UAW workers at a Three Rivers, Michigan, plant that supplies axle components for General Motors’ full-size trucks went on strike Monday after negotiations between the union and the supplier, Dauch Corp., formerly called American Axle, failed to result in an agreement.
Workers on May 12 had approved by a vote of 98%, according to the UAW, to authorize the strike if an agreement wasn’t made by May 31, when their contract expired.
Jay Korf, a UAW Local 2093 member at the supplier, which is still widely referred to as American Axle, was among those who voted to give the union the power to strike and told the UAW, “We’re not asking to break the bank; we’re demanding our fair share after all our sacrifices and years spent building this company back up.”
Union workers partly see the negotiation as critical to make up for long-term sacrifices. In 2008, following a bitter 87-day strike, workers at American Axle took major sacrifices to save the facility from closure during the Great Recession.
At that time, any longtime workers who were making as much as $29 an hour in 2008 saw their wages slashed to $14.50. Today, 18 years later, workers haven’t yet made up that lost ground, with wages at American Axle currently topping out at $22 an hour after a five-year progression.
Four other American Axle plants covered by the 2008 agreement closed completely by 2013 as the company shifted more work to Mexico.
“When autoworkers saved the auto industry in 2008, it wasn’t just at the Big Three, here at American Axle we sacrificed everything,” American Axle worker Jason Buchanan noted in a UAW press release from March.
Inflation-adjusted, wages have been roughly cut in half from their pre-2008 levels. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI Inflation Calculator, that top $22 wage in today’s money equals $14.19 in 2008 money, while 2008’s top $29 wage equals nearly $45 in today’s money, looking at April 2026 versus April 2008.
A spokesman for Dauch in an emailed statement called the strike “disappointing” but did not immediately provide information about bargaining details, CNBC reported.
WardsAuto has reached out to GM for comment on whether the strike immediately affects GM. The automaker confirmed accelerated truck production plans in its Q1 financial update, with a shift this year of more U.S. production capacity toward pickups and full-size SUVs.
The Dauch Corp., which changed its official corporate name from American Axle and Manufacturing earlier this year, acknowledged in its annual report published in April it might face a strike that would disrupt its operations and deliveries to customers.
“There can be no assurance that future negotiations with labor unions, including those related to the 2026 expiration of the collective bargaining agreement with the labor union representing certain of our associates at our largest U.S. facility, will be resolved favorably or that we, our customers or suppliers will not experience a work stoppage or disruption that could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition,” stated Dauch in the report.
Axles now, steering next?
The UAW’s efforts to rebuild a reputation for delivering contracts that boost the wages and benefits for working-class Americans in the automotive supply sector it once dominated is undergoing a test as it negotiates with Dauch, as well as Nexteer, the Chinese-owned supplier that builds steering gear for GM and other automakers.
UAW Local 699 members at Nexteer’s manufacturing complex outside Saginaw, Michigan, last month voted down multiple contract proposals, and voted by 86% to authorize a strike. According to reports a new tentative agreement was reached June 1 but this will be up for a vote.
Jill Dralle, vice president and USA Division President, Nexteer Automotive, said in a statement emailed to WardsAuto: “Nexteer management and the UAW bargaining committee continue to discuss UAW member feedback to address open items and reach an agreement that builds a strong, sustainable future for our Saginaw employees and Nexteer. All terms of the current agreement will remain in effect during this period.”
Inflation-battered workers face a profitable, growing company
For now, UAW president Shawn Fain has staked out a position at American Axle, calling for union members to get substantial improvements in their next contract.
Given American Axle’s success over the past decade, blue-collar workers had every right to expect higher wages, improved benefits and an end to any tiered wage structure, Fain said during a rally held in March, when the UAW laid out its demands ahead of the start of contract negotiations.
American Axle, as a Tier 1 supplier to GM, has generated $2.9 billion in profits since 2022, according to the UAW. Over that time, the company’s CEO has been paid $47.9 million, the union said.
The Dauch Corp. reported a gross profit of $704 million for 2025, compared to $741 million in 2024. According to the company’s SEC filings, it had an (EPS basis) net loss of $19.7 million in 2025 versus a net income of $35.0 million in 2024. It also expanded through the acquisition of Dowlais Group and its subsidiaries, GKN Automotive and GKN Powder Metallurgy, in 2026.
“I would not underestimate the ability of Shawn Fain to make gains at the table,” Art Wheaton, Director of Labor Studies at the ILR School, Cornell University, said in an email to WardsAuto. But Wheaton added that it “will be extremely difficult” to resurrect any defined-benefit pension plans, which were once part of union contracts in manufacturing.
