Well, here's two reasons why ACII might not be naming Customer's names:
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American Axle, Union Resume Stalled Contract Talks
Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:08pm EDT Email | Print | Share | Reprints | Single Page| Recommend (1) [-] Text [+]
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American Axle, UAW talks resume in Detroit
10 Mar 2008
DETROIT (Reuters) - Contract talks between American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings (AXL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and representatives of 3,650 striking workers resumed on Thursday amid a 17-day-old work stoppage that has triggered parts shortages and plant closures for General Motors Corp. (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
Talks broke down earlier this week, representatives of both sides said, and the United Auto Workers union sent its bargaining team home on Monday after failing to close a gap on the auto parts supplier's demands for deep wage concessions and plant closures in exchange for one-time payouts.
American Axle spokeswoman Renee Rogers said talks had resumed in Detroit as of Thursday morning.
The strike that began Feb. 26 has idled five American Axle plants in the United States and become increasingly costly for GM, which spun off the parts supplier in 1994 and remains its largest customer.
In response to parts shortages because of the strike GM has had to idle or partly shut down almost 30 facilities in the United States and Canada employing some 42,000 hourly and salaried workers.
GM, which accounts for about 80 percent of the company's revenue, relies on American Axle for axles and other components for its light trucks, including pickups like the Silverado and SUVs like the Hummer H2.
American Axle has said it cannot continue to produce parts in the United States at current cost levels and has demanded steep wage concessions, arguing that its total wages and benefits now run more than three times that of competitors.
The company proposes to cut its labor costs in the United States from above $73 an hour to between $20 and $30.
It has said that without those concessions it could need to shut down more of its U.S. facilities, beyond the three New York-based plants union officials say the company has already proposed closing
Analysts have said GM could be called in to help mediate the talks in a bid to move them toward a resolution that would allow it to avoid a more costly loss of production if the work stoppage is not resolved in the coming days.
GM has said that it has enough inventory of finished trucks to ride out a short-term strike at American Axle.
Ratings agency Standard & Poor's said earlier this week that it could place the ratings of some companies in the auto sector on a watch list if the strike were to drag on beyond the end of this week.
(Reporting by Kevin Krolicki, editing by Dave Zimmerman) |
