American Axle Offers Real-Life Look at How NAFTA Hurts Workers

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/03/03/american-axle-offers-real-life-look-at-how-nafta-hurts-workers/

by James Parks, Mar 3, 2008

With the political debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) heating up, candidates for president need only look at American Axle & Manufacturing for a real-life example of why our trade policies must change now.

Some 3,600 workers at American Axle in Michigan and New York, members of UAW, walked out Feb. 26, after the current contract expired and talks broke off with major issues unresolved.

American Axle is seeking to force steep wage cuts on its U.S. employees while expanding its Mexican operations. Even though the company earned $37 million in profits last year with sales of $3.25 billion, American Axle is demanding wage reductions of up to $14 an hour, as well as elimination of future retiree health care and defined-benefit pensions for active workers.

Many of the strikers say trade policies that have made it easier for companies to invest in places like Mexico and China are at the root of their problems. While American Axle has cut its U.S. workforce in half since 2004, the company continues to expand overseas with facilities in 12 countries, including Mexico, Poland and China. Since 2000, the company has invested millions of dollars into its 1.5-million square-foot plant in Silao, Mexico, which has been expanded six times. That plant is slated to be the hub for American Axle’s growing business supplying parts for passenger cars and crossover utility vehicles.

Bill Feldbush, a 13-year veteran at American Axle, told the Detroit Free Press:

We can’t make the same amount of money they make and actually live here.

FULL story at link.