June 29, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
From the Wall Street Journal: The United Auto Workers union plans to kick off contract negotiations next month with Detroit auto makers, the industry's first labor talks since the U.S. bailout gave union trusts stakes in General Motors Co. and Chrysler LLC. The UAW's national bargaining committee will gather on July 11 to prepare for talks with GM, according to a person familiar with the union's timetable. Other groups are expected to convene later in the month to work out strategies for talks with Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. The union and the auto makers are expected to mark the ceremonial start of the talks on July 27. The union will push the three to commit to building new cars and trucks in the U.S. It plans to ask GM, for instance, to reopen factories in Spring Hill, Tenn., and Janesville, Wis., closed during GM's bankruptcy restructuring, said Joe Ashton, the UAW official leading negotiations with GM. A UAW spokeswoman declined to comment. The UAW has signaled it wants to raise the $14-an-hour entry-level wage agreed to four years ago. It also has said it is open to discussing wider use of profit-sharing plans instead of fixed-pay increases. It also may vie for seats on the boards of the auto companies.
From the Detroit Free Press: TRW Automotiveand the UAW began contract talks this week for workers at a plant in Saginaw that employs about 600 workers. The Livonia-based autosupplier purchased the plant, which makes brake assemblies for General Motors, in 2008 from Delphi, said company spokesman John Wilkerson. The plant is represented by UAW Local 467. Wilkerson declined to comment on the major issues up for negotiation this year. TRW, a maker of brakes, steering, suspension systems and airbags, earned $281 million for the first three months of the year.
From the AP: Toyota Motor Corp. said today it will recall about 82,200 hybrid SUVs in the U.S. due to computer boards with possible faulty wiring. The car giant said the recall will involve Highlander and Lexus brand hybrid SUVs from its 2006 and 2007 lines. The action covers just the vehicles sold in the U.S., with no other models affected. Today's recall involves about 45,500 Highlander Hybrid and 36,700 Lexus Rx 400h vehicles, the company's U.S. subsidiary said in a press release. Toyota said the affected vehicles' hybrid system has a computer board with inadequate soldering that could be damaged during high-load driving. If damage were to occur, the company said the vehicles would either continue to operate under reduced power for a short distance, or coast to a stop.
From Autoobserver.com: In what is likely to be the opening round in a months-long battle to lock in next-generation federal fuel efficiency standards, the Obama administration has floated the idea of setting a 56.2 miles per gallon fleet average requirement for all light vehicles by 2025, a compromise between the 47 mpg the auto industry was asking for and the 62 mpg the environmental community wants to see. The administration is estimating that hiking the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard to 56.2 miles per gallon from the 35.5 mpg requirement already set for 2016 would add from $2,100 to $2,600 to the initial price of a new vehicle in 2025 – but would result in lifetime fuel savings of $5,500 to $7,000. The initial buyer would have to own the vehicle for at least three years to recoup the initial price premium through fuel savings. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents most of the major auto companies active in the U.S., is suggesting that although the 56.2-mpg target represents what is technologically possible, it ignores some potentially high costs. Making cars lighter to improve fuel economy also can make them less safe, said AAM vice president Gloria Bergquist. Raising CAFE to that level also could reduce consumers' choices by forcing the industry to stop making some of the largest and thirstiest vehicles – pickups and SUVs. All that, along with the higher prices automakers would have to charge for such efficiency-optimized vehicles could slash annual sales and further reduce auto industry employment in the process, she added.
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