State of the Union June 8, 2011

June 8, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.com

•    Reminder: Jacket sizes are due tomorrow. If you haven’t been asked for your size, see your team leader. All forms should be turned into Pat Workman at Suggestions. If you have any questions you can call Pat at x2308.
•    There will be a Women’s Committee and a Veterans Committee meeting on Thursday, June 9 after first shift at the Union Hall.
•    Applications are currently being accepted for co-chairperson of the Education Committee. They are available and can be turned in at the Union Hall. Deadline is next Wednesday, June 15.
•    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.
•    General Motors held the first shareholder meeting since bankruptcy yesterday. CEO Dan Akerson chaired the meeting and said among other things:
o We are creating a fortress balance sheet, which gives us freedom to operate. We had $36.5 billion of available liquidity with only $5 billion of debt on March 31.”
o “We have the right mix of existing GM passion and expertise with outside perspective. We are attracting talent from our competitors inside the auto industry and outside it as well.”
o “We’re gaining market share — 11.5 percent global share in the first quarter of 2011, up nearly half a point year over year. Significantly, our retail share was 17.7 percent, compared to pre-Chapter 11 in May 2009 when it was 14.9 percent, for our four brands."
o The most recent average transaction price we have is just over $29,500, about $1,100 above the industry average. That is the highest in the industry among full-line manufacturers.”
•    From Automotive News: Is Nissan's latest electric vehicle safety net reassuring or more unnerving? The idea: a rescue truck that speeds to the aid of EVs with dead batteries. Bolted to the back of the 5-ton diesel truck is a 29-kilowatt diesel-slurping generator to recharge the rides. How's that for green?


Part 3 of UAW President Bob King’s speech to the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce:

Out of the ashes of the cataclysm of 2008 and 2009, a new, more visionary and stronger UAW is being born. The 21st century UAW views management not as our adversaries or enemies, but as partners in innovation and quality. Our relationship with employers is built upon a foundation of respect, shared goals, and a common mission, and a mutual social responsibility to create good, secure, middle-class jobs here in our communities in the United States.

This commitment to fundamental change is not just a tenet of my administration but is permeating the entire culture of the UAW. Our internal educational resources are devoted to nurturing this new mindset. I can tell you that there is no group of people more committed to the success of the auto industry than the union and our members working in the auto industry. Workers know that the success of their employers is in their own essential long-term interest. They won’t be jumping ship to grab onto a golden parachute. They are in this for the long haul. They are ready, willing and able to do what it takes to make their companies successful. Our members are energized by the new paradigm and welcome their enhanced opportunities to contribute to our companies’ success.

At GM, for example, our quality network promotes teamwork and invites total workforce involvement and continuous improvement. A Lordstown, Ohio, employee saved the company almost $200,000 by suggesting an alternative windshield sealer operation. Team members in Pontiac, Michigan, achieved more than $1.2 million in savings with suggestions to add plastic protection to a sensor.

At Chrysler, a sprayer in the paint shop – also a shop steward – devised a training video to systematize training for a new shift and volunteered for a split shift to assist with the training.
At Ford it was UAW members on the assembly line at the Chicago Assembly Plant that identified quality problems and advocated strongly for important process and training changes with the Taurus launch that created the best quality launch ever for Ford up to that time.

At Mitsubishi UAW members’ proven track record of world best productivity and quality convinced top management in Japan to award their newest vehicle platform to our UAW facility in Normal, Ill., over numerous other global sites competing for this platform. There are many, many more examples of such creative and innovative contributions by our members. Management will attest to the fact that the UAW is adding value to our enterprises.

At Ford, GM, Chrysler and Mitsubishi, the UAW has demonstrated our commitment to quality, teamwork, flexibility and innovation. We have forged a new culture that emphasizes trust, openness, cooperation and creative problem-solving. Our members have found millions of hours of annual savings. We are contributing to product development and innovative workforce solutions. We have taken the lead in workforce training and development. Layers of management have been eliminated because the workers are dedicated to creatively managing their own processes. Many facilities only have one main production classification, and an observer coming into a facility would not be able to tell who belongs to management and who is a union member. At one UAW GM facility there are no line supervisors, and UAW members take full responsibility for their operations.