UAW Local 2093 Members at American Axle to Hold Strike Authorization Vote May 11

Today, as working-class people take part in May Day actions around the world, UAW Local 2093 members at American Axle, or Dauch Corporation, announced plans to hold a strike authorization vote starting May 11. Results will be counted on May 12, with the chance for workers to walk out of the Three Rivers plant starting May 31 when the current contract expires.

“UAW Local 2093 members at American Axle have been loyal to their company for decades and during these negotiations we are here for our fair share.” said UAW Region 1D Director Steve Dawes. “This company is making billions every year – these workers are ready to do whatever it takes to win a record contract that’s long past due.”

Influenced by the success of the UAW’s 2023 Big Three strike at Ford, GM, and Stellantis, American Axle workers are ready to make up for nearly two decades of lost wages and benefits. UAW Local 2093 members laid out their demands in a video released earlier in March, which include: no concessions, fairer wages and profit sharing, better health care, stronger retirement, and job security.

“American Axle is a mainstay in this community, and we’re fighting to make it better by making our lives better,” said Jay Korf, a UAW Local 2093 member at American Axle. “We’re not asking to break the bank; we’re demanding our fair share after all our sacrifices and years spent building this company back up.”

In 2008, workers at American Axle took major sacrifices to save the facility from closure during the Great Recession. Many long-time workers who were making as much as $29 an hour in 2008 saw their wages slashed to $14.50. Today, eighteen years later, workers are still yet to make up all that lost ground, with wages at American Axle currently topping out at $22 an hour after a five-year progression, with inflation-adjusted wages cut in half from their pre-2008 levels.

Meanwhile, in the last decade, as a Tier 1 parts supplier to General Motors, American Axle has generated $8.4 billion in profits. Over that time, the company’s CEO has been paid $111 million, with the top five executives receiving nearly $231 million in compensation – while UAW members working at the Three Rivers plant struggle to afford basic needs, with some even forced to sleep in their cars.