UAW Local 2093 begins strike at American Axle in Three Rivers

United Auto Workers members at American Axle went on strike early Monday at the plant in Three Rivers, Michigan, the union said. 

American Axle, which is headquartered in Detroit, is a Tier 1 supplier to General Motors. The Three Rivers site is among its nearly 75 facilities in 15 countries. 

UAW Local 2093 members voted in May to authorize a strike when the contracts expired May 31. The union says many of their workers were affected by the Great Recession in 2008, when hourly wages for some autoworkers were cut in half. The union says they are looking to restore those wages. 

The strike began at 12:01 a.m. Monday, the union said on social media and on its website. Additional pickets began at 6 a.m. 

"No contract, no axles," the union said. "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."