Detroit (WWJ)  -- United Auto Workers union president Ron Gettelfinger says the tentative deal reached with American Axle management is the best deal the UAW could get under the circumstances. 

"There are buy downs but we'll go into the details of the agreement tomorrow at the explanation meetings.  Our bargaining committees worked extremely hard trying to the best of our ability to represent our membership," Gettelfinger told WWJ's Florence Walton at Cobo Center Saturday.  

Gettelfinger made the comments while attending the 70th Annual AFL-CIO Union Industries Show.  

"We've had longer strikes than this and we've had longer struggles. Clearly this has been a very challenging situation for our membership and their families as well as our bargainers," Gettelfinger said.

While details about the new tentative contract will be outlined to workers starting at 10 a.m. Sunday at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Detroit, some details have been released.  Ratification votes will be scheduled.   

A person briefed on the agreement says American Axle boosted its wage offer and increased payments it will give workers to take a wage cut.  American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. had been offering a pay cut from $28 to $17 per hour for production workers, with a $90,000 wage "buy down'' over three years to help workers make the transition to lower pay.

The person, who asked not to be identified because the deal has not yet been presented to workers, said Saturday the agreement includes pay of $18.50 per hour and increases the size of the buy down.

The deal is similar to what the UAW agreed to with auto parts maker Delphi Corp. last year, the person said. In that deal, Delphi agreed to pay workers ``buy downs'' of $105,000 over three years.

Non-core workers, which are those that aren't involved in actual manufacturing, would be paid $14.55 per hour, the person said, while skilled trades workers would get $26 per hour.

About 3,600 workers at five American Axle plants have been on strike for nearly three months.  The tentative deal was announced late Friday.  

The strike forced General Motors to shutdown more than two dozen plants because of a lack of parts.  The automaker said the strike cost it 800-million dollars in the first quarter.  American Axle makes axles, drive shafts and stabilizer bars mainly for large GM sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks. 

Gettelfinger said in a statement Friday night that the American Axle bargaining committee voted to recommend the agreement to members.

"This has been an extremely difficult struggle for our members and their families,'' UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles said in a statement.  "By standing strong during this strike, UAW members gave our bargaining committee the strength to face the challenges at the negotiating table.''

Workers on the picket lines in Detroit have been hoping for a settlement since GM's surprise announcement last week that it would throw in $200 million to help end the walkout. 

On May 1, workers said they were told by a union official that both sides were negotiating a settlement that included the closure of American Axle's Detroit and Tonawanda, N.Y., forge operations. At that time, the deal also included wage cuts for production workers to $17 an hour from about $28.  Gettelfinger said a week ago that a new proposal to shutdown a third plant was offered by American Axle.  

American Axle, formed from parts plants sold by GM in 1994, says its hourly manufacturing labor cost is now $73.48 in wages and benefits, three times the rate at its U.S. competitors. The company said it wanted to cut that by $20 to $30 an hour, which would be similar to what will be paid to some new hires under agreements reached between the UAW and the in-house axle-making operations at Ford and Chrysler.   

Local union officials say workers make far less than $73.48 per hour, and that the figure includes retiree health care and other costs that shouldn't be added in.