CTVNews reports that the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) has reached deals with both GM and Chrysler for its Ontario members. The agreements mirror those that the CAW obtained from Ford. According to the official story: "Workers will see their wages frozen for three years in exchange for improvements in other areas." "Other areas?" Such as not getting fired in the first place? The crux of the deal: Buzz Hargrove successfully delayed the inevitable. GM-Oshawa's planned shift reduction is put off until 2009, and Chrysler's Etobicoke plant, on death row for over a decade, will have its life extended to 2011. Hargrove is spinning the wage freeze as a victory, noting that he's "done the very best to protect as many jobs as we could and protect and support people who won't have a job"– despite failing to secuire long-term plans for either of the two plants. We now return you to our regular discussion of American Axle's ongoing strike.

On April 17, United Auto Workers (UAW) union members at GM's Delta Township plant walked out in a dispute over their local contract (two-tier terms and conditions). The action shut down production of two of GM's most popular products: the GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave (Saturn Outlook production also halted). After almost a month spent working its way through a dwindling dealer inventory, the Detroit News reports GM turned up the heat on Delta's striking workers. At midnight Wednesday, GM canceled their medical and life insurance benefits. As of 4:30 am today, the Local's web site is reporting a tentative agreement. (The site instructs picketers to continue "until further notice.") Whether GM will apply the same pressure at the Fairfax plant in Kansas– where Malibu production was halted by a similar strike– is unknown. 'Bu production continues at the Orion plant in Michigan, and there's a 34-day inventory on the lots. Still, between the strikes at American Axle and Alliance Interiors and negotiating the local contracts, GM's hardening line on "local disruptions" is both understandable and predictable. But will the UAW now toughen theirs? Count on it.

The Associate Press reports [via Yahoo] that UAW leader Gettelfinger was "insulted" to learn that American Axle's plant closure plans include the shut-down of the Cheektowaga, N.Y factory– in addition to the two plants (Detroit and Tonawanda) already sacrificed at the altar of, dare I say it, profit. And get this: King Ron says "he hadn't wanted GM involved." Say what? Big Ron didn't want GM to kick in $200m in extra wages for the guys? "Many of its U.S. competitors won deals from the United Auto Workers to pay newly hired workers about $14 per hour. But American Axle workers say they won't take that big of a pay cut from a company that made $37m last year." So let me get this straight. As long as the company is making any profits the UAW isn't willing to negotiate competitive deals? By my count, American Axle has six US factories (including the three on the chopping block), two in Mexico plus one each in Brazil, China, England, Scotland and Poland. The longer the strike oontinues, the more likely it is that American Axle will ship tooling from its US factories to the others around the world– if it hasn't done so already. Sure there would be disruption, but strikes are plenty disruptive. Seen any Mexican or Chinese auto parts factories go on strike lately?

It should come as a shock to no one that the AP is reporting (via Yahoo! News) that GM has agreed to kick-in up to $200m to end the strike at American Axle. In "a government filing" today, GM said the money would go for bribes payments to make up for wage reductions for the employees, buyouts and early retirement packages. AA spokeswoman Renee Rogers said there's been no agreement between the UAW and AA. But the supplier is "hopeful that GM's financial assistance to help fund the buyouts, retirement incentives and buy downs… will facilitate an expedited resolution to the international UAW strike." In a separate filing, AA said GM's aid depends on how quickly the strike is resolved. Meanwhile, GM indicated they have enough money to "meet its needs," even though the strike has cut its liquidity by $2.1b. They didn't indicate from which bodily orifice they plan to pull the $200m.

GM dodged the bullet when the American Axle strike threatened to shut down the Malibu plant in Kansas City. (Found some! ) But the automaker's luck just ran out. Automotive News [sub] reports the members of UAW Local 31 walked out at 10 AM this morning after GM failed to come to terms over seniority and job security in their local operating contract. Although there was only a 31-day supply of Malibus in dealers' hands at the end of April, the situation isn't as dire as it would seem. The plant in Orion Township, MI where they also build Malibus (and Pontiac G6's) already has a local contract and will continue production. This is the second GM plant where workers are striking over their local contract; the Delta Township plant where they screw together the Lambda CUVs has been on strike for almost three weeks. Although UAW president Ron Gettelfinger said the union shouldn't expect GM to get involved in settling the American Axle strike, some analysts think that's the reason behind the local strikes against GM. With 61 other plants yet to sign local contracts, things could get a lot dicier for the General before they get better.

