American Axle deal reached
05-18-2008, 01:05 AM
#4
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http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...TO01/805170414
Axle offer boosts wages, bonuses
Eric Morath / The Detroit News
Striking American Axle workers could receive higher hourly wages and a larger buydown bonus than the company previously offered, and a New York plant slated to close will be spared, according to the terms of the tentative agreement, a source close to the negotiations said Saturday.
Still, the wages offered in the tentative pact represent a significant pay cut for United Auto Workers union members at American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. plants in Michigan and New York. Forges in Detroit and near Buffalo remain scheduled to close, the source said.
A majority of the 3,650 striking workers must approve the deal reached late Friday night to end the nearly 12-week long strike.
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Under the deal, production workers will be paid $18.50 an hour -- a cut from the more than $28 per hour they made before the strike, but a $1.50 more per hour than the company had previously offered.
The lowest paid employees in the plant, non-production workers, would make $14.35 per hour; while skilled trade workers would make $26 per hour, if the agreement is approved.
Workers are also expected to be paid a larger buydown bonus -- cash to be paid over time to help them adjust to lower hourly wages -- than the $90,000 figure previously reported. It's possible that buydowns could reach the $105,000 mark that Delphi Corp. workers received last year.
The union also apparently won its bid to keep the Cheektowaga, N.Y. plant open. A week ago UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said a proposal to close that plant derailed talks. That plant employs 116 union workers.
The two forges, which are still slated to close, employ about 760 UAW members.
The full details of the contract will be disclosed to workers for the first time at 10 a.m. Sunday. An informational meeting will be held at Martin Luther King High School, 3200 E. Lafayette Blvd. in Detroit.
Workers are expected to vote on the contract sometime next week.
Reach Eric Morath at (313) 222-2504 or emorath@detnews.com.
Eric Morath / The Detroit News
Striking American Axle workers could receive higher hourly wages and a larger buydown bonus than the company previously offered, and a New York plant slated to close will be spared, according to the terms of the tentative agreement, a source close to the negotiations said Saturday.
Still, the wages offered in the tentative pact represent a significant pay cut for United Auto Workers union members at American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. plants in Michigan and New York. Forges in Detroit and near Buffalo remain scheduled to close, the source said.
A majority of the 3,650 striking workers must approve the deal reached late Friday night to end the nearly 12-week long strike.
Advertisement
Under the deal, production workers will be paid $18.50 an hour -- a cut from the more than $28 per hour they made before the strike, but a $1.50 more per hour than the company had previously offered.
The lowest paid employees in the plant, non-production workers, would make $14.35 per hour; while skilled trade workers would make $26 per hour, if the agreement is approved.
Workers are also expected to be paid a larger buydown bonus -- cash to be paid over time to help them adjust to lower hourly wages -- than the $90,000 figure previously reported. It's possible that buydowns could reach the $105,000 mark that Delphi Corp. workers received last year.
The union also apparently won its bid to keep the Cheektowaga, N.Y. plant open. A week ago UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said a proposal to close that plant derailed talks. That plant employs 116 union workers.
The two forges, which are still slated to close, employ about 760 UAW members.
The full details of the contract will be disclosed to workers for the first time at 10 a.m. Sunday. An informational meeting will be held at Martin Luther King High School, 3200 E. Lafayette Blvd. in Detroit.
Workers are expected to vote on the contract sometime next week.
Reach Eric Morath at (313) 222-2504 or emorath@detnews.com.
05-18-2008, 10:22 AM
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05-18-2008, 10:45 AM
#8
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This strike has affected 30 GM plants. GM is willing to kick in up to $200 million to buy out current employees so new ones can be hired at the lesser wages/benefits, or pay current employees around $100,000 to stay and accept the lower wages/benefits.
05-18-2008, 11:03 AM
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05-18-2008, 11:58 AM
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I can see both sides of the coin. Yes, I realize people are lucky to still have their jobs. But keep in mind, they're just people too, looking out for their best (long-term) interests. Taking a ~3-month loss in pay will take quite a while to recover from. Generally, people don't strike for that long if it's not going to pay off in the long run
.We can debate the corporate/political mess GM has gotten into which forced them and the union into the position they're in all day long. It's too bad, and there are certainly two sides to the whole story.
