State of the Union
Nov. 30, 2010 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
From the International Union UAW: Join thousands of Americans in a National Call Congress Day on Tuesday, Nov. 30. The Co-Chairs of the National Fiscal Commission have proposed deep cuts to Social Security – increasing the retirement age to 69, cutting benefits for middle-class workers and reducing annual Cost of Living Adjustments. We need your help to stop them! Social Security is a promise that must not be broken—we’ve worked hard for it and paid taxes for it. Social Security belongs to our children, our parents, our neighbors and ourselves. ACT NOW! Your voice needs to be heard. Call your Senators RIGHT NOW at 1-866-529-7630. After providing your zip code you’ll be given a choice of which of your state’s two senators to be connected with. Call BOTH if you have the time. It only takes a minute each.
From Automotive News: Fiat S.p.A has signed a deal to supply General Motors Co.'s Opel/Vauxhall unit with at least 250,000 units of a new light van range. The vehicles will succeed Opel's Combo model, which reaches the end of its lifecycle in the fourth quarter 2011, and will be built on Fiat's existing platform for its Doblo van (a Transit Connect-size van). The vans will be sold by Opel and Vauxhall dealers in Europe and other markets outside North America from 2012. Opel designers in Ruesselsheim, Germany, are involved in the development of the new models in cooperation with the Fiat's engineering and design Group in Turin, Italy.
The Detroit Free Press: General Motors has added 700 workers to its Oshawa, Ontario, factory near Toronto to make the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro convertible muscle carand the new Buick Regal midsize car, the company said Monday. Camaro convertible production is to start in January. The plant will start making Regals in early spring. The additional employees began work Monday on a second shift at one of the factory's two assembly lines, just two months after GM added a third shift on another line to make more Chevrolet Equinox crossover vehicles, one of the company's hottest sellers. The Equinox looks like an SUV but is more fuel efficient and handles better because it's based on car underpinnings. GM said the 700 jobs, coupled with those added for Equinox production, have secured more than 1,300 jobs at the plant, including the recall of 1,000 laid-off workers and the hiring of 300 employees.
From Automotive News: Toyota Motor Corp. will pay to fix about 650,000 Prius models worldwide for a coolant pump glitch that could cause the top-selling hybrid to overheat and lose power, the automaker said. The repair campaign covers Prius cars for the model years 2004 to 2007. The bulk of the cars, or 378,000 units, are in the United States. Toyota said the design of the electric water pump let air bubbles enter the system, slowing coolant circulation and allowing the hybrid's components to heat up. The heating up of the components could trigger a warning light. If left unattended, the Prius could overheat and drop into a "fail-safe" mode where engine power would be reduced, Toyota said.
GM announced a $163.2-million investment in its operations in Flint and Bay City, Michigan, and Defiance, Ohio, to support engine production for the Chevrolet Volt, Chevrolet Cruze and a new Chevrolet small car to be built in the United States. The investment will protect 184 jobs at the three sites. The announcement brings the total of new U.S. investment to more than $3.3 billion, and GM has created or retained more than 8,000 jobs in 21 U.S. plants since emerging from bankruptcy in July 2009. The investments will be used to support increased production of the Ecotec 1.4-liter engine that is used in the Chevrolet Cruze and a 1.4L variant used in the Chevrolet Volt. Flint Engine is expected to start production of 400 engines a day in early 2011 and ramp up to 800 engines a day in late 2011. The newest investment increases its capacity to 1,200 a day in late 2012.
From the Wall Street Journal: General Motors bankruptcy estate is refusing to pay its share of the cost of closing a California plant, pushing the burden to Toyota Motor Corp., according to a lawsuit filed by a former joint venture between the auto makers. The suit filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan by New United Motors Manufacturing Inc., or Nummi, also said so-called Old GM breached its contract to purchase Pontiac Vibe vehicles made at the plant when it pulled out of the joint venture months after GM filed for bankruptcy reorganization last year. Nummi said the bankruptcy estate should be responsible for $185 million in capital expenditures connected to Vibe production that was supposed to run through 2012 and $180 million for its share of the wind-down costs at the now-closed Fremont, Calif., factory. Nummi said slow sales of the Vibe prior to the plant's closure and GM's refusal to make good on a promise to sell the hatchback for at least two more years left the joint venture unable to pay off the $1.6 billion worth of machinery, tooling and other purchases made in 2006 to start Vibe production. The joint venture said Old GM also has so far left Nummi and Toyota holding the bill to close the 5.5 million-square-foot plant, including the cost of employee pensions
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