By Kalea Hall
DETROIT, May 31 (Reuters) – United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain on Sunday called for a strike at a Michigan factory that makes axles for General Motors pickup trucks, some of its most profitable vehicles.
The Detroit union said late on Sunday that workers at the plant in Three Rivers, Michigan, owned by Dauch Corp, would walk off the job at midnight (0400 GMT).
Dauch, formerly named American Axle, is a major supplier of driveline parts, and there are about 1,000 unionized workers at the plant, according to the UAW.
Dauch could not be immediately reached for comment late on Sunday.
GM said it was closely monitoring the situation and “assessing any potential impact.”
The UAW is pushing for wage increases after employees made sacrifices to keep the plant open in 2008, according to the union. Wages at the plant top out at $22 an hour after a five-year progression period, down from as much as $29 an hour in 2008, the union said. In early May, workers voted 98% in favor of authorizing a strike if needed.
“For 18 years, these members have built you an empire of profit while getting treated like dirt. They’ve taken wage cuts, benefit cuts, they poured their souls into this plant,” Fain said on a livestream announcing the midnight strike.
(Reporting by Kalea Hall; Editing by Mike Colias, Jacqueline Wong and Jamie Freed)
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