NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Talks between General Motors, bankrupt auto parts maker Delphi and the United Auto Workers are making progress, but no deal is near, according to union officials meeting in Detroit Wednesday.

"They are making some headway on some issues but are not anywhere as of yet," one UAW local official who asked not to be named told Reuters after the meeting. "They are hoping that they will have something in the near future to tell us. We are making some progress but nothing is finalized in any shape or form."

The union officials were meeting to get their regularly monthly update on the progress of talks. Delphi (Research) is on record as saying it will ask the bankruptcy judge to void the current labor pacts if there is not a new agreement by the end of this month, but the Detroit News reported that UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said Tuesday that he doesn't view that as a firm deadline.

"That's Mr. Miller's deadline," Gettelfinger said of Delphi CEO Robert "Steve" Miller. "You'll have to ask him what he means by it."

The talks are viewed as crucial for GM's efforts to avoid bankruptcy and to shave costs. The company is on record as saying it may be responsible for up to $12 billion in payments to its former employees due to agreements signed between Delphi, the UAW and GM (Research) when the former GM parts unit was spun off as a separate company in 1999.

Delphi is still the largest parts supplier to GM, and a long strike could cripple the carmaker and force it to file bankruptcy. But most experts believe that there is little chance of such a prolonged strike.

"The union talks a tough game, but I don't think they're going to let anyone walk out," said Sean McAlinden, chief economist at the Center for Automotive Research. "Everybody is in the same lifeboat. They're not going to start to fence with each other in a rubber lifeboat."

Bob Schnorbus, the chief economist at JD Power & Associates, says that the concessions that GM wins from the union will be crucial to its competitiveness going forward.

"The agreements they arrive at with Delphi will affect not only GM's liabilities, but will set the tone for labor negotiations next year at GM, Ford (Research) and DaimlerChrysler (Research)," said Schnorbus. "It's like the Rolling Stones; they won't get what they want, but they'll get what they need."

But unlike McAlinden, Schnorbus said he could see the union staging a short strike before there is a settlement.

"You've got to sell the agreement to the rank and file, many of whom will be unwilling to yield anything," he said. "The workers want to feel the leadership has done everything they could to protect their wages and benefits."

Officials with GM have regularly said they do not foresee the need to file for bankruptcy court protections, despite ongoing losses at the embattled automaker. Spokesmen for GM and Delphi were not immediately available for comment Wednesday.

For the latest assessment from S&P about the chance of a bankruptcy at GM, click here.