Top-level talks resume in American Axle strike

here i sit while the strike goes on and on and the economy just plummets. woo hoo.

Hang in there brother, this is all about UAW greed and the need to support inflated wages in the non-skilled manufacturing sector.

Too bad the UAW pisses all that money away on V-CAP.

I support the strike BUT.........American Axle workers need to think about all the other people in the automotive industry that are laid off due to them being on strike. Yeah they maybe losing some wages but think about all the other families that are hurting because of them not wanting the pay cut.

they will strike until next month's bills come around...that's how it usually works-they'll end up taking a cut whether they like it or not-their competition has so they have to fall in line-no matter what industry it is, that's the history of this kind of thing-i feel sorry for the workers,but probably deep down inside they know this...the longer it goes on,they'll start fighting amongst themselves-i have seen it-more than once-it's human nature-good luck!!!please don't come to blows-it's not worth it!!!!!!

laid off wrote:

here i sit while the strike goes on and on and the economy just plummets. woo hoo.

Where do you work at and when do you go back to work?

Automakers Eager as Axles Turn High-Tech
Mar 24, 2008
Automotive News
Suddenly, axles are hot.
New fuel-efficiency requirements are pushing automakers toward the latest driveline technology. Axle makers are boosting investments, despite a softening market, and newcomers are entering the field.
Want proof that the auto industry cares about advanced axles? Follow the money.
-- Chrysler LLC is spending $700 million on an axle plant in Marysville, Mich., north of Detroit. Chrysler manufacturing chief Frank Ewasyshyn says the automaker intends to open the plant in 2010 to tap fuel-efficiency gains available through new Mercedes axle technology Chrysler will incorporate into its vehicles.
-- Dana Holding Corp. spent heavily on a new r&d center even as it struggled to leave Chapter 11. No longer in reorganization, Dana continues to develop a family of lightweight, high-torque axles, one of which is currently on the redesigned BMW X5 SUV.
-- Canadian heavyweights Magna International Inc. and Linamar Corp. are using acquisitions and product research to expand their driveline offerings, pushing into segments long dominated by Dana and American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc., of Detroit.
Facing stiffer competition, American Axle CEO Richard E. Dauch is suffering through a costly UAW strike as he seeks to slash combined wages and benefits closer to the average $14 an hour paid at Dana. That would at least halve the current labor costs at American Axle.
Axle roster
The list of axle suppliers in North America is growing.

Current players

Dana

Aisin

American Axle

ZF

Moving into the field

Magna

Linamar

No longer a commodity
Until a few months ago, axles were widely seen as a low-tech commodity. The typical pickup or SUV buyer doesn't ask about axles. Little incentive existed to invest heavily in axle technology.
Many analysts thought Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. would sell their internal axle divisions. Conventional wisdom said they could get better technology at a lower price from outside.
That's not the case today. Ford manufacturing chief Joe Hinrichs says the automaker is holding on to its axle plant in suburban Detroit. Chrysler is confounding skeptics by building its new plant.
For General Motors purchasing czar Bo Andersson, an advanced axle is a high-tech precision part, not a commodity. "It is a safety-critical component that provides a vehicle's driving characteristics," he says. "It's one of the five most expensive parts, and it is 10 times more complex than seating."
ENLARGE
Thomas Stone, president of Dana Holding Corp.'s traction products division, shows an axle Dana makes for the Ford Fusion sedan.

2 key developments
Two developments in 2007 upped the ante on axles.
1. Congress raised fleetwide mileage requirements to 35 mpg by 2020, the first legislative increase in nearly three decades. The stiffer rules begin to take effect as of 2011.
Chrysler's Ewasyshyn says the axles built in Marysville will operate with less friction than the previous generation of Chrysler axles. The improvement could be 3 percent.
That may not sound like much, but every little bit helps. Plus, new axles on pickups and SUVs would raise the efficiency of the least-efficient, high-volume models, thus going a long way toward boosting the overall corporate mileage numbers.
2. The UAW reached landmark new contracts with the Detroit 3 that would cut the cost of running an axle plant.
The axle plants at Chrysler and Ford received special UAW designation for a two-tier wage structure. Any new hires will earn $14 an hour instead of the prevailing $28.
With both automakers now offering buyouts and early retirements to prune their ranks of veteran workers, their axle plants could become low-wage operations on a par with the lowest-paid competitors, such as Dana.
The spending on advanced axles comes in the face of shrinking sales. Rising gasoline prices are especially hurting light-truck sales and thus volumes of the highest-profit axles. In 2007, U.S. light-truck sales fell 1.9 percent to 8.27 million vehicles. The sector slid an additional 8.4 percent through February to 1,128,055 units.
Chrysler's decision to proceed with the construction of the Marysville plant surprised several axle makers. They had been salivating at the opportunity to bid on the 1.2 million axles per year that Marysville will produce.

