Saturday, June 28, 2008

American Axle strike paid off for one already rich man

Remember the American Axle strike earlier this year? Workers settled after 11 weeks for a contract that cut wages as much as $10 an hour, froze pensions for those with less than 20 years seniority, and scheduled two plants for closure.

Union workers ratified the contract, but the fallout continues:
American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc shares surged 10 percent on Wednesday after analysts said the parts supplier plans to eliminate about 670 salaried jobs on top of factory job cuts now underway.

Analysts at Lehman Brothers and JPMorgan said in research notes that hourly headcount cuts will be accompanied shortly by white-collar cuts at a three-to-one ratio, citing a meeting with American Axle's executives late on Tuesday.
There was one person who came out smelling like a rose. [my emphasis]
American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. Chairman and CEO Richard Dauch has been awarded an $8.5 million bonus in part for leading the auto parts supplier through a bitter strike.

The bonus revealed Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission is in addition to his earlier reported 2007 compensation valued at $5.55 million.
And the rich get richer...


(Cross-posted at BFM)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't know... $8.5M sounds a little on the slim side, these days. ;-)

Lew Scannon said...

I'll certainly sleep a whole lot better at night knowing that not everyone got screwed over there.

Anonymous said...

$14 million is barely enough to compensate what this poor CEO has gone through. I'm sure he's had several sleepless nights worrying about all those lost jobs.

Anonymous said...

You know I haven't been sleeping to well this week myself. Do you think I could get $1 mil for my troubles?

Kathy said...

Kvatch, I can hardly fill my gas tank up on that measly amount!

Lew, since I posted this, Alvan Motor Freight went out of business and let 525 employees go. They blamed it partly on the AA strike of course, but the rumor is they'll reopen under another name and hire non-union employees.

Abi, his sleepless nights were due to excitement. He was probably overcome trying to figure out how to spend that money.

Auto parts man, welcome, but there will be no money for you. Only CEO's and top executives qualify. ;-)