State of the Union December 8, 2010

Next Wednesday, Dec. 15, lunch will begin 15 minutes early to allow time for teams to have holiday parties.

The annual motorcycle ride for Adopt-A-Family for Christmas will be Saturday, Dec. 18. Riders will meet at Moudy’s Bar and Restaurant at 2151 West Terra Lane in O’Fallon, MO. – 10 am snow or shine!

On Sunday, Dec. 12, there will be a GM employee, family and friends discount event at the Shoe Carnival store at 2209 Highway K, O’Fallon, MO. Use your GM badge to get an extra 25% off from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

From Automotive News: Ford Motor Co. Transit Connect commercial vans refitted to run on electric power by Azure Dynamics have begun shipping to customers in North America and Britain, the companies said on Monday. The vans are assembled at AM General in Livonia in suburban Detroit. Currently a single shift produces about seven or eight electric Transit Connect vans per week, and more shifts will be added with rising demand, said Scott Staley, a chief engineer with Ford. Azure Dynamics plans to sell 600 to 1,000 of the commercial vans in 2011 and double that in 2012. The electric Transit Connect vans have a targeted range of 80 miles, or about 130 kilometers, on a full charge.

From Bloomberg News: General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, in advance of next year's labor contract negotiations, are exploring with the United Auto Workers changes that could give workers a bigger piece of growing profits. “We want to find the best possible bang for all of the employees, across the board, not a program that would pay some and not the others,” said General Holiefield, head of the UAW's Chrysler department. While formal negotiations haven't begun, union leaders and executives from the automakers have broached profit-sharing changes, said two people familiar with the efforts. High-level discussions began months ago because it was deemed a significant issue that would require more time, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks were private. All of the companies have been “hinting” at profit- sharing changes, Holiefield said in an interview. It was “not just within Chrysler but the Big Three,” he said. “(UAW President) Bob King has got to get his arms around it.”

December event calendar on back;


December 2010
1
2
3
4

5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Union Hall: Breakfast w/Santa 9-11 am

Xmas dance 7-midnight
12
Shoe Carnival -25% GM discount
6:30-9:30 pm; O’Fallon
13
Pre-trim
Bake sale - column T-45
14
15
Team parties at lunchtime
16
17
Chassis party – Maggie Malones. Wentzville

Holiday celebration -
Heroes, Lake St. Louis
18
Adopt-a-family bike ride – Moudy’s, O’Fallon 10 am
19
20
21 Winter Solstice

22
23
24
Holiday
25
Christmas
26
27
Holiday
28
Holiday
29
Holiday
30
Holiday
31
New Year's Eve
Holiday