State of the Union July 29, 2011

July 29, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.com

No State of the Union next week due to ISO audit.

There is a new media website for the ongoing contract talks – www.uawgmtalks.com. In addition to updates about negotiations, there are contacts for both UAW and GM spokespersons as well as company news, plant information and other media stories.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Reminder: There is still time to opt out of the automatic enrollment in the PSP program. You can do so by accessing gmbenefits.com or contacting the GM Benefits & Services Center at 1-800-489-4646. You have until 4 pm eastern time today to do this. The first payroll deduction into the PSP (3%) will occur on August 5, 2011.

From Reuters: July auto sales should show an improvement from the past two months as the industry recovers from supply chain disruptions in Japan, but it could be a long time before the industry is fully back on track. "We think we're probably going to be into late August, early September before we get back on trend," General Motors Co's (GM.N) U.S. sales chief Don Johnson said in an interview last week. Auto sales are an early indicator each month of U.S. consumer demand. The final tally for U.S. sales in July is scheduled to be reported on August 2. GM is also due to report second-quarter earnings on August 4. July sales, expected to hit an annual rate of about 12 million vehicles, should mark the beginning of a recovery from a bottom in June, they said. That is still less than the 13 million-plus pace from earlier in the year. GM and rival Ford Motor Co (F.N) have forecast sales for the year at the low end of 13 million to 13.5 million vehicles. That includes medium and heavy trucks that make up about 300,000 vehicles. Not everyone is as cautiously optimistic. TrueCar.com forecasts light vehicle sales in July to finish at an annual rate of 11.4 million vehicles, which would be slightly worse than June's 11.45 million.
•    From the Detroit News: President Barack Obama — joined by Detroit's Big Three CEOs, the California governor and the head of the United Auto Workers union — is expected to unveil a landmark deal today to boost fuel efficiency standards of cars and light trucksto 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 in a move that will reshape what Americans drive. Last-minute haggling over final details was still taking place late Thursday, but automakers were confident a final deal would be reached before today's late morning event. The deal would extend a May 2009 agreement that boosted fuel efficiency standards to 34.1 mpg by 2016, costing the auto industry $51.5 billion over five years. As part of that deal, California and a dozen other states agreed not to impose state standards through 2016. Executives from nine automakers, including General Motors CEO Dan Akerson, Ford Motor CEO Alan Mulally and ChryslerGroup CEO Sergio Marchionne, are expected to attend. Also expected is UAW President Bob King, who is planning to fly from Detroit with Mulally. The pair pushed back the kickoff of contract talks until late Friday afternoon to attend.