Last October, we brought you the news that the United Auto Workers (UAW) was attempting to organize a union vote at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. As a part of an effort to broaden their base in the face of declining membership in the automotive industry, the UAW was hoping to organize the casino’s 3k dealers. Well, in November, the dealers dealt Foxwoods management (i.e. the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe) a new hand by voting in favor of representation by the UAW. Soon after, Foxwoods sought to overturn the results of the voting, but a Connecticut judge rejected that appeal. Now The Hartford Courant reports some 300 workers (mostly engineering types and interior landscapers) have voted against joining the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE). As with casino gambling, sometimes you win, and sometimes (okay, most of the time) you lose.

The strike at Alliance Interiors, where they make carpets for GM's Lambda CUV triplets, is over after 16 days. The Detroit Free Press reports the new contract was approved by 96 percent of the workers and includes pay increases and 401(k) retirement accounts. However, the workers can't go back to their jobs yet, as another strike at the Lansing Delta Township plant where they build the Lambda mom-mobiles means GM doesn't need any of their carpets right now. Union officials think the GM strike will also be settled soon. Meanwhile, the AP [via Mlive.com] reports that the strike at American Axle may be nearing resolution. Workers say local officials have given them some details: shutting down forge operations in Tonawanda N.Y., $11/hour wage cuts for production workers and $6.50 cuts for skilled trades and $90K bribes buydowns spread over three years (to help workers ease the transition to the lower wages). If a worker agrees to sever all ties with the company, they'll get $140k over two years. Workers will probably approve the deal, as many of them are feeling the financial stress of the two-month-long strike. 

The United Auto Workers (UAW) just lost their bargaining power in their strike against American Axle. When the strike shut down the plants supplying GM's truck and SUV plants, the union thought GM would put pressure on AA to settle quickly– so the automaker could get the lines running again. Not so. GM used the shutdown as an opportunity to purge its supply pipeline of a glut of slow-selling trucks. Then they "found" axles elsewhere to continue production of their better-selling models. Even after two months, GM still isn't feeling much pain from the strike. Instead, they've announced they're going to cut truck production drastically, meaning American Axle's Mexican operation can produce enough axles to [almost] meet their need while other suppliers take up the slack. To use an old military saying, the UAW has shit in their own mess kit. Even if they accepted all of AA's demands for salary and benefit cuts, there won't be a job for many of them to go back to. Looks like Ron Gettelfinger will have a lot of 'splaining to do, especially as they make a push to organize Toyota's operations.

The Detroit News reports that GM will be cutting one shift from its Flint, Pontiac, Oshawa, Ontario, and Janesville, WI factories by July 14. The slashing eliminates some 3,500 jobs from GM's North American workforce. The move eliminates produciton of some 50k body-on-frame vehicles– which have already fallen 100k due to the ongoing American Axle strike. Analyst Joe Phillippi of AutoTrends Consulting says this is gonna leave a mark. "These are the most profitable things they make, and losing those profits is going to hurt for the next three quarters." Still, there's no point in building 'em if nobody wants to buy them; GM has seen a 17 percent decline in pickup sales and a 29 percent drop in large SUVs in the first quarter of this year. Sure, cutting makes the powerless feel like they're in control, but until GM goes "down the road, not across the street," expect the misery and moodiness to continue.

