DETROIT – UAW President Bob King said in response to American Axle and Manufacturing (AAM) announcing the closing of its Detroit plant on Thursday, “The UAW is angry about AAM’s decision to close its Detroit plant after our members made real sacrifices to make the plant competitive and viable. This is another example of corporate greed gone amok,” King said. “AAM earned record profits of $115 million in 2010 with net income of $37 million in the first quarter of 2011 and still it is abandoning Detroit.”

UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada, who has responsibility for AAM. said the UAW has continued to engage in very difficult discussions with AAM to try to keep the plant open. Despite great sacrifices by UAW members, the company decided to close the Detroit plant and move work to Mexico. “UAW members found dramatic cost savings to make the Detroit plant competitive, and instead of assigning enough work to keep the facility open and profitable, AAM is running from Detroit,” Estrada said.

Key to its economic viability was AAM’s ability to hire new workers at lower rates, but AAM’s refusal to commit work to the plant meant that the Detroit site was never able to improve its cost structure by hiring new workers at the lower rate. After winning huge concessions in 2008, American Axle decided half-way though that contract, it wanted more concessions.

UAW Local 22 President George McGreggor said the UAW agreed to make significant changes to keep the plant open. “In recent negotiations, the union agreed to additional concessions and a long list of AAM demands to eliminate contract language, modify work rules, and give the company the flexibility to institute alternative work schedules. AAM reacted to this by announcing the closing of the Detroit plant.”

“The UAW is party to several collective bargaining agreements in the axle and driveline sector, and we know the business well,” said Estrada. “Our experience gives us a strong basis for stating that AAM is walking away from a competitive offer at a viable site. Worse, AAM is abandoning Detroit and a manufacturing workforce that has made huge sacrifices to make their worksite successful.” The UAW remains ready to discuss specific product opportunities and the economics of those opportunities with AAM in order to find a way to keep the Detroit site open past February.