June 15, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
• Union meeting is today at 7:15 am, 1 pm, 3 pm and 15 minutes after the longest first shift line time. Maximum line time today is 11.0.
• The final day for donations to the canned food drive is Thursday, June 16. Yesterday, $766 was collected in pre-trihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifm, trim and chassis, a great result! We are hoping to have people on the floor in the remaining departments to collect today and tomorrow. As always, thanks for your generosity.
• From the Chaplaincy Committee: There will be an in-plant memorial for Duane “Cadillac” Johnson in stamping this evening at lunch time, 6:30 pm, on second shift. It will be held at the bleachers located at column V-8. All are welcome.
• Here are some excerpts from a Detroit News editorial by UAW President Bob King: “The revival of the U.S. auto industry is a testament to the effectiveness of choosing the moderate and pragmatic path. The choice confronting President Obama was whether to step in to prevent the demise of the auto industry or to accept the collapse of an industry critical to millions of workers, and to our national security…Some Republican politicians attacked him, and some still insist that we should have abandoned General Motors and Chrysler…Thanks to President Obama's courageous decision, and thanks to the willingness of business and labor to embrace change and work together, and thanks to the substantial sacrifices of auto workers, suppliers, dealers and shareholders, a turnaround is taking place…According to the Center for Automotive Research, without the auto industry rescue, there would have been a loss of 3 million jobs within three years. Only one-quarter of those jobs would have been lost at auto manufacturers. This would have translated to a loss to the U.S. treasury of $156 billion…President Obama put his faith in American businesses and workers, and we are committed to honoring this faith by contributing in every way we can to the success of the American auto industry…A skeptical public is looking to labor and business to see whether we have learned any lessons; whether we choose to return to business as usual or instead are committed to a new way of cooperating to succeed in the globally competitive world…The true path to job security is by producing the best quality products at the best value for our customers. We are committed to working with employers in a spirit of mutual respect, trust and common goals.”
• From the Detroit News: Sharply higher fuel efficiency standards by 2025 could force vehicle prices up by nearly $10,000, reduce sales by 5.5 million vehicles annually and eliminate more than 260,000 jobs, according to a study by the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research. The center's study, released Tuesday, predicted it will cost between $3,744 and $9,790 per vehicle to develop and produce cars that meet a range of between 47 and 62 mpg — a span being considered by federal regulators — by 2025. That's far higher than the $770 to $3,500 per vehicle estimate issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. If each automaker is required to reach a fleetwide average of 62 mpg, and gas costs $3.50 in today's dollars, 5.5 million potential buyers would evaporate from the 2025 car market, the study found; the reduced demand, it said, would cost 260,000 jobs. The two government agencies and California plan to propose fuel efficiency standards and tailpipe emissions limits for the 2017-25 model years in September. The EPA and NHTSA will finalize the new requirements by July 2012, after getting public comment. The agencies are considering annual increases in fuel efficiency ranging from 3-6 percent between 2017 and 2025, translating to a fleetwide average of 47-62 mpg by the end of the period. The fleetwide average has been set at 34.1 by 2016.
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