United Auto Workers Local 235 and American Axel &
Manufacturing Inc. have come to an agreement that, if voted by the workers,
could put an end to the strike that lasted for the 83 days.
Workers at American Axel & Manufacturing went on
strike on February 26, after the company announced major cuts in salaries, due
to an attempt at making the business competitive. The new salaries that were
announced have been considered by the company’s employees unfair and the
consequences of accepting them financially bothersome.
The new agreement will mean that the workers’ hourly salary
will be cut about $10, as opposed to the $20 to $30 that was initially thought,
and there will be a series of early retirements and buyout options. Workers
with more than 10 years of experience will be offered buyouts of $140,000.
The workers have shown reluctant to the deal, but many of them
are considering accepting it, mainly because of the rumors that American Axel
& Manufacturing could bring new workers to replace the ones on strike, and
because of the fact that the company has a plant in Mexico.
The strike has affected General Motors even more than
American Axel. The car manufacturing company is dependent on American Axel for
parts and is its biggest customer. GM shares have declined 55 cents, while the
partsmaker’s have gone down only 2 cents.
Given all this, General Motors have announced it will add
$18 million to the $200 million offered by American Axel in order to support
the buyout and early retirement offers.
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