July 19, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.comhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Union meeting is Wednesday at 7 am, 1 pm, 3 pm and 15 minutes after the longest first shift line time. Also, the activities that Chrysler workers were allegedly engaged in at lunch time (and one worker before the second shift) were drinking and smoking. From a Chrysler press release: “From the Fox 2 story on Chrysler Group’s Trenton Engine Plant, the Company was able to identify http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifnine employees captured on video. To date, all nine employees have been suspended indefinitely without pay pending further investigation. While the evidence seems conclusive, the Company needs to act in accordance with corporate policy and the terms of the collective bargaining agreement before further action is taken. The investigation is ongoing.” You can go to www.myfoxdetroit.com for the story and video.
As expected, General Motors announced yesterday they will invest $328 million to prepare its plant in Flint, Mich. to build the next generation of Chevrolet and GMC full-size pickup trucks, creating or retaining 150 jobs. The plant, which currently has 2,047 employees, builds the heavy-duty versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. Sales of the new-for-2011 trucks have increased HD market share 2.4 points to 36 percent. GM’s retail share of the full-size pickup market has grown to 40.4 percent through May compared with 37.7 percent in the first five months of 2010. “Truck sales play an important role in the success of General Motors,” said Joe Ashton, UAW-GM Vice President. “We are confident that the next-generation of trucks will continue to be an important source of revenue for the company and jobs for our members. Our members are ready to use their abundant talents to build high-quality trucks that deliver exceptional value to our customers.”
From the Detroit Free Press: The UAW, along with a coalition of labor unions and environmental groups, wrote to President Barack Obama on Monday throwing their support behind "strong" fuel economy targets for U.S. vehicles. "We have an opportunity to help save consumers money at the gas pump, create new American jobs, and strengthen the economy by setting strong fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas standards," said the coalition, known as the BlueGreen Alliance, in its joint letter. UAW President Bob King told the Free Press on Monday that the union has been careful to avoid supporting a particular number, but that it supports proposals that include different standards for trucksthan for cars. "We support better environmental standards, and we support more jobs in America -- not less. We want standards that do stretch the industry but are feasible," King told the Free Press. "We are going to get hurt competitively if we don't match the environmental standards that the competition is building."
From Wards Auto: United Auto Workers Vice President Joe Ashton, who leads the union into negotiations with General Motors later this month, says he wants the auto maker to return more production to the U.S. from Mexico. “When we sit down at the bargaining table, we look at them bringing work back to this country,” Ashton tells journalists after an event to announce GM’s $328 million investment in an assembly plant here for 2013 production of next-generation of pickups and SUVs. The UAW has been “crunching numbers for the last year” to make a business case for its argument, he adds. The Flint assembly plant, which builds heavy-duty versions of the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, already will take some production from Mexico later this year when the site adds a third shift to meet demand GM’s Mexican operations cannot fill. Cathy Clegg, GM vice president-labor relations, says moving production back to the U.S. is a popular topic in discussions with the UAW. “We talk about that,” says Clegg, also on hand for the announcement. “We talk about our products, our facilities, all of the time.” Neither side elaborates on specific products. GM operates three assembly plants in Mexico – Silao, Ramos Arizpe and San Luis Potosi. Silao makes large pickups and SUVs; Ramos Arizpe produces the Chevrolet HHR, which is in its final year of production, as well as the Cadillac SRX, Saab 9-4X, Chevrolet Captiva and Chevrolet Chevy; while San Luis Potosi builds the Chevy Aveo B-car. GM has two shuttered assembly plants in the U.S. – Janesville, WI, and Spring Hill, TN, – the UAW would like to see back up and running. A third facility at Shreveport, LA, was lumped into a batch of assets slated for liquidation during GM’s 2009 bankruptcy, and the UAW wants GM to take it back. It currently builds small pickups, but has no product scheduled after 2012. Clegg says market demand will determine product allocation. “First off, we need to see some pretty healthy market recovery before we start turning factories back on,” she says. Until then, she says, GM will rely on capacity currently on line. The auto maker’s assembly plants in the U.S. operated at 66% of capacity through the first six months of 2011, according to Ward’sdata. “We certainly are not going to make a decision and make a (product) commitment solely as a way of getting an agreement,” Clegg adds. “If the market doesn’t drive it, we can’t do it. We can’t put the business in that position. We’ve got to be careful.” Ashton reiterates his call earlier this year that talks will focus on winning jobs. “The vast majority of members want jobs. And they want job security,” he says. “They never want to go through what we had to go through in 2009, when they faced bankruptcy and plant closings. There are other things out there, pensions (and) money, but all that goes to the wayside if you do not have a job.” Ashton says he expects a “tough set” of negotiations with GM made doubly difficult by a no-strike clause at the auto maker as part of the taxpayer bailout. “It makes it more difficult,” he says. “But at the same time it’s part of what the government decided on and we’ll work through it.” Says Clegg: “I’m optimistic. We’ve got great problem-solvers on both sides. We know we have to find a way to make GM successful. We’re in a totally different situation, everyone knows that.” Clegg said GM wanted employees to "share in our success." But she also said: "Reconstructing what we were is not in the cards."
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