I'm just glad to see the thing settled. It's had an effect on people in my family here in Oshawa too, who got a ~3-4 month un-planned "holiday
" due to the strike.
05-18-2008, 11:59 AM
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they aren't exactly making record profit... can't pay what they don't have!
05-18-2008, 12:22 PM
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Hmmm..
81 days + ~11.5 weeks = 460 work hours lost per employee = $7,820 lost wages
$7,820 lost wages ÷ $1.50 hour wage gained = 5,213 hours X 40 = 130.3 Weeks to work in order to make up the money lost durring the strike.
Good job UAW! You managed to send some production down to Mexico, most of which im sure will not returned, while causing your members to have to work over 2 years to make up the amount of pay rate you "saved them."
Personally I think the workers would have been better accepting the cut and then look for another job over those 3 months. Let someone else straight out of high school or with little work history take over those lower paying jobs.
This is assume the 81 days were not 81 work days. If that's the case the lost wages was even greater.
Edit: anyone know how much the Union heads get paid for thier share?
81 days + ~11.5 weeks = 460 work hours lost per employee = $7,820 lost wages
$7,820 lost wages ÷ $1.50 hour wage gained = 5,213 hours X 40 = 130.3 Weeks to work in order to make up the money lost durring the strike.
Good job UAW! You managed to send some production down to Mexico, most of which im sure will not returned, while causing your members to have to work over 2 years to make up the amount of pay rate you "saved them."
Personally I think the workers would have been better accepting the cut and then look for another job over those 3 months. Let someone else straight out of high school or with little work history take over those lower paying jobs.
This is assume the 81 days were not 81 work days. If that's the case the lost wages was even greater.
Edit: anyone know how much the Union heads get paid for thier share?
05-18-2008, 03:09 PM
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Hmmm..
81 days + ~11.5 weeks = 460 work hours lost per employee = $7,820 lost wages
$7,820 lost wages ÷ $1.50 hour wage gained = 5,213 hours X 40 = 130.3 Weeks to work in order to make up the money lost durring the strike.
Good job UAW! You managed to send some production down to Mexico, most of which im sure will not returned, while causing your members to have to work over 2 years to make up the amount of pay rate you "saved them."
Personally I think the workers would have been better accepting the cut and then look for another job over those 3 months.
81 days + ~11.5 weeks = 460 work hours lost per employee = $7,820 lost wages
$7,820 lost wages ÷ $1.50 hour wage gained = 5,213 hours X 40 = 130.3 Weeks to work in order to make up the money lost durring the strike.
Good job UAW! You managed to send some production down to Mexico, most of which im sure will not returned, while causing your members to have to work over 2 years to make up the amount of pay rate you "saved them."
Personally I think the workers would have been better accepting the cut and then look for another job over those 3 months.
Had AAM started with a more reasonable offer - and had the UAW accepted it - both sides would have been much better off. Unfortunately, there is still far too much distrust between labor and management, and nobody wins in this sort of poisonous bargaining environment
05-18-2008, 04:14 PM
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The initial offer by AAM was in the neighborhood of $12/hour, which not only is insulting but also kinda blows up your math.
Had AAM started with a more reasonable offer - and had the UAW accepted it - both sides would have been much better off. Unfortunately, there is still far too much distrust between labor and management, and nobody wins in this sort of poisonous bargaining environment
Had AAM started with a more reasonable offer - and had the UAW accepted it - both sides would have been much better off. Unfortunately, there is still far too much distrust between labor and management, and nobody wins in this sort of poisonous bargaining environment
05-18-2008, 06:59 PM
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Originally Posted by DvBoard:
Idealy the workers would have stayed on the job while a new plan was worked out.
Idealy the workers would have stayed on the job while a new plan was worked out.
Originally Posted by Eric Bryant
..."nobody wins in this sort of poisonous bargaining environment" ...
..."nobody wins in this sort of poisonous bargaining environment" ...