American Axle makes new offer to UAW

i may not be a union fan, but i do believe the people have the right to fight for what is theirs. to keep their homes and keep their children fed.

Seenitbefore wrote:

Oh and by the way?! The European products you prefer to buy because they are of higher quality have you thought maybe that's because they have (gasp) national health care; Their's too are unionized, and the wage differential between the factory floor and the executives suite(s) are not nearly as severe as they are here?!

It seems that Michiganders have a completely separate concept of "union" which entails no contribution of the employee and the expectation of somebody else taking care of them for the rest of their lives and no need to contribute anything positive to society other than to complain about how life has changed from 50 years ago but they should be excluded from it! If they'd bothered to think outside of getting a job and pension once they reach 30 years they might consider that their line of work is completely unsustainable and unless they are proactive about it they will be left in the dust as more options arise and the world gets smaller.

As for the "cost differential between the floor and the executives" that is capitalistic America. If you don't want to aspire to be anywhere but the floor why do you believe that you should be paid the same rate to punch a button?

Buying European wrote:

<quoted text>
It seems that Michiganders have a completely separate concept of "union" which entails no contribution of the employee and the expectation of somebody else taking care of them for the rest of their lives and no need to contribute anything positive to society other than to complain about how life has changed from 50 years ago but they should be excluded from it! If they'd bothered to think outside of getting a job and pension once they reach 30 years they might consider that their line of work is completely unsustainable and unless they are proactive about it they will be left in the dust as more options arise and the world gets smaller.
As for the "cost differential between the floor and the executives" that is capitalistic America. If you don't want to aspire to be anywhere but the floor why do you believe that you should be paid the same rate to punch a button?

No Michiganders don't have a completely separate concept of what union is. It's you that has no concept of what union is.

What makes you think executives are any better than the unions they fight against. They make 6 to 8 figures AND STILL expect the company to pay for their health coverage,PLUS their retirement. If they were REALLY worth the money they were making they would have the common sense and decency toward the company's well being to pay for their own health coverage and save enough for their own retirement out of their salaries. But oh no, they expect the people that keep them in a job to be responsible enough to live below their means to save enough to pay for their own health care and save for retirement. So for you to think that it's the workers that are lazy and expecting handouts is imbecilic. YOU point out the executives of these corporations that pay their own health insurance coverage plus entirely and for their own retirement while they are making as much as 437% over what the people who REALLY make the company survive and prosper. The same people these executives are saying are overpaid. You can't. So I'm telling you who the real moochers are.

One more thing. That proves the capitalistic system is broken. The capitalist will sell you the rope used to hang him with.

IAM high Buying You are A PEON.
no wonder american kids love to indulge in taking apart japanese products, when they where cheap they were made in usa japan, aname that resmbled the united states of america

thanks for pulling my last post, americas = mexico us and canada and south america, maybe we should wonder why manufacturing is offshoring to India and China. In world war 2 us manufacturing was a plus against hitlers armies. Lettuce seas how tibet china iran pakistan and India redeem the planet.

re cnitb4
buying european wrote
this is precisely the reason that i will not buy an europeon car-aside from the fact that they are inferior,(think volkswagen, toyota, honda) unsafe think (KIA, hyundi) and unattractive, think hummer I, II , III

I wish they would kiss and make up already. I've had projects postponed and canceled because of this. I too have to pay my bills.

I LOVE CARS ALL. i MAKE CARS OR PARTS. qUALITY IS #1 capps off why dog the workers we are the workers the big dog is the CEO or whatever, If you graduated from Harvard and were doing a good job we salute you, If you dog your workers in your home country and sell them down the river as you make your multimillions, I may wonder if I would ever support an Un American University like that. Make your own bed

pmi, this is the new reality, hard environment.

Jonbob wrote:

Jack and Jenn hit the nail on the head. This strike hurts most of Michigan. I happen to work for a supplier of a supplier, and we're feeling the effects of the slowed/stopped GM plants.
I don't know the details, but my guess is that American Axle is just doing what it feels it needs to do in order to remain/become competitive in a global economy. It's compete or shut down, in this world. The Union would rather take the company down than (insert small concession here). Personally, I say fire all the lazy bastards, hire some of the many unemployed Michiganders who actually WANT to work, and get the company, GM, and the rest of the state back to work.
I have no sympathy for strikes in this economy. Not when it brings down the entire state.

J-J-J you three need a life,,

re cnit B4
retanks, we needed to know that the workers left feel like they are an a battlefield of jobs. All the old peeps like UU GET YOUR ARSE OUTA HERE, WE WILL RUN UU dosn downj down

not you pmi, it was for really smart people like "Seen it all befoe" - hence the acronym cnitb4, life is simple till U STARVE, OR YOUR PARENTS STARVE, OR YOUR CHILDREN STARVE OR YOUR NEIGHBORS STASRVER

Seenitbefore wrote:

Oh and by the way?! The European products you prefer to buy because they are of higher quality have you thought maybe that's because they have (gasp) national health care; Their's too are unionized, and the wage differential between the factory floor and the executives suite(s) are not nearly as severe as they are here?!

