American Axle says it will close down last remaining plant
By Charles Sercombe
Any hope that city officials had about American Axle & Manufacturing reopening its plants looks like a thing of the past.
Last week, American Axle officials announced it was closing down its last remaining active plant next February and will lay off 300 workers. Company officials said a shift in the demand for parts is the reason work is stopping here.
But according to local media reports, the closing seems to be more about forcing UAW members to take a pay and benefit cut from $45 an hour to $30 an hour.
UAW officials say their union agreed to reduce pay to $32 an hour, but American Axle officials say that’s untrue.
Regardless, it’s clear where the parts production has shifted: to American Axle’s Mexico plant, which employs about 2,700 workers and is responsible for 28 percent of the company’s global income of $2.3 billion.
The average hourly rate for a Mexican plant worker is $6.94.
The Detroit-Hamtramck plant complex once employed 2,200 workers, and the City of Hamtramck once collected $500,000 a year in property tax and income tax. In 2008, UAW members went on strike over a wage concession demand.
The workers eventually agreed to come back at half the salary they were earning. But it didn’t matter because shortly after the strike American Axle closed down most of the plants at the Detroit-Hamtramck complex and shifted work to Mexico.
The timing of the closing of the last remaining plant is curious to say the least. The UAW contract ends in February, leading to speculation that perhaps work could return with non-union employees.
American Axle officials won’t say what their plans are, but another scenario could be that the plants will be leased out or sold to another manufacturer.
Or, it could be that the plants will forever remain mothballed, adding yet another nail to the coffin of the Detroit auto industry.
21 Responses to American Axle says it will close down last remaining plant
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Stephanie Maholmes
August 3, 2012 at 10:22 pm
I LOVED MY JOB AT AAM. I WAS FORCED TO TAKE BUYOUT AFTER A LONG PERIOD OF BEING LAID OFF AND NO SIGNS OF RETURNING. TO THIS DAY I AM STILL DEEPLY SADDENED BY THE COMPANYS DECISION TO CLOSE DOWN. MY LIFE HAS NOT RECOVERED SINCE. ITS SAD SO MANY OF US LOST OUR JOBS WE LOVED AND GAVE 100%. WHATS EVEN MORE SAD IS NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE. OF COURSE TIMES HAVE CHANGED AND WITH THAT SOME CHANGES NEEDED YO HAPPEN AT AAM. BUT NOTHING THIS DRASTIC. I STILL FIND MYSELF THINKING ABOUT HOW KUCH I WISH I STILL HAD MY JOB AT AAM AND KEEP HOPING IT WILL RE-EMERGE. MR. DAUCH IF YOU ARE LISTENING..SOME OF YOUR ONCE DEDICATED WORKERS LOVED OUR JOBS AT AAM. AND SINCE LEAVING OUR LIVES HAVW BEEN TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. I STILL PRAY HOLBROOK WILL AGAIN BE ALIVE AND I CAN RETURN TO THE JOB I STILL GRIEVE THE LOSS OF.
Mark
September 23, 2016 at 2:47 am
Three Rivers is still open
Mike
January 16, 2017 at 1:09 pm
Not for Long same is going on in three rivers. Just a matter of time. 5 years is almost up and 45 an hour compared to 6 is a big difference. Since the CEO passed the company has went to shit.
Supplier
August 7, 2017 at 3:33 pm
5 years has come and gone. We supply AAM assembly equipment and there isn’t any sign of 3Rivers shutting the doors.
Jd
January 3, 2018 at 4:44 am
Fuck american axle with their greedy ass’es
Mike
January 9, 2018 at 10:53 pm
I think it’s funny. When I used to work for Inland Waters coming out of pits or flumes covered in grease cleaning you workers laughed at me. Told me things like “I’d never do what you do”! Well guess What? My job is waste. My job now pays 6 figures a year. Instead of looking down on everyone else like many UAW scum do, I treat people with respect. Regardless of my union. You reap what you have sown. Now reap it well..
