By Kalea Hall
DETROIT, June 2 (Reuters) – Negotiations between a General Motors axle supplier and the United Auto Workers have not taken place since the union launched a strike against the company on Sunday, according to a local union negotiator.
Josh Jager, a 24-year employee and bargaining chairman for Local 2093, the UAW chapter representing about 1,000 union workers at the plant, said Tuesday the company, Dauch Corp, has not called to resume negotiations. The union handed a contract proposal to the company on Sunday night, he said.
“They are on the clock, they are under the gun but their finger is not on the trigger yet,” Jager said.
Dauch, formerly known as American Axle, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dozens of Dauch employees have been picketing since early Monday outside of the axle plant in Three Rivers, Michigan, which supports production of GM’s profitable pickup trucks.
A majority of the axles made at the Three Rivers plant are sent to GM’s Flint, Michigan, heavy-duty truck plant, Jager said.
Jager and other sources have said GM has about two weeks of axle supply to continue production. The union has seen about 250 salaried workers going into the plant to make axles, Jager said.
A GM spokesman said its truck production continued on Tuesday.
The union wants to see wage increases, better work-life balance issues addressed, and its healthcare benefits maintained.
Workers took wage concessions in 2008. Since then, the top wage has increased by $4 to $22 per hour, Jager said. The union wants top wages above $30 per hour.
(Reporting by Kalea Hall, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
