DETROIT — Striking workers at American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. began voting Monday on a new contract with the auto-parts maker that would cut their pay by about one-third.
United Auto Workers at the Detroit Forge plant and a factory in Three Rivers started casting ballots in the morning.
But the vote that could end the bitter 83-day strike won’t end until Thursday evening, when Local 235 in Hamtramck, the largest local at the company, wraps up its balloting.
About 3,600 workers walked off their jobs Feb. 26 in a wage- and-benefit dispute that has featured name-calling and threats by the company to move work to other countries.
The strike caused a parts shortage that crippled production of General Motors Corp.’s pickups and full-size sport utility vehicles.
More than 30 factories were affected, and thousands of workers for GM and other parts suppliers were laid off.
Detroit-based American Axle makes axles, drive shafts and stabilizer bars mainly for GM’s pickups and large SUVs. GM accounts for about 80 percent of its business.
UAW president Ron Gettel finger and other union officials explained the deal to Detroit workers at a high school Sunday.
The meeting was punctuated by anger and shouting, and most workers leaving the session said they didn’t like the four-year deal.
But many said they’ll vote for it because it’s the best the union could get in a weak economy with the possibility of American Axle moving their work elsewhere.
