March 30, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
•From Chairman Mike Bullock: Management has upped the number of recalls to 41 for Monday April 4. The seniority date for recall is now 6/23/08 SSN 1400. And, if you didn't already have enough reasons NOT to shop at WalMart (union busting, poverty level wages, no health care for the workers) now there is a class action lawsuit filed against them claiming discrimination against women. According to the lawyer for the plaintiffs, "I have been practicing civil rights law for 30 years and I have never seen wage disparity as significant and consistently adverse to women as they are here in every single division of WalMart." If we are truly our brothers and sisters keepers, we need to support these workers who are being singled out by WalMart in this way and not spend our money there.
From the Chaplaincy Committee: There will be a memorial for Tommy Poole on Thursday, March 31 at 6 pm in stamping at column SB-30.
Earthquake update: According to Automotive News, Honda said in a memo that they will be cutting back on production at its US assembly plants by up to 50%. According to the memo to suppliers, Honda will make the following adjustments to output beginning Wednesday: In Marysville, Ohio, Honda said lines 1 and 2 will operate four hours daily for each shift; The automaker's Alliston, Ontario, factory will run four hours daily output for each shift; In Lincoln, Ala., Honda's plant will run four hours daily production for each shift on line one. Line two at the plant was already scheduled to be offline in anticipation of the Honda Ridgeline, which is being relocated to the line; Honda's Greensburg, Ind., plant will operate four hours of production daily. And the automaker's plant in East Liberty, Ohio, will run normally with "slight adjustments," Honda told suppliers. Also, AN reports that Toyota's quake-hammered Miyagi assembly plant, which makes the Yaris small car for export to the United States, is expected to be offline for at least another month. Workers have completed repairs at the factory and restored electricity, but the facility cannot get supplies of natural gas, a person familiar with the situation said. The New York Times said utility experts and economists say it will take many months, possibly into next year, to get anywhere close to restoring full power. Besides the dangerously disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (which authorities are saying is a total loss), three other nuclear plants, six coal-fired plants and 11 oil-fired power plants were initially shut down, according to PFC Energy, an international consulting firm.
From the Detroit News: The auto industry is creating jobs but remains a long way from a healthy recovery, analysts said Tuesday at the Communities and Companies in the Resurging Auto Industry conference here. Employment in the auto industry should increase by about 40,000 to 620,000 this year, said Sean McAlinden, chief economist for the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, which organized the two-day event. And it will grow by at least 100,000 more by 2013, he said. Automakers have spent $10.8 billion since 2010 upgrading vehicle assembly plants in the Midwest and Ontario, he said. There could also be more investment during the next few years in North America by Japanese companies wanting to source more parts here in the wake of the earthquake that exposed the perils of not diversifying enough, said Dennis DesRosiers, president of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. near Toronto. "The supply sector knows it needs to increase capacity to meet needs this year alone," McAlinden said. He said the supply base is running at about 62 percent capacity. Money to increase capacity remains difficult to obtain. Ramping up to extraordinary levels because of added pressure from the Japanese crisis will prove impossible for some, McAlinden said. "Many companies will crumble and fail, and there will be production disruptions because they can't ramp up that fast," he said. The Center for Automotive Research forecasts U.S. auto sales this year will be 13.4 million, a forecast unchanged by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. One factor in the lower sales volume is that new cars have a life expectancy of about 250,000 miles and the scrappage rate is about 5 percent, compared with 8 percent in the 1960s, DesRosiers said. Dropping a percentage point represents about 14 million vehicles a year in lost replacement demand. On a more positive note, population growth creates demand for 2 million vehicles, DesRosiers' data shows.
As we get ready for Easter, that means buying (a lot of) candy. You may be surprised to learn that many or your favorites are Union made. The Unions producing these treats are the Bakery Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). Here is a partial list of what they produce: Hershey products, Jolly Rancher candies, Pot of Gold chocolates, Ovation mint sticks, Fifth Avenue, Zagnut, York peppermint patties, Nestle Treasures, Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, Chocolate Temptations, Sweet Temptations and the ever popular Jelly Bellies. For more products, you can go to www.lalabor411.org.
Edmunds released their list of the top 10 best looking vehicles, price be damned. Among the usual suspects – Ferrari 458 Italia, Jaguar XKR coupe, Porsche Panamera – there were a few suprises. The Cadillac CTS Wagon made the list, but so did the Kia Optima, the Ford F150 SVT Raptor and the Dodge Challenger SRT8, which was chosen over the Camaro because it is “too much of an exaggeration”.
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