From Detroit Free Press

TROY, MI -- Negotiations continued yesterday, Aug.29, between attorneys representing Delphi Corp. and its shareholders. U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen had set an Aug. 29 deadline for a settlement and has asked those involved in the case to remain in the Detroit area to settle the suits as soon as possible.

Shareholders and Delphi employees enrolled in the company's stock plan sued the company in 2005 after Delphi said it found accounting irregularities, including inflated cash and profits, dating back to its spin off from General Motors Corp. in 1999. The suits contend that Delphi misled investors and that the managers of the employee stock plan acted irresponsibly by investing money in Delphi stock.

In a separate release, Delphi Corp. said it won court approval of a new contract with the United Steelworkers union, following accords with five other unions, bringing the largest U.S. auto-parts maker closer to labor peace and an exit from bankruptcy.

"Unless something very untoward happens, this should resolve the labor issues Delphi has faced," U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain said in New York yesterday, approving the agreement. "Obviously this is a very significant accomplishment."

About 900 Delphi employees at two plants in Ohio must vote on the contract, company attorney John Butler Jr. said after a hearing in Manhattan. Delphi won court approval of new contracts with four of its unions on Aug. 16, after reaching an agreement in July with its largest, the UAW, that cut wages by as much as 41percent.