New work
Suppliers still may get some work from Chrysler. The carmaker is expected to build gears and assemble axles at Marysville. Chrysler could turn to outside suppliers for axle shafts, axle carriers and differential cases. Those represent about 30 to 40 percent of the cost of an axle.
Handing off even part of Chrysler's axle business would represent a major opportunity in drivelines, where only an estimated 30 percent of all contracts are subject to open bidding.
Dana worked closely with the UAW to reduce its labor costs while in Chapter 11. Now it thinks it is well-positioned to get any new outsourced Chrysler work, says Thomas Stone, president of Dana's traction products division.
Smelling opportunity, new suppliers are moving in. Late last year, Linamar acquired Ford's power transfer unit business at a plant in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. A power transfer unit helps change a two-wheel-drive vehicle into an all-wheel-drive one.
"We are heading in the direction of becoming a complete driveline system supplier," says Crystal Roberts, a spokeswoman for Linamar, of Guelph, Ontario.
Magna is a major European driveline supplier, but its North American goals have been limited — until now. "Magna is hiring former GM and Chrysler powertrain people to develop their design capabilities here," says a person familiar with the Aurora, Ontario, company.
Suppliers think automakers are prepared to pay for fuel-saving technologies, including advanced axles. Andersson, GM's group vice president for purchasing and supply chain, told Automotive News last month: "As a buyer, I don't like to say this, but you will see great returns from companies that are successful in this area."

okay maybe it is a good time for AAM strikers to go back to work. Doesn't take skilled labor to figure out what this article is telling you.

No longer a commodity
Until a few months ago, axles were widely seen as a low-tech commodity. The typical pickup or SUV buyer doesn't ask about axles. Little incentive existed to invest heavily in axle technology.
Many analysts thought Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. would sell their internal axle divisions. Conventional wisdom said they could get better technology at a lower price from outside.
That's not the case today. Ford manufacturing chief Joe Hinrichs says the automaker is holding on to its axle plant in suburban Detroit. Chrysler is confounding skeptics by building its new plant.
For General Motors purchasing czar Bo Andersson, an advanced axle is a high-tech precision part, not a commodity. "It is a safety-critical component that provides a vehicle's driving characteristics," he says. "It's one of the five most expensive parts, and it is 10 times more complex than seating."
2 key developments
Two developments in 2007 upped the ante on axles.
1. Congress raised fleetwide mileage requirements to 35 mpg by 2020, the first legislative increase in nearly three decades. The stiffer rules begin to take effect as of 2011.
Chrysler's Ewasyshyn says the axles built in Marysville will operate with less friction than the previous generation of Chrysler axles. The improvement could be 3 percent.
That may not sound like much, but every little bit helps. Plus, new axles on pickups and SUVs would raise the efficiency of the least-efficient, high-volume models, thus going a long way toward boosting the overall corporate mileage numbers.
2. The UAW reached landmark new contracts with the Detroit 3 that would cut the cost of running an axle plant.
The axle plants at Chrysler and Ford received special UAW designation for a two-tier wage structure. Any new hires will earn $14 an hour instead of the prevailing $28.
With both automakers now offering buyouts and early retirements to prune their ranks of veteran workers, their axle plants could become low-wage operations on a par with the lowest-paid competitors, such as Dana.
The spending on advanced axles comes in the face of shrinking sales. Rising gasoline prices are especially hurting light-truck sales and thus volumes of the highest-profit axles. In 2007, U.S. light-truck sales fell 1.9 percent to 8.27 million vehicles. The sector slid an additional 8.4 percent through February to 1,128,055 units.
Chrysler's decision to proceed with the construction of the Marysville plant surprised several axle makers. They had been salivating at the opportunity to bid on the 1.2 million axles per year that Marysville will produce.

