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Stakes rising in American Axle strike
More join protest; job ads draw big response
BY JEWEL GOPWANI • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • April 1, 2008
American Axle & Manufacturing, undergoing a strike by the UAW, has received hundreds of applications in response to its newspaper ads Sunday seeking new hires for its Detroit plant.
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The Detroit supplier received so many inquiries, that on Monday, it stopped taking applications. "We've closed it for right now so we can review the applications," said spokeswoman Renee Rogers.
The company advertised the positions to fill the jobs of people who leave the company through buyout or retirement programs after a deal is reached -- or to replace striking workers.
The flurry of applications came on the same day that American Axle workers who were laid off before the work stoppage declined the company's recall notices and officially joined the strike.
The moves raise the stakes of this strike, which during its five weeks has resulted in little progress on key issues of wages and benefits that would affect the 3,650 workers who went on strike Feb. 26.
The financial troubles for previously laid-off workers will compound as they lose unemployment benefits they received during the strike. The search for potential replacement workers could be a move to pressure workers to take concessions, a labor expert said.
"They've raised the specter of replacement workers to influence bargaining," said Harley Shaiken, a professor specializing in labor studies at the University of California at Berkeley.
The company has not disclosed pay, or the timing for bringing on new workers. Rogers said that any openings to replace striking workers would be temporary, and taking applications is only the start of the process.
The company continues to take applications for a factory in Three Rivers and at two plants in New York.
The strong response to American Axle's ads in the context of a strike in a historically union town is another sign of Michigan's economic distress.
Michigan, which has lost 142,700 auto jobs since 1999, posted an unemployment rate of 7.2%, in February, compared with the national rate of 4.8%.
"Given the economic situation in Michigan, you're going to have a lot of people that are up against the wall. They're going to be pretty tempted by this offer," Shaiken said.
But Shaiken warned, "they're facing a very angry situation," before and after a contract is reached. The move to hire replacement workers would also put at risk GM's relationship with the UAW, he said.
The union might not be able legally to refuse to assemble vehicles using parts made by replacement workers, Shaiken said, but might be able to slow production in other ways.
On Monday, the automaker closed a stamping plant in Ohio because of the strike. So far, 30 GM plants have been affected by the work stoppage. By the middle of this month, the automaker faces disruptions at its Orion plant, which makes the Pontiac G6, and the popular new Chevrolet Malibu, a person familiar with the plant's operations said.
Spokespeople for GM declined to comment on plants that could be affected by the strike, the potential for replacement workers at American Axle or an Automotive News report that the automaker has moved the contract for 30,000 propshafts from American Axle to rival Dana Corp.
Cost to laid-off workers
Meanwhile, American Axle on Monday recalled about 400 workers who had been laid off before the strike started.
Lawrence Lormand was among about 60 workers who walked from the UAW Local 235 union hall to a plant on American Axle's sprawling campus of factories in Detroit, to inform the company that he is on strike.
That means that Lormand, 45, of Dearborn Heights and other laid-off workers are no longer eligible for unemployment benefits, which for Lormand, came to about $310 after taxes. Lormand and others will be eligible for strike pay of $200 a week from the union.
Lormand already took a steep pay cut five weeks ago when the strike started. While laid off, he was receiving unemployment benefits and layoff pay, adding up to $570 a week after taxes. But Lormand noted that he hadn't received layoff pay for the week before the strike.
"I'm kind of used to being laid off, back and forth," said Lormand, who has been laid off several times, including one layoff that lasted three years. "I saved a little bit."
Anticipating a strike, Lormand got ahead on his mortgage payments and paid a year's worth of insurance on his 1992 Chevrolet Suburban, which he notes uses American Axle parts.
Now Lormand estimates that the $200 in strike pay will pay for gas and some food. He'll use savings to pay for utilities. But Lormand said he didn't think twice about officially joining the strike, even after learning that the company started looking for new hires.
Lormand said: "There's too much at stake."
Contact JEWEL GOPWANI at 313-223-4550 or jgopwani@freepress.com. Automotive writer Katie Merx contributed to this report.
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