Axle gives financials to UAW in bid to end strike

Union leaders say they are evaluating whether supplier gave up all the data it had asked for.

Eric Morath / The Detroit News

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. gave additional sensitive financial information to union leaders Tuesday in a bid to bring the sides closer to ending the five-week-old strike, but the United Auto Workers union doesn’t yet know if it’s enough to make that happen.

The union needs complete information "to make important decisions regarding proposals which will affect pensions, health care (and) profit-sharing," UAW Vice President James Settles said in a statement Tuesday evening.

He said the union is in the process of reviewing the information to determine if the company fully responded to the UAW’s request.

UAW members walked off the job Feb. 26 after rejecting the company’s request to cut wages and benefits, which has caused the partial or complete shutdown of 30 General Motors Corp. plants.

American Axle said Tuesday it was attempting to "intensify negotiations" by providing the additional information. Some of the data was handed over March 27 after company and union officials signed a confidentiality agreement.

Representatives from each side met Tuesday, but full bargaining team meetings have not been held for several weeks.

"It is my sincere hope that AAM and the UAW will be able to jointly develop an agreement that will allow AAM to compete on a level playing field in the United States automotive supply industry," said Chairman and CEO Richard Dauch.

The UAW cited the withholding of financial information in a federal unfair labor practice charge, and used that charge as the basis for the strike.

The company contends it needs to bring wages in line with its domestic competitors, which won concessions from the UAW during bankruptcy.

About 3,650 UAW members are picketing the Detroit-based supplier.

Settles said the strike also has been prolonged because the company has illegally ended disability payments and health care for injured workers, as well as compensation, including health care, for laid-off workers.

"We hope the company will do what is required to meet its legal obligation," he said, "so that we can settle this dispute and bring our members back to work as soon as possible."

Company spokeswoman Renee Rogers said it’s evaluating the union’s latest charges and will respond as part of the negotiating process.

GM, American Axle’s largest customer, said Tuesday the strike has yet to significantly affect sales or inventory levels, including for pickup trucks and SUVs, of which American Axle is a primary supplier.

"We have more than adequate inventory to meet market demand," said Mark LaNeve, GM North America’s vice president of vehicle sales. "This is where we intended to be."

LaNeve said the company still has about 280,000 pickup trucks in stock, about 20,000 fewer than the end of March 2007.

The strike has cost the automaker 7,000-8,000 sales of larger commercial trucks, but LeNeve said he expects to recoup most of those losses once the strike concludes.

He would not address whether GM has a contingency plan if the strike impacts production of the hot-selling Chevrolet Malibu, as sources familiar with this situation told The Detroit News was likely in a story published Tuesday.

GM has said it is not taking an active role in the negotiations.

However, GM’s involvement may ultimately be necessary to break the deadlock, said Harley Shaiken, labor professor at University of California, Berkeley.

"General Motors played an important role in brokering the Delphi (Corp.) deal," he said. "They’ll be more likely to jump in if models such as the Malibu are affected."