State of the Union March 17, 2011

March 17, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.com

From Chairman Mike Bullock: Good news in the stamping department. Last summer Spring Hill Metal Center was unable to make Tahoe "side rings" for Arlington. The corporation brought these dies to Wentzville Stamping for us to make in the interim. Our stamping employees worked tirelessly to get these dies up and running in record time, producing parts for Arlington for the next 6 months. Due to this past success by our stamping department in processing Tahoe sheet metal last summer for Arlington, we will be getting the rear door outers for the Malibu to produce here. These parts were being stamped in Fairfax. This work should start around June 1 and last into 2012. Fairfax will need 900 of these parts per day. There could be additional dies to be shipped here for the Malibu. Congratulations to the stamping department for helping secure this work for Wentzville Assembly.

The annual Easter golf tournament will be held on Good Friday, April 22 at the Warrenton Golf Course. It will be a three-man scramble with an 11 am shotgun start. Entry fee is $50 per player and includes dinner (pork chops or fish). This year you can have your friends on your team. Deadline for signups is April 4. Entry forms are available at the entrances. You can call Bill Chancellor at extension 2350, 636-456-2460 or 636-297-0071.

Earthquake update: GM CEO Dan Akerson issued a statement yesterday regarding the impact to the company. “In addition to the enormous human suffering, the aftermath is sure to be felt across many industries, including automotive. We continue to assess the situation, and I wanted you to know that we are taking precautions in the event our operations are affected. Our goal is to minimize production disruptions while keeping a close eye on costs. We are looking carefully at all discretionary spending and I've given direction to place on hold spending that is not directly related to the customer. If spending is for sales, service parts, or keeping our future products on time, in most cases we should continue to ensure those items are protected. All non-essential travel or spending of any kind should be stopped until further notice.” And GM President Mark Reuss said, "The impact of this has yet to unfold.” He added that the damage to Japan's supplier network could have an effect "bigger than anyone knows today.” Already, Toyota and Subaru have suspended all overtime for their North American plants and Toyota has shut down all Japanese operations through March 22. Lindsay Chappell of Automotive News writes: “To get out of the jam it's in over the disaster in Japan, the world auto industry is certain to do what it always does to overcome supply chain trouble – turn to air freight. Only it's not going to be so easy this time. Why? Because every industry that relies on Japanese-made goods is currently in the same bind right now and thinking the same thought – "Switch to air freight." Japan's crisis is not limited to the auto sector. Toyota and its auto suppliers won't merely be competing with Honda and Mazda and Nissan and Suzuki and their suppliers for airplane cargo space. They will all collectively be competing with companies like Sony, Toshiba, Fujitsu and even big American non-industrials like Walmart and Sears.”