July 18, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
From Chairman Mike Bullock: Once again, Chrysler workers were allegedly caught “misbehaving” at lunch time by a Fox news crew in the Detroit area – and we all know how Fox News feels about us. The previous incident cost 13 workers their jobs and there could be terminations from this incident as well. Under no circumstances is this alleged behavior condoned by the UAW as it creates unsafe working conditions as well as affecting the quality of the product. Please don’t tarnish our reputation as the best manufacturing workforce in the world.
Union meeting is this Wednesday, July 20 at 7 am, 1pm, 3 pm and 15 minutes after the longest first shift line time.
Here is this week’s build information: 370 slider doors; 114 E-26 models; 80 r/h door deletes; 169 diesels; 264 exports; 106 Onstar; 72 brake deck spare tire; 83.2% white vans; 72 YF7 vans; twelve 15-pass vans.
Lot 4 is closed this week for resealing. All sidewalk and parking lot work is scheduled to be completed this week.
From the Detroit Free Press: Ford could hire more than 400 entry-level workers to in source the assembly of auto parts at a former assembly plant in Wayne to support Focus production at Michigan Assembly Plant, said Bill Johnson, plant chairman for UAW Local 900. “It is rather groundbreaking,” Johnson said. “We opened the door with that entry-level wage, and I hope we can put 400 to 600 workers in that plant.” Ford would not confirm the number of potential jobs that might be created. However, Ford’s commitment to insource — excluding the number of potential jobs — is outlined in a March 1 letter obtained by the Free Press. It’s part of a local labor contract the automaker reached with UAW Local 900 late last year. The work could include the assembly of instrument panels, seats, stampings, sub-assemblies, and parts packaging and sequencing, according to the letter. Ford agreed to add the jobs, the letter says, “if it is established that certain work can be performed competitively.” The agreement also will help to fill Ford’s Wayne Assembly Plant, Johnson said. Wayne Assembly was left without a product earlier this year when more than 3,000 workers moved next door to make the redesigned Ford Focusat the renovated Michigan Assembly Plant.
From the Detroit News: United Auto Workers President Bob King says the upcoming contract talks between his union and Detroit's Big Three can serve as a model of cooperation and compromise for a nation riven by partisan strife. In a wide-ranging interview with The Detroit News on Friday, King said the UAW and the American automakers demonstrated in 2007 and 2009 that they could come together to save a dying industry. Now, he said, the companies need to share their newfound profits with their workers. But King also said the UAW cannot afford to turn back the clock and make General Motors Co., FordMotor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC uncompetitive. Instead, King says workers need to trade wage increases for profit sharing. That would keep the automakers more competitive with the foreign automakers, and insulate them from future market declines. "Do they want base wage increases? Of course," he said of his members. "Anybody does. But that isn't the most important priority. "The single most important thing to our membership is long-term security. People don't want a guillotine hanging over their head. They don't want to have to worry about whether they have a job tomorrow or not, or if their pension is secure, or if their health care is secure." King believes the best way to guarantee (jobs) is by thinking globally. "We're committed to building a global middle class. We want to export that," King said. "But all of my efforts internationally are aimed at protecting jobs here. It's really pragmatic. It stops the race to the bottom." That approach makes sense, says labor expert Harley Shaiken of the University of California, Berkeley. With well below half of all cars and truckssold in America produced by UAW members, he said the only way the union can protect its members from further job loss is by working with its counterparts overseas to raise the standard of living of their members. But Shaiken said King runs the risk of getting out too far ahead of his members on this issue and the issue of wages. But King is confident he can deliver a contract that rewards workers while protecting the companies from any significant additional fixed costs. He says the past few years have taught union members just how dependent their jobs are on the automakers' success. And King said the success GM, Ford and Chrysler now enjoy is relative. All three companies still face stiff competition from foreign competitors — including new entrants from China and India. The economy also remains weak, with auto sales in the United States and Europe well below historic highs. "I think our members are really smart. They understand that," King said. "The hell that we went through over the past few years — nobody wants to see that repeated." King would (also) like to see the UAW given a seat on the boards of all three companies. The union-run trusts that are responsible for retiree health care have seats on GM and Chrysler's boards. But King is talking about direct representation for the UAW itself. German unions enjoy that privilege, and he thinks American unions should, too. "I have a strong optimism based on the excellent leadership we have at all three companies," King said. "All of this polarization that's happening in Washington is crazy. We've got to work together."
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