Mumbai: General Motors Corp of the US and bankrupt auto parts maker Delphi Corp. are near a deal with the United Auto Workers Union that would provide a cash payout to Delphi workers in exchange for lower hourly wages, the Detroit News reported.

Under the proposal, 4,000 UAW workers would be offered an unspecified one-time cash payment in return for accepting lower wages that could range from $14 to $18 per hour. Workers could also take the lump sum and accept early retirement or flow back to GM, the report said, citing people familiar with the talks.

US automakers pay their factory workers an average of about $73 per hour in wages and benefits, compared to just $44 per hour for the three major Japanese car makers operating plants in North America, according to industry data.

GM would fund the programme. An agreement could be completed within a week or so, helping Delphi to emerge from bankruptcy, according to the report.

Delphi, GM and the UAW did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

A Delphi settlement would remove a major uncertainty for GM, which next month begins its own contract talks with the UAW. GM and other automakers will be seeking deep concessions intended to bring their labor costs in line with rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp.

Troy, Michigan-based Delphi, which filed for bankruptcy in October 2005, has been in talks with its unions and GM over a recapitalisation plan to emerge from bankruptcy. The parts maker reached agreements with its unions and GM on buyouts last year that allowed about 20,000 US unionised hourly workers to leave Delphi.

GM has estimated its financial exposure from the Delphi restructuring at $7 billion and said it could take a charge of $1 billion this quarter related to the costs of a settlement.

The companies are resolved to move jobs overseas, if they could not reduce their US labor costs.

Delphi has been a major risk to GM since a work stoppage at the company, which remains GM''s largest parts supplier, has the potential to shut down production at the automaker.