More than 1,000 members of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2093 launched a strike against American Axle’s Three Rivers Plant in Michigan just after midnight on June 1, the union announced. Because the plant supplies components for General Motors trucks, the strike could affect the company’s vehicle production.
The strike comes on the heels of the expiration of the union’s contract with American Axle. According to the UAW statement, American Axle employees made major sacrifices in 2008 to save the plant from closing, agreeing to pay cuts and other concessions. Many long-time workers who had been earning up to $29 an hour in 2008 had their wages halved to $14.50 an hour, it said.
