DETROIT — The United Automobile Workers union called its third strike in five months Tuesday, sending some 3,650 workers at parts factories in Michigan and New York off the job in opposition to proposed pay and benefits cuts, and to what it called unfair labor practices.þþAnalysts said that the strike, against American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings, threatened to shut down some truck production at General Motors, the supplier’s biggest customer and former parent company. G.M. officials said there were no immediate disruptions, and both companies had stockpiled some parts in preparation for a work halt, though it was reported to be only a few days’ worth.þþThe U.A.W.’s president, Ron Gettelfinger, who led the union in brief strikes against G.M. and Chrysler last fall, accused American Axle of failing to provide enough information for the union to evaluate the proposed cuts.þþIn a statement, Mr. Gettelfinger said talks broke off Monday night, when the previous contract expired “with major issues unresolved.” No new talks are scheduled.þþHe said that the company’s demands included cutting wages as much as $14 an hour, to about half the current rate for most workers, and eliminating retirement health care coverage and pensions. “Our members cannot be expected to make the extreme sacrifices American Axle is asking for with nothing in return,” Mr. Gettelfinger said.þþWorkers walked picket lines and huddled near fire barrels during a snowstorm outside American Axle headquarters in Detroit and elsewhere. Some said they were upset that a profitable company was making such demands of them at a time when prices were climbing rapidly and bills were piling up. American Axle reported a profit of $37 million last year; each of the three Detroit automakers lost billions.þþ“I’d have to pick up and move out of state because I wouldn’t be able to support my family” under the company’s proposed contract, said Annette Harris, 48, a single mother of three, who has worked for American Axle since its founding in 1994. “If they cut our pay, a lot of people are going to lose their homes.”þþThe company posted a statement on its Web site Tuesday asserting that it now compensates workers $70 an hour, including benefits, about three times as much as rivals who have recently signed new labor deals.þþ“All of the changes we have proposed have been accepted by the U.A.W. in agreements with our competitors in the United States,” American Axle’s chief executive, Richard E. Dauch, said in the statement. “I have no idea why A.A.M. is being singled out for a different set of economic conditions.”þþDana Edwards, the shop chairman for U.A.W. Local 235 in Detroit, said that “a lot of open issues” remained and that it appeared this strike could last considerably longer than those against the automakers last year and the one-day walkout against American Axle in 2004.þþIn trading Tuesday, shares of American Axle fell 3 cents, to $22.94. Analysts said they believed that the company would eventually be able to make a deal that still improved its competitive position greatly.þþ
Source: NY Times