Ron
October 16, 2018 at 12:41 am
Aam Was very good to me. I worked at the forge until 2009 A tear one supplier cannot demand OEM wages. Competition is too strong. The Detroit complex had too many Democrats didn’t understand this they just wanted their entitlements look where got them. American axle had to do what they did to sustain and stay in business. I was a tradesman at the Forge and I work with a lot of very intelligent tradesmen . I work for Ford Motor Company now and they are a first class world class employer but I will never forget my years at American axle I enjoyed all of them. The UAW did a poor job negotiating with the company and explain the problems of the business to the workforce don’t blame the company blame big UAW
Smitty
December 16, 2018 at 7:50 pm
You don’t know what
you’re talking about the UAW did to good of a job by getting us too much money which is something we all wanted who knew it would backfire
Sam
April 26, 2019 at 11:22 am
Fuck John Coster! he is the purchasing guy and he don’t know SHIT. They like to hire people from Ohio and not give people chances in Michigan.
Mickey
April 29, 2019 at 4:31 pm
American Axle are nothing more than a bunch of greedy bastards that would work the shit out of you. Then they want to cut your hourly pay in half while the company is making a huge profit. The CEO’s got raises but they want to work for peanuts.
Reginald Blue
May 25, 2019 at 9:13 am
Are the five plants AAM purchase when they start, still in operation?
mark j bradley
July 5, 2019 at 3:07 pm
Amercian Axle, Kingsford, Mi upper penninsula still running
Timothy Miller
September 27, 2019 at 3:14 pm
I retired from AAM Three Rivers. From 2013 through 2018
the pay was creeping back up. No where near 2007 but
workers were overpaid then. It couldn’t last. But
the GM strikes at the high payed plants really hurts
American Axle. Employees there don’t get any help from
the UAW when on lay off. No pension when they retire either. If AAM Three Rivers closes, I will never buy
a GM product again.
Susan Hartline
September 27, 2019 at 6:23 pm
Is this article talking about the Three Rivers, MI plant, because I have Family members who work there?
Anthony E Powell
October 2, 2019 at 2:31 am
Can’t believe this thread is still going. American Axle is the only job I can say that I enjoyed going to work everyday, we were a family that worked together. Currently I work at GM Grand Rapids plant and rumor has it that Three Rivers axles are being manufactured here.
Gregg Gilbert
August 25, 2020 at 12:10 am
It appears that UAW negotiated its workers out of their jobs. One commenter makes it clear they believe the greed of the CEO (and his/her colleagues) is the reason the jobs went to Mexico and so its corporate greed that caused the problem. I don’t know how much education is required to do these jobs, and I don’t presume to. But, to stay competitive, the CEO decided to move production to Mexico. The UAW knew (had to know) this would be necessary to the company’s survival. If they didn’t move, someone would have set up shop in Mexico, making axles, and that would be the end of AAM. UAW wielded its power, and the CEO wielded his/her power, and the workers ended up without their beloved jobs.
old robot guy
January 19, 2022 at 5:35 pm
I worked for decades at Colfor mfg, Malvern, bought by Axle out of bankruptcy
1998. I was a robotic forging press operator that also was required to do a second final sorting /salvage job while I reacted to operational and quality problems.
I was paid $21.45/hour and was forced to retire when they burnt the plant down.
I get $239.00/month (No medical benefit) UAW pension after $35 years service. Rumor is they will leave the facility dormant for three years and then reopen without a union.
Tony
April 25, 2023 at 8:40 am
Originally american axle was purchased by a group of men one being Jim Mclaren an old Chevrolet manager that went to volkswagen then put the group together and bought american axle Mort Harrison what’s another founder they brought in Dick as Plant Mgr. The place was sold twice after that. BIg profits were made by all sellers and CEO. NOW THERE SAYING WAGES ARE TO HIGH SO IS COST OF LIVING. THOSES GUY A BILLIONAIRES.
connie Harde
April 25, 2023 at 10:01 am
Marion Cumo, a man of honor, not greed was my Mentor when I worked there. I was in Materials. Fun and lively in those days. People in Marion’s camp all got along.
Gregg Gilbert
November 25, 2023 at 7:23 pm
I worked at Raytheon when they had their last strike. They turned down a $500 signing bonus, but four months later, received a $1K bonus, after losing holiday pay over Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year. They also lost unused vacation. The company produced more on our product lines than when we had separate assembly and test personnel. Haven’t heard of a successful strike in over twenty years. Success would be more for the workers, not less.
A. Wilson
March 16, 2024 at 11:20 am
I would Like to know where these pay figures are coming from? I make 21.07 and been there for over 10 years. I started out making 10.00. I work at the Three Rivers plant. horribly awful to work there. They don’t care about their workers anymore. Too many getting hurt. I feel management is putting this company 8n the ground.