Union and American Axle to resume talks

DETROIT, April 8 (UPI) -- The United Auto Workers and American Axle agreed to resume negotiations to end a strike begun Feb. 29, UAW officials in the United States said.

Chief Executive Officer Richard Dauch and UAW President Ron Gettelfinger met Monday. A company spokeswoman called the meeting "productive," The Detroit News reported.

American Axel claims it pays $73.48 per hour per worker and wants to trim that to $20 to $30 per hour. The union has countered the company's $37 million in profits in 2007 gives no justification for rolling back.

The six-week strike of 3,650 American Axle employees has rippled across the industry with furloughs of more than 40,000 General Motors Corp. workers, due to a lack of supplies.

GM said it will partially reopen plants in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Oshawa, Ontario, having located enough supplies to resume operations.

The Fort Wayne plant will run two shifts for four weeks; the Oshawa plant will run two shifts for three weeks, the company said.

Analysts surmised the supplies came from an American Axle plant in Mexico.

Dauch has threatened to move more American Axle production out of the United States if the union does not agree on concessions, the paper said.