DETROIT -- The good news is that representatives of American Axle and striking UAW workers are talking. The bad news is what they're saying to one another.

Striking workers have been circling the auto supplier's five U.S. factories for nearly two months, and now management is threatening to shut down the facilities. Some workers are saying, "Go ahead."

The company issued a statement Wednesday that appeared to resemble more of an ultimatum.

"If the international UAW is not willing to consider a U.S. market competitive labor agreement for AAM … it has given to companies based in China and India, AAM will be forced to plan for the potential closure of some, or all, of these uncompetitive facilities," the statement said.

Ronnie Francis, a striking electrician on the picket line outside the Hamtramck plant, said that's fine with him.

"Go ahead and pack it up and move it," Francis said.

But if management is talking about fairness, he added, then start by cutting the salary of AAM chief Richard Dauch.

"If we're going to be competitive, we all ought to be competitive and we all ought to take the same amount of cuts," Francis said.

But it isn't only AAM and the workers who are feeling the pain of cuts. A sales executive for General Motors Corp. said Wednesday the strike has probably cut into GM's first-quarter fleet sales.

Mike DiGiovanni, GM's executive director of global markets and industry analysis, said the strike may have cost the automaker sales of 7,000 to 10,000 vehicles to fleet buyers. He said GM hopes to make up the sales once the 58-day strike is resolved.

DiGiovanni said the walkout has reduced GM's inventory in a weak U.S. market.

American Axle makes parts mainly for GM's pickup trucks and large sport utility vehicles, which aren't selling well due to high gasoline prices.

Although talks continued Wednesday, the union recently has accused American Axle of failing to bargain, while the company says the UAW has rejected competitive pay offers.

"Things are moving along, just not greatly," company spokeswoman Renee Rogers said Wednesday. She expected negotiations to continue Thursday.

GM has labor problems of its own with a strike under way since Thursday at a plant near Lansing that makes the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia, three key crossover vehicles that are selling well.

DiGiovanni said the strike at the Delta Township factory hasn't hurt GM's sales yet.

"This is not something that we're treating lightly. We're concerned about it, yes, but it hasn't really affected us yet," he said.

The Delta Township strike is over local contract issues, but industry analysts have speculated it's part of a UAW strategy to make GM pressure American Axle into ending its long contract dispute. The union has denied the walkout has anything to with American Axle. GM accounts for 80 percent of American Axle's parts business.

UAW locals at four other GM plants have threatened to go on strike over similar local contract issues. The union has given GM strike warning letters at factories in Mansfield, Ohio; Warren; Grand Rapids; and Kansas City, Kan.

The Kansas City plant makes GM's hottest product at the moment, the Chevrolet Malibu mid-sized sedan.

Local plants negotiate their own operating agreements separate from the national contract, which was settled last year. The local contract deals with issues such as overtime and work rules.

GM spokesman Dan Flores said negotiations are under way at all five locations.

GM shares rose 42 cents, or 2 percent, to $20.93, in afternoon trading Wednesday.