UAW Strike Shutters GM CUV Plant as Progress Reported with American Axle

General Motors (GM) and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union are reporting that the company's Delta Township plant near Lansing (Michigan) has officially gone on strike, as of 10:00 yesterday (17 April) morning. The UAW Local 602 president Doug Rademacher told the Detroit News that discussions between the UAW and GM had broken off, and were not scheduled to resume. Picket signs were handed out, and the plant was officially on walkout as of 10:15. Rademacher stated that the plant has been operating on a special local agreement since its construction began in 1999, but that the original flexibility built into that agreement was meant to help give the company some leeway in opening the plant and getting it running, and was not meant to be a long-term labour contract. The union is striking to force the issue of a new local labour agreement with GM, one that incorporates the topics settled in the national talks between GM and the UAW late last year which led to a new contract.

The Delta Township plant makes GM's hot-selling crossover-utility vehicles (CUVs): the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, and Saturn Outlook. The hottest of the trio, the Enclave, still has a less than 40-day supply in inventory, according to GMInsideNews.com. "We are disappointed that UAW Local 602 has taken strike action," GM spokesperson Dan Flores said. "We remain focused on reaching an agreement as soon as possible." The union has set a deadline for today to get a local agreement at the Warren (Michigan) transmission component facility as well; if none is reached, that plant will be the next to strike. A strike at the company's Arlington (Texas) plant has been aborted, due to GM's plans to idle the plant for a month to allow for parts to be shipped to reopen two pick-up truck plants.

Movement in the American Axle Strike?

As the Delta Township plant shuts down, Automotive News reports that the UAW's two-month-long strike against supplier American Axle Manufacturing may be soon to come to an end. Unidentified sources quoted by the trade publications say that the two sides have made major progress in working through wage, healthcare benefits, and job classifications. "Negotiations are continuing, progressing," said Renee Rogers, American Axle spokesperson. "The process is moving along." It is reported that the two sides may actually have an agreement worked out by the beginning of the weekend.

Outlook and Implications

The timing of the strike is as fortuitous for GM as can be expected for a strike at the company's hottest plant, not so much for the workers themselves. The reason is that the UAW went on strike with a supplier to the Delta Township plant just hours before the Local 602 walked out; the supplier strike at nearby Alliance Interiors' carpeting plant would have shut down Delta Township anyway had the Local 602 not walked out. Now, the workers will receive strike pay instead of being laid off, a significant difference in salary. The UAW is striking against Alliance Interiors in an attempt to organise the plant; it is new to the UAW and has been operating without a contract for nearly a year now, according to reports.

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