UAW gives economic proposal to American Axle as strike continues

[OhioChick]

Article published Thursday, April 10, 2008

ASSOCIATED PRESS


DETROIT — The United Auto Workers gave American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. a proposal dealing with economic issues Wednesday as a six-week strike against the company continued, a local union official said.

UAW Local 235 President Adrian King said he could not give details of the proposal.

“We’re just waiting for a response,” King, who leads a local at the company’s Detroit manufacturing complex and sits on the bargaining committee, said Wednesday afternoon.

However, American Axle spokeswoman Renee Rogers said the company had not received a proposal from the union as of Wednesday evening but expected to get one.

The proposal comes as formal negotiations resumed for the first time since March 10.

Rogers says full bargaining teams for both sides began talking Wednesday morning and continued into the afternoon. She expected negotiations to continue on Thursday.

About 3,600 workers at five American Axle plants in Michigan and New York went on strike Feb. 26 mainly over wage and benefit cuts that the company is seeking.

The strike has caused a parts shortage that has forced General Motors Corp. to close or curtail work at 29 factories, including a handful in Indiana as well as a Hummer plant run by AM General LLC in Mishawaka, Ind.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080410/BUSINESS02/306276465

[monktonman]

1. This strike sucks

I work for a plastic company out of Salem, Ohio
and GM is our biggest customer. There have been lay-offs this week
with more expected soon.
For those of us that remain, our week has been cut down to three days
and when the strike is over we will be expected to work seven days
a week for the entire summer to make up for lost production.

Why cant these greedy bastards just hand over the frickin money?
It disgusts me to no end.