American Axle strike enters third month

DETROIT, May 1 (UPI) -- The American Axle and Manufacturing strike, entering its third month, is about livelihood and survival, union and industry officials said.

American Axle Chief Executive Officer Richard Dauch "is just doing what he has to to survive," Hank Cox, vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers, told The Washington Post.

The company has said its hourly workers at the struck Midwest plants earn $73 per hour in wages and benefits.

The United Auto Workers union said it doubts the $73 per hour figure is accurate but wants no part in rollbacks after the company posted profits of $37 million in 2007.

"If we accept this offer, it would set a precedent for everyone else," Karl Schaffer, speaking from the picket line outside company headquarters in Detroit, told the Post.

"The company is making money," he said.

"The stakes are our livelihood -- simple as that," Bill Alford Jr., vice president of UAW Local 235, said to the newspaper. "We're trying to hold on to a middle-class way of life."