And what in the world does national health care have to do with it? Last time I looked, national health care didn't have much to do with quality control. But the unions want all of us to pay for everyone's health care, so they can take the differential in more wages. Good grief man, between the CEO's pay and union pay and benefits, most people can't afford to finance a car,$20.00 on every $1000.00 in value? Who wants to pay $450 a month and up for a car? To buy $3.65 a gallon gas? And the car gets 20 mpg?

upnorth wrote:

<quoted text>
And what in the world does national health care have to do with it? Last time I looked, national health care didn't have much to do with quality control. But the unions want all of us to pay for everyone's health care, so they can take the differential in more wages. Good grief man, between the CEO's pay and union pay and benefits, most people can't afford to finance a car,$20.00 on every $1000.00 in value? Who wants to pay $450 a month and up for a car? To buy $3.65 a gallon gas? And the car gets 20 mpg?

For the last 25 years (major) corporations have been trying to pass health care (insurance) costs onto the Federal Government. They have not been doing so overtly for the obvious reason(s).

upnorth wrote:

<quoted text>
And what in the world does national health care have to do with it? Last time I looked, national health care didn't have much to do with quality control. But the unions want all of us to pay for everyone's health care, so they can take the differential in more wages. Good grief man, between the CEO's pay and union pay and benefits, most people can't afford to finance a car,$20.00 on every $1000.00 in value? Who wants to pay $450 a month and up for a car? To buy $3.65 a gallon gas? And the car gets 20 mpg?

Oops. Hit the enter too soon.

National health care reduces their (company) costs. You're right it doesn't have anything to do with quality...in actuality.

And I don't care how much the cost of labor is reduced it is NOT going to lower the prices of vehicles. Not significantly enough to be beneficial to the consumer anyway.

I need to keep this short. What you are saying is true. It's just not a out front as it should be. These companies do hide behind a LOT of excuses.

My posty on health care

when 90 percent of the users of the system enter through the front door of the emergency room, you collapse first response and begin triage for survivors. Then how is the hospital CEO going to get paid his or her Millions or Billions?

I'd make an offer to the union as well. It would go something like this..........

Get back to work or leave, you can be replaced!!

READ MORE: http://futureoftheunion.com/...

The United Auto Workers union is close to reaching an agreement with American Axle & Manufacturing that will accept company demands on every major issue, including cutting wages and closing at least two plants. More than 3,600 workers have been on strike at AAM for ten weeks.

Details of the agreement have been reported on blogs run by American Axle workers and in the media. The Detroit Free Press reported on Thursday that a framework for a settlement was near, and would include the closure of two plants, substantially lower pay for all workers, and the breaking up of the national agreement into separate plant-by-plant contracts. The newspaper cited “people briefed on the talks” as the source for its information. Talks are expected to continue throughout the weekend.

According to the Free Press, wages would be cut to $17 an hour for production workers,$14 for non-production workers, and $25.50 for skilled trades workers.

Before the strike, American Axle workers earned $28.15 an hour, with skilled trades at more than $30 an hour. The terms outlined above would mean a pay cut of between $11 and $14 an hour (or upwards of $25,000 a year) for most workers.

Prior to the strike, the UAW had agreed to substantial wage cuts that would have given workers a few dollars an hour more than what they would receive under the framework reported by the Free Press.

Two forging plants would be closed—at Tonawanda, New York, and in Detroit, Michigan. A third plant in Three Rivers, Michigan could also be closed.
Shutting down the Detroit forge plant would mean the loss of hundreds more jobs in a city that has been devastated by the decline of the US auto industry and the outsourcing of labor to cheaper locations in the US and internationally.

The closure of the Tonawnada plant would likely mean the end of American Axle’s operations in the Buffalo, New York area, further devastating a region that, like Detroit, has been hit by the destruction of its manufacturing base. Tonawanda employs about 400 workers, and a companion finishing plant, whose future existence is also questionable, employs about 110. Last year, American Axle idled a plant in Buffalo that once employed over 2,000 workers.

According to reports on blogs run by American Axle workers, the company was prepared to keep the forge plants open if the workers accepted $10-$14 an hour wages for production workers. If the forges are shut, the work there will be replaced by low-wage plants in the US and Mexico.

The closure of these plants will leave only two remaining—the manufacturing facilities in Detroit and Three Rivers, provided that the latter remains open. Extremely significant is the proposal to break up the remaining plants into separate contracts. This framework, which has been adopted by the UAW at other auto parts suppliers, would serve to pit the different plants against each other in a competition for lower wages and benefits, under the threat of closure.

AAM is reportedly threatening to close Three Rivers in one year if the concessions are not high enough. The company is insisting on a clause that would allow it to shut the plant down if the company’s financial situation worsens.

Over the past 25 years, the UAW has worked to impose concessions by blocking any mobilization of workers across the auto industry. Separate contracts are negotiated at separate companies, and concessions at one become the foundation for demanding concessions at another. This model is now being extended within each company itself, as a means of breaking up any solidarity among the rank-and-file.

READ MORE: http://futureoftheunion.com/...