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UAW on Strike Against American Axle
By Jewel Gopwani
The Free Press
Tuesday 26 February 2008
Talks break down over proposed concessions.
By this morning, negotiations between American Axle & Manufacturing Inc.
and the UAW were still stalled.
The UAW sent most of its members at American on strike early today, protesting
the company's proposals on wage and benefit concessions.
People filtered out of the union hall for UAW Local 235, on Holbrook Street
in Hamtramck, with picket signs. Some were moving toward the nearby American
Axle complex.
"The UAW has a proven record of working with companies to improve their
competitive position and secure jobs," said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger
in a statement. "But cooperation does not mean capitulation. Our members
cannot be expected to make the extreme sacrifices American Axle is asking for
with nothing in return."
The strike affects about 3,600 workers in American Axle plants in Michigan
and New York. The UAW represents about 1,000 more workers under different contracts
at the company.
In a letter to members handed out at meetings Monday night, the union said
the company had made unreasonable proposals on wages and proposed increasing
co-pays for prescription drugs, eliminating vision coverage and freezing pension
benefits, replacing them with a 401(k) plan.
The union said it requested information from the company on the assumptions
used to reach these demands, but the supplier has so far refused. The union
is now accusing American Axle of committing unfair labor practices.
"We will have no alternative but to strike," the letter said. American
Axle's contract expired at 11:59 p.m. Monday.
In a statement, the UAW said the company demanded wage reductions of up to
$14 an hour.
In its own statement, the company said its primary objective "is to achieve
a market-competitive labor cost structure in the United States," similar
to agreements other companies had reached with the UAW.
Without such changes, the company said, its ability to compete for future business
or retain existing business at these locations is in immediate jeopardy.
This is the third strike against an auto company in six months and the second
strike against Detroit-based American Axle in four years.
Earlier Monday evening, the two sides were still far apart on the fundamental
issue of wages, which the company has been seeking to lower for more than 3,000
workers, said people familiar with the negotiations.
Another sticking point in the talks was the company's proposal for plant shutdowns,
said Wendy Thompson, former president of UAW Local 235, who had been briefed
on the talks.
Management has said it wants to lower the overall compensation from $65 an
hour, including wages and benefits, to $27.
That would take wages from about $27 an hour to more like $14 to $18 an hour
- a level closer to what Delphi Corp. pays, or the second-tier wage negotiated
at the Detroit Three last summer.
"We continue to believe the new contract has the potential to take down
AXL's labor cost by $20 an hour and, with attrition programs, yield potential
savings of $200 million annually," said Lehman Brothers auto analyst Brian
Johnson.
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