it can sell but nobody is going to take over any subsidiary operations or joint ventures if there is any possibility of the existing problems coming with it.

Of course all this will only serve to put additional pressure on Ford, which has its own problems. If GM makes investors nervous Ford's cost of financing goes up and the saga continues.

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I also believe this will be the beginning of the end for the UAW.

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It's too bad this isn't happening in France: French workers seldom surrender

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How would it make a difference if this were in France. Insolvent is insolvent. The only difference would seem to be that it's absolutely guaranteed that no solution will be reached.

[ 08 April 2006: Message edited by: Privateer ]

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Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) chairman and CEO Bill Ford said Wednesday that bankruptcy isn't an option for America's No. 2 automaker

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The simple fact that he has to raise the question speaks volumes about the real situation.

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"We've got one big problem and it's the U.S. auto business, and we're going to fix that, and when we fix that this discussion will disappear."

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[ 09 April 2006: Message edited by: abnormal ]

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United Auto Workers members have voted to authorize a strike against auto supplier Delphi Corp.

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The strike votes give Delphi's unions more weight in their ongoing wage negotiations with the company. Delphi, which filed for bankruptcy protection in October, has proposed cutting its U.S. hourly workers' wages from $27 (U.S.) an hour to $16.50 an hour, or as low as $12.50 an hour if GM doesn't agree to supplement those wages.

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