Ten Lemforder layoffs linked to strike

BREWER – The trickledown effect of a month-old strike by the United Auto Workers union against American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. has resulted in the “temporary volunteer layoff” of 10 Lemforder employees, a company spokesman said Thursday.

“There was talk that it would be” 15 employees, said Frank Buscemi, spokesman for ZF Lemforder’s North America headquarters in Northville, Mich. “It’s actually 10 now.”

Lemforder is an auto parts maker that employs about 210 people in Brewer. There are no union workers at Lemforder’s Brewer plant, but the operation produces parts for General Motors Corp.

The layoffs are “essentially because of the American Axle strike,” Buscemi said. “We provide ball joints and chassis components to GM, [and] GM has shut down several plants because of this American Axle strike.”

According to the Detroit Free Press, the strike “is expected to impact, through production cuts or shutdowns, as many as 29 General Motors Corp. factories.”

An investment group created American Axle in 1994 after purchasing five of GM’s axle plants. The company makes axles, shafts and other components, and the layoffs have affected more than 3,600 workers, mostly in Michigan and New York, the UAW Web site says.

“We just have to wait until the strike is over,” Buscemi said. “It’s a temporary voluntary layoff. Management asked for volunteers.”

The company staffs according to customer demand, so the laid-off employees will be put back to work once the strike is over and production of the components resumes, he said.

“I’m told it’s a temporary situation,” Buscemi said. “You never want this to happen. You just have to make adjustments on the [fly] with the automotive industry in North America.”

The Brewer Lemforder plant was constructed in 1980. It was the first North American plant built by German-based ZF Lemforder.

The parent company operates 122 plants in 26 countries with 23 in North America.