Here I sit all broken hearted.. paid a dime and only farted. Cheap labor vs higher paid labor. Don't hate the Players... HATE the game! In Mexico, those who do have jobs worry about their job going to China! And the US Corporations just keep RUSHING to send everything they can to China or other cheap labor places. So, what's wrong with that? What's wrong with making profits? Well if that is the only issue.. the Global/USA Corporations would be most happy if they could just have Slaves! The profits would be huge! Think about it. Oh.. forgot we can't have slaves no more. Soooo, let's go some where and pay the people $10 a DAY with NO benefits! I don't know about you guys, but I can't make it on $10 a day. Nor can the Mexicans make it on $10 a day. DON'T HATE THE PLAYER, HATE THE GAME. THE GAME IS USA CORPORATIONS SELLING OUT AMERICA!!! AS LONG AS WE THE PEOPLE LET THEM DO THIS, NO JOBS ARE SAFE. UP NORTH OR IN THE SOUTH.. NO JOB!

NAFA IS NOT THE ISSUE, THE JOBS ARE GOING TO CHINA IN THE NAME OF FREE TRADE. TO A COUNTRY WHOSE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT EVEN BELIVE IN FREEDOM! HOW DO YOU THINK THEY WILL RESPECT "FREE" TRADE. BUT THE GAME GOES ON. DOWN WITH CUBA, BUT UP WITH CHINA. AMERICANS ARE BEING PLAYED.. WAKE UP.

scrape wrote:

Lets face it if general motors runs out of trucks the public can still buy one off the nips. they took away harleys wins on the flat track nascars probably next,and it probably wont take long for them to figure how to make gas out of rice beware ethonal plants.

SPELL MUCH!!!!!

no place for white trash on this board. What is the uneducated man talking about NIPS for on this site. What does that mean. Are you talking about your fellow american nipples, i know you are into something freaky. Oh, my is your son gay, and dating someone from an other ethnic race, cant handle it and get on this site and call someone a bad name. You should be ashamed of yourself...lol the last laugh is on you loser!!! biker, your wife is ugly too i heard,

laid off also wrote:

I support the strike BUT.........American Axle workers need to think about all the other people in the automotive industry that are laid off due to them being on strike. Yeah they maybe losing some wages but think about all the other families that are hurting because of them not wanting the pay cut.

would you take a pay cut of 20k a year?? and do the same amount of work?

The problem that these workers at American Axle are not considering and I think the union does not want them to know... is that GM is starting to insource jobs under their contract from last year and paying their new employees 14 bucks an hour... for example... if American Axle cant lower their labour cost to 14 bucks an hour... GM will just take the work away from them and start their own plant making these parts paying the new employees 14 bucks an hour.. saving GM millions!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2 ...

These american axle employees are going to strike themselves out of a job.

Sorry if the truth hurts.

Hey many workers are forced to strike by the intimidation of the union & AAM. People WANT to work!!
Even those laid off were forced from lay=off to strike. Fear tactics keep workers with no work and it is coming from both sides. This is a horrible situation. Greed is at the heart of this. Mr. Dauch better think about the future of his company. Outsourcing is totally un American worthy of flogging. It is the workers that made him his fortune now he is letting them down.

UAW Worker wrote:

no place for white trash on this board. What is the uneducated man talking about NIPS for on this site. What does that mean. Are you talking about your fellow american nipples, i know you are into something freaky. Oh, my is your son gay, and dating someone from an other ethnic race, cant handle it and get on this site and call someone a bad name. You should be ashamed of yourself...lol the last laugh is on you loser!!! biker, your wife is ugly too i heard,

I support your comments and find them acutely hilarious. In addition I might add that not only may his wife be ugly I heard she is having an affair with an oriental lesbian.

This strike better be handled toots sweet or my train distribution network will come to a standstill. My word!

A lot of people are going bellyup because of this strike.... something has gotta give... please American Axle ... relocate to mexico NOW.

andrew wrote:

<quoted text>
would you take a pay cut of 20k a year?? and do the same amount of work?

the way jobs are in michigan here I sure would, its called cut back on the things that are not needed. duhhhhhhh Do you need cable, phone, internet, cell phone, etc NO THEN GET RID OF IT. So yes I would take a pay cut

mexico pay's about 3;dollars an hour get use to cutting back duhhhh ! hope your kids like the new house roof no window's dirt floor get out of the usa jackass