LABOR
Union at American Axle OKs closing agreement
Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers employed at American Axle’s Town of Tonawanda forge, which is expected to close within a year, approved a plant-closing agreement Saturday.
The union’s contract expired in early May, amid a strike by the United Auto Workers, but the pact had been extended. The UAW in late May reached a separate deal with American Axle that ended an 87-day strike by the union. During the walkout, the Machinists honored the UAW’s picket line and stayed away from their jobs.
The deal between American Axle and Machinists Lodge DS490 included severance packages of $60,000, paid in three lump sums over three years, to employees with at least one year’s seniority.
Peter Cooney, the Machinists’ business representative, said about 80 percent of the members who participated in the vote approved the shutdown agreement. There are approximately 80 Lodge members. He declined to say what the vote total was.
