By Brent Snavely and Jewel Gopwani . Detroit Free Press Business Writers . May 19, 2008
Union workers at American Axle & Manufacturing Inc., who were on strike for more than 11 weeks, reacted with anger and reluctant acceptance Sunday after hearing the details of the tentative deal the two sides reached late Friday.
This week, about 3,650 UAW members have either a few hours or a few days to decide whether or not they will accept a contract that would slash their wages by as much as $10 an hour.
For many, it's a choice of accepting a salary that could put them in painful financial difficulties, or continue to fight a company that has a manufacturing plant in Mexico and has said it can move the work to other countries.
"I feel like I'm done, but I have no choice," said Tod Rippe, 43, of Dearborn. He said he plans to accept a buyout and may move out of Michigan. "It's a nightmare. It really is."
Mike Ulicne, 39, of Trenton said the contract would be tough to accept.
"I'm relieved, but not happy or satisfied," Ulicne said.
Adrian King, president of UAW Local 235, said the deal was the best that the union could negotiate. Ultimately, he said, workers will have to consider their own situations before deciding how to vote.
"It's a very tough pill to swallow for the membership," said King.
One ratification vote that was tentatively scheduled for today was moved to Thursday after workers vented their frustrations about voting Monday during an informational meeting Sunday at King High School in Detroit. Other locals are going ahead with voting today.
Local and international union officials, including UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, were at the King High School meeting to answer questions.
At one point, toward the end of the meeting, workers began to chant, "Vote no! Vote no!"
Terasiena Cunningham, 36, of West Bloomfield started a similar chant for workers gathered outside the school.
Cunningham said she feels workers gained little, if anything, by going on strike.
"We can get better than this," she said. Cunningham also said she wished the two sides had extended the contract that expired Feb. 26, allowing workers to stay at their jobs as negotiations continued.
Former Local 235 UAW Vice President Erik Webb, 39, of Detroit said a much calmer meeting was held Sunday afternoon at the Local 235's union hall in Hamtramck, and predicted the contract would pass.
"Everybody who has been out on the picket line has been frustrated. People are ready to go back to work," Webb said. "We didn't really get what we wanted to get, but something is better than nothing."
Sweetened deal still divides The tentative agreement reached between the UAW and American Axle came together Friday after the company's largest customer, General Motors Corp., kicked in an additional $18 million to help out its key supplier in the last hours of talks.
King said the $18 million made the agreement palatable enough to put in front of union members because the extra money ensured that layoff pay could be part of the deal.
If the contract is ratified, the $18 million would be on top of $200 million already offered by GM that would help American Axle pay for buy-downs, early retirement offers and buyouts.
Many of the UAW members who attended Sunday's meeting at King High said they would reluctantly vote for the contract and predicted it would pass, but many others said they would vote against it.
"I'm hoping we turn it down. I really don't like this," said Willie Foster, who has worked for the company for more than 13 years. "I've got a son, 16, getting ready for college. This won't help."
Under the proposed deal, most workers wages would be cut from about $28 an hour to a range of $14.35 to $18.50, according to a summary of the proposed agreement handed out at the high school.
But with only $200 a week in strike pay, many workers said they need to return, even if they think there might be a better contract that could be negotiated.
"Most of us are at a point where, financially, we are so ruined that this contract beats being homeless," said Michael Dudun, 46, of St. Clair Shores.
Some workers worried Sunday that if the contract was rejected, American Axle would bring in replacement workers.
Gary Chaison, professor of labor studies at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., said that while UAW members are frustrated, most recognize that the North American automotive industry is going through a period of serious and painful changes.
"I think it will have a good chance of getting ratified," Chaison said of the contract.
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