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The strike at American Axle has ratcheted up another notch as the company has received hundreds of applications in response to its newspaper ads Sunday seeking new hires for its Detroit plant. The flurry of applications came on the same day that American Axle workers who were laid off before the work stoppage declined the company's recall notices and officially joined the strike. One story of a laid off worker caught my eye in particular...

That's a hurricane warning flag and the storm warning flags have to be up at the UAW after its annual financial report showed a nearly 14% decline in membership last year. As stated in the Detroit Free Press... Much of the union's retreat comes from the grinding economics of the U.S...

The tide is rising and lines are being drawn in the sand. President Buzz Hargrove of the Canadian Auto Workers union said he will not accept a U.S.-style two-tier wage deal when it meets with the "Big Three" automakers this summer for contract negotiations. "It's my last set of negotiations and my legacy is not going to be that the sons and daughters of current workers that were hired over 20 years ago are going to come in at the same rate in 2008 as their parents did in '86 or '87." I'm not sure he's been paying attention...

The strike at American Axle continues, and we're hearing "progress is being made," and "We're having meaningful discussions on a variety of issues." Meanwhile, the company has moved some axle production for GM SUV's to its plant in Mexico, giving the company more time to weather the strike. Automotive market forecaster CSM Worldwide estimates that lost volume because of the strike will add up to more than 100,000 vehicles, which won't be replaced because of slow pickup and SUV sales. That sure sounds like there's not going to be a lot of pressure on American Axle to get back up and running, which cannot bode well for the cause of the striking workers...

Here's a shocker of a headline: UAW Preps for Long American Axle Strike Who saw that one coming? One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. "We expect this to be a long and drawn-out strike," said an e-mail message from UAW...

Looks like the strike at American Axle is going to go on for a bit longer. The two sides aren't even meeting face to face any longer, never a good sign if a resolution is the goal. American Axle, formed from parts plants sold by GM in 1994, says its manufacturing workers can make up to $73.48 per hour in wages and benefits, three times the rate at its U.S...

The strike at American Axle may have been having an effect on various plants as time has passed, but I'm still not seeing any final resolution other than the contract winding up with wages in line with other recent UAW contracts. That view was reinforced as Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said the work stoppage, now in its second week, does not yet affect auto sector ratings. When in doubt, find out what the money thinks...

From the Canadian Press DETROIT — Bargaining will continue today aimed at ending a strike at an American auto parts maker. Day-long negotiations between the United Auto Workers and auto parts maker American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings took place yesterday, The strike, now into its 13th day, has affected dozens of factories in the U.S. and Canada...

The stirke at American Axle continues to affect other auto parts suppliers as Lear, second largest supplier of seats, announced that it was laying off 1000 employees. I'm not sure what the workers at American Axle are expecting out of this. The wage cuts that they are trying to avoid have been the central concession in all the other contracts so far...

The week-old strike at American Axle & Manufacturing has shut down four plants already and two more are expected to shut down today as parts supplies dwindle. The plant shutdowns may start to affect smaller parts suppliers soon as they get notified that their parts are no longer needed. The company and union have not talked since the contract expired a week ago and no talks have been scheduled...