GM Moraine workers return
A supply of axles allows production to resume on Monday
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
MORAINE — At 7:01 a.m. Monday, May 19, the lights came on at General Motors Corp.'s only Dayton-area plant.
After securing a supply of axles, the SUV assembly plant at Stroop Road and Kettering Boulevard resumed work for the first time since production was halted by a strike hundreds of miles away on March 3.
Extras
A plant spokeswoman isn't saying how the automaker secured axles while a United Auto Workers strike against American Axle & Manufacturing continues.
But the spokeswoman, Jessica Peck, made it clear how happy she and other plant officials are to see workers return.
"It felt so good to see them clock in," said Peck, walking plant halls once again filled with workers.
Much was happening at the plant Monday: Managers and workers conducted quality checks and torque checks on lines that have been mostly unused since early March, less than a week after the UAW first struck American Axle plants in Michigan and New York. Workers were also refamiliarizing themselves with their jobs.
Also: Workers were considering whether to take part in GM's latest "special attrition program," weighing whether to retire or leave the payroll in return for payment from GM. Workers must file paperwork by Thursday, with seven days to change their minds.
Meanwhile, the jointly operated GM-Isuzu DMAX truck engine plant will soon resume partial production.
Courtney Strickler, spokeswoman for the DMAX plant on Dryden Road, said second-shift workers will be recalled there June 2 to support the production of medium-duty trucks in Flint, Mich., and vans in Wentzville, Mo.
What is happening with the UAW and American Axle?
The more than 3,600 UAW members who first struck five American Axle plants nearly three months ago are learning about a tentative agreement negotiating teams struck over the weekend. No Dayton-area locals are directly involved in the strike.
A UAW Web site said ratification voting was 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday and will happen again 3 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday. The tentative agreement closes some plants while imposing on workers a $10-an-hour wage cut, in some cases. The company says it needs the lower wages to be more competitive.
