The UAW International and American Axle & Manufacturing contract negotiators must be hunkered down in their secret, top-security, underground bunker frightened to death at the thought that they will soon have to emerge. They've recently let go a trial balloon about how hard they are working at hammering out the tentative agreement for the last 7 to 10 days. But everyone knows that that scenario is ridiculous.

Any tentative agreement they put forth now by AAM brass will be ripped to rat shit by Wall Street gloom and doom analysts, who have better places for their investors to lose less money at than GM-AAM.

The UAW brass postponed a rally for AAM strikers, scheduled for yesterday in downtown Detroit. AAM strikers and their supporters had gone to great lengths in organizing and facilitating the caravans of cars, vans, trucks and buses. Hey, it was to be another chapter in the 'Keep America Rolling' story. But the union side leadership knew all too well what to expect. At the rally, angry workers would be looking for answers, answers carved in stone.

In bygone decades, the establishment came down hard on workers openly carrying weapons, like sticks and clubs to their rally. Some marchers would grab one up on the way down to the fray. Pulling a picket from a fence was common enough. A paper board with a message scrawlled upon it was afixed to the picket, and they called it a sign. The picket sign was a protected device under free speech rules. All those workers, with all those pickets signs, who could just tear off the cardboard message part and move threateningly toward a target had potential for trouble.

I guess someone twigged to the thought of the thousands of angry, pissed-off workers, with their sharpened sticks all pointing at the UAW leadership. Now that would strike fear in the innards of any company-unionist. They probably imagined cold beads of sweat on their necks running down wide yellow streaks. The UAW brass must truly feel like chicken-hearted, lily-livered, worthless pieces of dog meat today. They probably didn't want to seen stumbling and collapsing on the way up the steps to the HART PLAZA stage. Just think of them there, with their own hearts a poundin, eyes a poppin, knees a knockin, and hands a shakin. The leadership knows that the rank & file can also smell fear. The UAW brass has lost control of the membership and so they cancel the event, which may very well have turned very ugly.

So back at the undisclosed location, the two sides sit silently in their places around the bargaining table. They exchange knowing nods, and syncopated head shakes, and stare endlessly at the ceiling as they ponder fruitlessly how they can hide out for another week or two.

Here are two news articles that sum up the lack of progress over the last week.

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UAW Strikes GM Lansing Plant
Stoppage May Hurt Hot-Selling Models In Latest Labor Woe
The Wall Street Journal
04/18/08
by John D. Stoll
(Copyright (c) 2008, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
Union workers at a key General Motors Corp. plant in Michigan walked off the job Thursday, in the latest sign the Big Three auto makers could have trouble reaping the benefits of concessions they won in labor contracts last fall.

About 3,300 workers, represented by the United Auto Workers, went on strike at GM's Lansing-Delta Township plant, where the auto maker has been trying to hammer out an agreement with local union leaders covering an array of issues.

While people close to the strike say the UAW is using it to push GM into pressuring one of its suppliers to settle a contentious, two-month contract dispute, the walkout underscores the tension in Detroit as auto makers race to squeeze out savings made possible by the new UAW deal.

The stoppage is the latest bit of rough labor news for GM in particular, which has had to stop or slow production at about 30 plants because of parts shortages stemming from a separate UAW strike against American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. Unlike that action, which mainly affects the production of slow-selling trucks and SUVs, the Lansing strike affects supplies of the Buick Enclave and other crossovers that have been hot items for GM during a U.S. sales downturn.

GM, like its competitors, is banking on cooperation with the UAW in order to entice as many workers as possible to take buyouts. The strike against American Axle has hampered GM's ability to present the details of the buyout packages to all 74,000 of its UAW-represented employees in the U.S., spokesman Dan Flores said. Workers at some of the idled plants haven't been able to receive a basic orientation on the packages.

President Doug Rademacher of UAW Local 652 in Lansing didn't return phone calls. In a note posted on the local's Web site Thursday, the UAW said: "No, we're not bluffing."

The UAW was set to stage a demonstration in support of American Axle workers Friday, but canceled the rally as the company and union returned to the bargaining table this week.

GM's current struggle parallels the difficulty that Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC experienced earlier this year in their attempts to entice thousands of workers to accept buyouts and early-retirement packages.

The new labor contracts allow the auto makers to offer buyouts and early retirement to older workers and replace them with new hires making $14 an hour -- about $12 an hour less than the wages current workers get. New hires are also given 401(k) retirement accounts instead of more costly life-long pension plans.

Ford had hoped about 8,000 workers would accept the buyout offer it made earlier this year, but was disappointed when it fell at least 3,000 people short of its target, according to a person familiar with the matter. Chrysler was forced to push back the deadline on its buyout program because of poor results.

In an interview Thursday, UAW Local President Chris "Tiny" Sherwood said that more than 200 people, or 10% of the plant's workers, have accepted a buyout package so far at the Lansing plant he represents. That plant, which builds Cadillac CTS luxury cars, is near the Lansing plant that is striking, but Mr. Sherwood's has had a deal in place for a while.

Mr. Sherwood said his local unit hopes to attract about 400 takers for the deal. He is confident that Local 652 will hit its mark by May 22, at which time the offer expires.

In the past, buyout offers by the Big Three lured many takers. In 2006, GM and Ford convinced about 80,000 people to take buyouts.

UAW Strikes GM Lansing Plant

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American Axle strike could be over by the weekend
April 17, 2008
Left Lane News

The seven-week long American Axle strike that slowed GM's car and truck production could be over by this weekend, as UAW representatives and company executives are coming closer to an agreement. An indication that the negotiations are moving in the right direction is the fact a protest rally planned by the striking Axle workers for downtown Detroit has been canceled.

The Automotive News reported that a source close to the discussion believes a tentative deal could come before this weekend. "They are very close," the source said. "Both sides have finally come to their senses."

Three disputed areas are being negotiated, including wages, health care legacy costs, and job classifications. American Axle Chief Executive Richard Dauch has been seeking lower wage rates to stay competitive with other suppliers, some of whom are in or near bankruptcy.
GM has continued to use its inventory of parts, though slowed production in an attempt to wait out the strike and not have to stop assembly lines completely, but it's believed more than 140,000 vehicles have not been produced on account of the strike.

Once the American Axle strike is resolved, GM will have a number of local strikes to deal with.

American Axle strike could be over by the weekend
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Thank you,
John Martyn