State of the Union May 2, 2011

May 2, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.comhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
•    From Chairman Mike Bullock: Welcome back to the 9 employees returning from lay off, glad to have you back. The new seniority date to hold the plant is 7-14-2008, last four of 2000. That leaves 62 members still laid off. About Friday: The Union never agreed with management that the 237 only pertained to the K-line number. It was and should have been by each zone/area. The Union is in the process of writing a group grievance for each affected area for this violation. The demand on each grievance will be that management comply with our contract and that each affected employee be made whole. We will process these grievances as expeditiously as possible.
•    Reminder: Tomorrow is election day. Polls are open from 4:30 am until 8 pm. Here is a breakdown of the 6 shop districts in the plant:
o Shop District 1, 1st shift 1st shift stamping and body shop
o Shop District 3, 1st shift 1st shift trim
o Shop District 5, 1st shift 1st shift chassis
o Shop District 7, 1st shift 1st shift skilled trades and paint
o Shop District 8, 2nd shift All employees on 2nd and 3rd shift
o Shop District 9, 1st shift 1st shift quality, material, final process
•    GM is beginning this week to staff the third shift at Flint Assembly (Chevy Silverado). Employees will be brought back in groups of 80 – 715 altogether – as the shift is scheduled to kick off August 7. The expectation is that these slots will be filled entirely with laid off workers. Local 598 Chairman Dana Rouse said that workers will be coming from 11 different plants. With the addition of this shift there will be around 3000 people working there.
•    From Automotive News: Chrysler Group -- the U.S. automaker that has survived two ownership changes and a U.S. bailout in the past four years -- today reported its first net profit since emerging from bankruptcy in June 2009. Chrysler posted net income of $116 million for the first quarter, compared with a net loss of $197 million a year earlier. Revenue jumped 35 percent to $13.1 billion as global vehicle sales increased 18 percent. Cash rose to $9.9 billion on March 31 from $7.3 billion three months earlier.