DETROIT (Reuters) - American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings said on Monday it would resume full negotiations between company representatives and a bargaining team for the United Auto Workers union on Wednesday.þþThe announcement represents a breakthrough in what had become a tense showdown between the two sides amid a six-week-old strike by some 3,650 union-represented workers at the auto parts supplier.þþThe move came after a Monday meeting between American Axle Chief Executive Dick Dauch and UAW President Ron Gettelfinger in Detroit, the first face-to-face meeting by the two principal negotiations in about four months.þþÿIt was very productive,ÿ American Axle spokeswoman Renee Rogers said of the meeting between Gettelfinger and Dauch.þþFull negotiations between bargaining teams for both sides broke off on March 11 and only sporadic talks have been held since amid signs of escalating tension between the two sides.þþBut Rogers said UAW officials from the Detroit-based company's five local bargaining units would rejoin negotiations on Wednesday.þþThe strike has idled production at some 30 facilities operated by General Motors Corp , which accounts for about 80 percent of American Axle's sales.þþJust last week, Gettelfinger told Reuters there had been little progress in talks and blasted what he called ÿexcessive compensationÿ for Dauch over a decade. Dauch is a co-founder of American Axle, which was spun off from GM in 1994.þþAmerican Axle, meanwhile, has taken job applications that could be used to hire replacement workers to run its plants during a strike if no settlement is reached.þþUAW workers at American Axle's five U.S. plants have been on strike since February 26, a work stoppage that has cut more than 100,000 vehicles from GM's planned production of trucks such as the Chevrolet Silverado.þþGM said on Monday production resumed for one shift at its Fort Wayne, Indiana, assembly plant this week with a second shift starting next week. It also has scheduled regular two-shift production at Oshawa, Ontario for three weeks starting on April 21.þþBoth assembly plants make full-size pickup trucks for GM.þþGM also plans to shut down full-size SUV production at its Arlington, Texas plant for three weeks starting April 21, spokesman Dan Flores said.þþAmerican Axle has said its hourly labor costs average more than $70, about three times higher than its rivals'. It has said that, absent steep cuts in labor costs in exchange for buyouts or other payments, it would have to close the five striking U.S. plants.þþThe union had said American Axle failed to provide enough details to evaluate the company's demands for wage and benefit cuts. American Axle provided additional financial information to the UAW last week at the union's request.þþMembers of the UAW's negotiating committee met over the weekend in Detroit, but local representatives from New York and southwestern Michigan went home afterward.þþ
Source: NY Times
