Last Update on : March 7, 2008
Axle strike may shut 13 more GM plants
 Contract talks resumed Thursday between American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. and the United Auto Workers union, as the 10-- day strike threatened to idle or partially shut down 13 more General Motors Corp. plants as early as Monday.
GM, the Detroit-based supplier's largest customer, has already idled seven assembly plants, since 3,600 American Axle workers at five factories walked off their jobs Feb. 26. If no settlement is reached over the weekend, operations will halt at 20 GM plants, affecting 27,258 hourly workers -- a third of the automaker's manufacturing work force.
Among the plants slated for work stoppage Monday are Romulus Engine and Saginaw Metal Casting, both to be fully shut down. Toledo Transmission, Flint South Engine and Bay City Components would be partially shut down.
GM spokesman Tom Wickham said even a resolution over the weekend could temporarily mean a shutdown at GM component factories because assembly lines need time to ramp up.
And if the strike continues into next week, Chrysler LLC, American Axle's second largest customer, could idle plants in Delaware and Mexico in the middle of next week.
The widening impact of the strike has automakers and workers closely monitoring the first formal UAW-American Axle negotiations since contracts expired and talks broke down Feb. 25. Company and union officials would only say Thursday that talks are ongoing.
American Axle is seeking deep cuts in wages and benefits to make salaries competitive with its domestic counterparts. A source close to the negotiations said American Axle is seeking to slash hourly wages for production workers from $28.15 to $14.50 and cut 1,000 plant jobs. The Detroit-based company also is offering workers $80,000 to $110,000 buyout packages.
The UAW has said it hasn't seen financial data to back up the company's proposed wage cuts, which the union contends are based on what other companies pay and not American Axle's cost structure or profitability.
A key to reaching an agreement could be a buydown -- a bonus that for a limited time makes up the difference between current wages and the lower wages the company is seeking. Company and union officials said they are open to considering buydowns.
An agreement on buydowns could mean an end to the strike, said Richard Block, professor in the Michigan State University School of Labor and Industrial Relations.
"Because they agreed on the principles they are just talking about old-fashioned money -- and you can usually compromise about money," he said.
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