What's up with Sharon Terlep? This time out, the non-scourge of Detroit tackles the question rattling around her hometown: why is the United Auto Workers (UAW) striking GM, of all people? Terlep sees a devious disconnect, as outlined by the article's subhead: "Union pushing GM for rich Axle deal, some say; leaders cite other issues." Translation: the UAW is lying to its GM members (Heaven forfend!) to get them to carry out a disguised (i.e. illegal) sympathy strike for their brother and sisters over at American Axle. For this theory, Terleps cites "several sources familiar with negotiations." Evidence: when the Malibu factory didn't run out of axles, the UAW threatened a walkout over… something else. "The union's top leaders at the national level have been mum on the issue of local strikes. But local leaders, those in charge of carrying out a strike order and managing day-to-day life on the factory floors, have outlined issues they say are behind the local disputes. Word is coming though one-on-one chats at local union halls, in online newsletters and through interviews with the media." And none of them are saying it's a camouflaged sympathy strike. Perhaps a little more investigation (and a lot less speculation) would sort this out. Just sayin'…  

American Axle (AA) posted a $27m first quarter loss today. AA CEO Dick Dauch told the Detroit Free Press "AAM's first-quarter 2008 results were severely impacted by the strike called by the International UAW at AA's original U.S. locations." The loss is quite the comedown from last year's first quarter profit of $15.7m. Robert W. Baird & Co equity analysts David Leiker said the impact of the strike was about 40 percent larger than he was expecting., "We continue to recommend investors avoid the stock due to questions regarding the company's long-term growth opportunities." As if to illustrate Leiker's point, hundreds of strikers picketed AA headquarters in Detroit, after negotiations broke down late last week. AA had offered a wage and benefit package, claiming it's "substantially higher than $30 an hour and is higher than what its competitors pay UAW members." The UAW (perhaps waiting for AA to post its losses) rejected the offer. The strike will officially enter its third month tomorrow with 3,650 AA employees on strike and some 30 GM plants shut down or in limited production. 

A spreadsheet of analysts hanging with The Detroit News all agree with TTAC's Best and Brightest: Michigan is the least likely place on Earth of the three states VW's considering for its new U.S. plant. Hello? Bis morgan? Didn't anybody notice the fact that Volkswagen NA ALREADY LEFT DETROIT? Anyway, for some strange reason– something to do with labor costs and work rule flexibility– unionization seems to be hamstringing MI's chances of landing the gig. "That's the big risk of coming to Michigan or anywhere in the north," says Aaron Bragman, an analyst with Global Insight. "A lot of companies have wanted to avoid" the UAW. (For this he gets paid?) IRN's VP of auto forecasting says Alabama is the likely front-runner, followed by Tennessee. Erich Merkle fancies 'Bama's chances, citing the success of Mercedes-Benz production and the "German supply base that's already pretty well-established." Ultimately, the decision between the two right to work states will come down to the bribes incentive packages each state offers VW. 

I'm paraphrasing, of course, but it's hard to believe that anyone believes that the United Auto Workers (UAW) is on the cusp of organizing Toyota's Lexington, Kentucky factory. Least of all UAW boss Big Ron Gettelfinger. Or The Detroit Free Press. And yet the paper reports Gettelfinger's comments without any hint that the man is full of you-know-what. "'We don't have the people to cover all the calls we get,' Gettelfinger said of activity among UAW organizers based here [Lexington, KY]." Nah, C'mon. Really? "'It is amazing the number of workers who want to join the union,' he said in an interview… 'They may be having activity you don't know about.'" And… they may not. In fact, the only credible– the only interesting part of this story are the comments underneath. "All a worker at the Toyota plants would have to look at is how 'successful' the UAW represented plants are," opines commentator gonefromthemess. "They are already making similar wages and benefits, they build a much more reliable product and they are poised to become the largest selling auto company. And besides, who in those plants wants to pay extortion money to UAW "reps" to get them what they already have? Good luck Get. It ain't happening." Thank Al Gore DARPA God for the Internet.

GM will resume production of Lucernes and DTS' at its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant on April 28, ending a four-week shutdown. They had closed the plant because of a parts shortage caused by the American Axle strike. GM won't say where the axles are coming from; the Detroit News quotes "sources familiar with production" as saying only they're buying parts "from another supplier." At the time of the closure, GM had a 111-day supply of Lucernes and a 57-day supply of DTS. Now that they've gone a month without any new product entering the pipeline, their inventory should be a bit more in line with sales. Let's see how long it takes "other suppliers" to come up with the parts to restart other plants affected by the AA strike as their  inventory levels come down into a reasonable range.