Reply #1: Strike Settled, American Axle Details Layoff Plans

[DainBramaged]

Fewer than half of the hourly employees at American Axle and Manufacturing who are returning to work this week for the first time since going on strike in February will still have jobs in a year, company executives said Wednesday.

The parts supplier said Wednesday that it expected to save about $300 million a year under its new contract with the United Automobile Workers union, largely by eliminating about 2,000 of the 3,650 jobs now held by U.A.W. members in Michigan and New York, along with an unspecified number of salaried positions.

Workers can leave voluntarily by accepting a buyout package worth either $85,000 or $140,000, depending on how long they have been there. Those who stay will earn considerably lower wages, which will be tempered by three annual “buydown” payments totaling as much as $105,000.

American Axle said its hourly labor rate, including wages and benefits, would be cut at least in half by the new contract, which had the support of 78 percent of the U.A.W. members who voted last week. Workers will earn an all-in rate of $30 to $45 an hour, or $26.54 for new hires, down from $73.48 under the previous contract. (During negotiations, the U.A.W. disputed the company’s calculation of the old numbers as too high.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/29/business/29axle.html