State of the Union June 6, 2011

June 6, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.com

•    Reminder: Resolutions for the Local Agreement can be submitted through Thursday, June 9. You can get submission forms from your committee person or at the Work Center and return the completed forms to the same.
•    Build information from this week’s schedule: 366 slider doors; 105 E-26 models; 151 exports; 284 Enterprise Rent-A-Car units; 324 RH door deletes; 76.6% white vans.
•    All jacket sizes must be turned in by this Thursday, June 9. See your team leader or group leader if you have not been asked for your size. All jacket size sheets should be turned in to Pat Workman at Suggestions.
•    From Automotive News: General Motors’ executives have discussed buying shares from the U.S. Treasury Department to reduce the government’s 33 percent stake in the automaker, three people familiar with the matter said. GM is weighing uses for its cash, such as shoring up its underfunded pension plan, paying off debt and funding new vehicle programs, the people said. “In terms of uses of cash, we have clear, immediate priorities which include further strengthening our balance sheet and fully funding our pensions,” Jim Cain, a GM spokesman, said in a telephone interview. “Our objective is to fund our operations with cash and then return any excess cash to our shareholders. Nothing has been ruled in or out.”
•    Chevy news briefs: The Volt became the first electric vehicle to earn a five-star overall vehicle score for safety as part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s New Car Assessment Program; For May, fuel-efficient, four-cylinder vehicles – including Cruze, Equinox and Malibu – accounted for 51 percent of Chevrolet retail sales. That is up from 36 percent in May a year ago, and doubles the rate of four-cylinder sales five years ago; Nearly 51 percent of Cruze buyers are new to Chevrolet, either trading in a non-GM vehicle or purchasing outright – suggesting they were either adding a vehicle to the household or that the Cruze was their first new car. For 2011, Cruze has brought more than 40,000 of these “conquest” buyers – second only to the Silverado full-size pickup for attracting new customers to the brand.
Part one of UAW President Bob King’s speech to the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce:
Thanks to the courageous decision of President Obama to save the American auto industry, and thanks to the willingness of business and labor to embrace change and work together, and thanks to the substantial sacrifices of our members, suppliers, dealers and all stakeholders, there has been an amazing revival of this vital American industry.