State of the Union October 25, 2011

Oct. 25, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.com

From Chairman Mike Bullock: The Joint Manpower Team met their goal of identifying all 770 moves by the end of the shift on Friday. Now the hard work begins – start getting people moved. Operations that need long lead time for training have been identified and those employees will be moved or trained first. The employees coming into the plant now, the time for time entry level, the Fairfax returnees, the National Hire and the new hires will be used to replace these employees for their training. Training schedules are being developed now. Thanks for your patience.

There are still some issues that the National Parties are working through regarding entry-level pay raises. When these issues are resolved we will communicate the resolution. All raises will be retroactive to Oct. 3.

Here is this week’s build information: 34 E-26 vans; 558 cutaways; 516 slider doors; 98 15-pass vans; 107 diesels; 181 r/h door deletes; 56 brake deck spare tire; 78 exports; 228 Onstar; 190 Penske; 226 AT&T cng vans; 150 gov’t vans; 70% white vans.

Reminder: Team leader applications can be submitted by current or future workers in Trim, Chassis and Material through Wednesday this week with testing to be done on Thursday and Friday.

The November schedule is out. Friday, Nov. 11 is the only scheduled Friday. Per the new Local Agreement, any week with a Holiday will be a 40 hour week and management has the discretion to either work 3 days, 11 hours max or 4 days, 9 hours max. So with Veterans Day observation on the Nov. 14, the schedule that week is Tue. – 10.6, Wed. – 10.7, Thur – 10.7 and Friday off. Thanksgiving week schedule is 8.7 Monday through Wednesday.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Bake Sale on Monday. A total of $920 was raised that will be donated to the “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” walk in the Plant’s name. And thanks to everyone who purchased a shirt. Over $530 was also donated to “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer”.
Reminder – the walk is this Saturday at Forest Park in the Upper Muny Parking Lot at 9am. To register please go to: http://makingstrides.acsevents.org/site/PageServer?pagename=MSABC_FY12_FindAnEvent and search for Team “GM/UAW – Wentzville Assembly”.

From Automotive News: Workers at more of Chrysler Group's largest plants have voted to approve a tentative four-year labor contract between the company and the UAW, paving the way for ratification this week of the last Detroit 3 labor contract to be negotiated this year. The UAW is expected to announce final results by Wednesday morning. In the latest results, hourly workers at Chrysler's Toledo assembly complex voted Monday to approve the contract, officials at UAW Local 12 told The Toledo Blade newspaper today. Through Monday, nine Chrysler UAW locals voted in favor of ratification while five rejected it. An updated total of the votes has not been released by the UAW because the union did not want earlier results to influence locals voting later in the process. "Please do not post results on this page," an administrator for the UAW Chrysler Talks Facebook page requested of members. "There are smaller locals that will vote later and we do not want them to think that their vote does not matter." Voting ends today.

GM said it will invest $325 million in tools and equipment at the Warren Transmission facility in Warren, Mich. to support production of future electric vehicle components, creating or retaining 418 jobs. Timing for the project was not disclosed. The plant in suburban Detroit has 679 total employees, most of whom produce transmissions for the Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia crossovers and the Chevrolet Malibu sedan. “We are very proud of the membership of UAW Local 909 whose hard work and dedication to building quality products is why this new electric drive unit module is being built in the United States,” said Joe Ashton, UAW vice president representing the GM Department. “These good paying, middle class jobs are very important for the State of Michigan and the Metro Detroit area. It is the UAW’s goal to increase employment at GM and show the world that we can compete with anyone.

From KansasCity.com: Ford Motor Co. executives, United Auto Worker members, and state and local officials gathered Friday on a hilltop in the Kansas City area to savor the company’s planned $1.1 billion investment and 1,600 new jobs that will be coming here. Company officials, at a news conference near the Claycomo plant, said the approval of a labor agreement this week allowed them to proceed with plans to add a second manufacturing line for the F-150 pickup truck next year, and bring in an entirely new product, the Transit commercial van, with work to start in 2013. Gov. Jay Nixon was enthusiastic. “Right here the rebirth of the American manufacturing industry began right now,” he said to loud applause. “This is our moment.” Nixon’s administration had put a priority on bringing more auto jobs to the state, including pushing through an incentive package for manufacturers who added employees. Missouri will benefit from one of the largest commitments from Ford for new investment and jobs. “They had the vision for their future,” said Jim Wells, director of UAW Region 5, which includes Kansas City. “I’m proud that Ford has brought these products to Missouri.” The Transit will now become the “workhouse” van for Ford in the U.S., replacing nearly all Econoline models.