August 6, 2010 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
Yesterday GM Europe announced that, starting immediately, all buyers of Opel and Vauxhall passenger models will receive a lifetime warranty on their new cars. The warranty is valid for the first owner who purchases any new Opel or Vauxhall passenger car starting now and is open to private as well as businesses needing a small fleet. A second owner can assume the warranty up to six years after the first registration and maximum 100,000 km (62,137 miles) as long as the first owner has paid the annual activation fee and kept up the maintenance of the car as required. The lifetime warranty covers all labor costs. Parts are completely covered in the first two years under the manufacturer’s warranty or up to 50,000 km. After that, the owner is paid on a graduated scale for the fair value of parts according to the number of kilometers driven. The warranty is limited to the current value of the car at the time of a claim.
From the Detroit News: General Motors Co. will end the year with a dealer network of 4,500 -- about 400 more than the company envisioned in bankruptcy, the automaker said Thursday. GM said it has concluded the dealer arbitration process and has shed 1,564 dealers during the past year. The Detroit automaker initially wanted to cut 2,064 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers from its network as part of its restructuring.
The final part of UAW President Bob King’s speech:
While the UAW strongly supports the Employee Free Choice Act, we will not passively sit and wait for its passage. In our strongest historical traditions we will take direct action now in every way we can to protect all workers in exercising their First Amendment rights. The UAW does believe in the principle of a fair secret-ballot election in which workers can decide freely whether or not to join the union.
Therefore, we are crafting a set of guidelines called the UAW Principles for Fair Union Elections. These principles are being adapted from guidelines developed by the labor/management Institute for Employee Choice. They include requirements such as equal access to the employees for both union and management and prohibition of making derogatory, insulting or untruthful statements about the other party. The UAW principles ban any threats or pressure by either the union or management. We will soon be unveiling these principles, and we will present them to the executives within the industry who are not currently unionized. We will ask them to sign on to these principles. If a company agrees to adopt the UAW Principles, and then abides by these principles, we will respect the decision of their workers whether they vote to join the union or not. However, if companies do not agree to these principles, and instead engage in threatening behavior towards workers who want to organize a union, or fire workers who try to organize, or close down facilities to thwart union activity, then the UAW will not tolerate the violation of workers’ First Amendment rights. I want to clarify this point. There has been some misunderstanding that the UAW will “pound” on companies that do not recognize the UAW. This is not correct. Our position is that we will demand that companies respect the rights of their workers to decide freely whether or not to join the UAW. If companies violate workers' rights, if companies take vicious anti-union actions, we will expose those companies in any and every way we can until they agree to respect workers' rights and to rectify their anti-union actions. Let me be clear, our goal is not to force auto companies to unionize. This is not about our institutional self-interest; it is not about getting dues money. It is about democracy, and goes to our fundamental mission and the reason for our existence: to protect the right of workers to organize unions and collectively bargain for fairness, dignity, and a democratic voice. If companies choose not to respect the rights of American workers – whether those companies are American or foreign-owned – then the UAW will use every resource at our disposal to convince those companies to abide by our democracy. It is particularly disturbing and unacceptable for a corporation to allow unionization in other countries, but treat American workers as second-class citizens who are not entitled to unionize. We are advocating for a high road of common interests, shared strategies and shared success, but if we must fight, then we will fight with all our strength. In the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Archbishop Oscar Romero, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, our goal is NOT revenge or retaliation. Our goal is to achieve democratic values and principles.
So, any company that does not agree to the UAW Principles is essentially declaring war on freedom of speech and assembly, and it is our duty and mission to enforce that right. Let me be clear, the UAW does not want to go to war with any company — we are advocating for the opposite. Conflict and prolonged fights are not good for the UAW and will not be good for the company. It is not a good business model for any company to be in a battle with the UAW. We want to be responsible partners who add value and who help companies succeed and grow. We offer respect, and we expect respect in return. The choice will be up to the non-union companies, and I suggest that the best business practice, the best way to deliver shareholder value, is to partner with the UAW on quality, productivity, attendance, employee morale, and the overall goal of providing the best product at the best price to the customer. In today's extremely intense competitive global marketplace, I guarantee that employers with UAW partnerships are going to outperform non-union employers in every key measurable! The UAW has embraced fundamental, radical change. We call upon the business community to also embrace change. We challenge you to respect the right of workers to organize unions globally. We challenge you to help build a better world. We challenge you to adopt a global trade agenda that does not exploit workers but rather lifts them out of poverty. We challenge you to join us in a global vision of a common humanity with an end to hunger, disease, and strife, that finds new, green sources of energy to meet the transportation needs of future generations, that reduces the intolerable cruelty of poverty.
When Cesar Chavez was organizing farmworkers in the 1960s, Walter Reuther marched by his side. I conclude with words of Cesar Chavez that embody the values of the UAW of the 21st century:
"We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community. ... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own."
I look forward to working with all of you to achieve progress and prosperity for all.
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