The United Automobile Workers union called its third strike in five months yesterday, sending some 3,650 workers at parts factories in Michigan and New York off the job in opposition to proposed pay and benefit cuts, and to what it called unfair labor practices, the New York Times reported today. Analysts said that the strike, against American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings, threatened to shut down some truck production at General Motors, the supplier’s biggest customer and former parent company. GM officials said that there were no immediate disruptions, and both companies had stockpiled some parts in preparation for a work halt, though it was reported to be only a few days’ worth. The UAW’s president, Ron Gettelfinger, who led the union in brief strikes against GM and Chrysler last fall, accused American Axle of failing to provide enough information for the union to evaluate the proposed cuts.

In an attempt to grapple with the mortgage crisis that began unfolding last year, several of the nation’s largest lenders are shutting off access to home equity lines in areas where home values are declining, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. Countrywide Financial, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, suspended the home equity lines of 122,000 customers last month after reviewing their property values and outstanding loan balances. USAA Federal Savings Bank froze or reduced credit lines for 15,000 of its customers, including Corazzi, and the company said that it will not reconsider its decisions until “real estate values improve substantially.” Bank of America is starting to do the same and is contacting some borrowers to work with them on the payments.