Oct. 5, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
• From Chairman Mike Bullock: I want to thank everyone who came to the informational Q and A meetings yesterday. A lot of good information was shared from both sides. Two things the Joint Manpower committee is going to change:
o First: Team Leader applications are going to be frozen after the end of the shift TODAY. If you have any desire to be a team leader in the department you are currently in, your application must be in by the end of the shift today. The committee wants to make offers to those employees who want to be team leaders before the Par 63b offers. We will know the cutoff seniority date for Team Leaders in your department and when you are told you can hold Team Leader classification you will then be able to withdraw your Par 63b or Team Leader application before the cutoff on Friday end of shift if you so desire (remember there is no refusal if your offered).
o Second: The big question again, "can I hold days in my department?" I will have an updated seniority date in all the departments by the beginning of the shift on Friday, to help with your decision. I will calculate the shift preferences we have received as of Thursday end of shift in that calculation. Again, there is no guarantee that the date to hold days will not change again because of the addition of National Hire employees that we may receive.
Management has officially requested 404 National Hires. We don't know how many will accept or what their seniority date is until they get here.
There have been questions from the Highlight letter yesterday for the tentative Local Contract:
Alternative Work Schedule:Settled on the basis: In preparation of holiday week scheduling the parties will jointly discuss the options available for the scheduled working days. We will jointly establish a 3 day 11 hour max or a 4 day, 9 hour max schedule for those affected 4-day weeks. During holiday weeks that contain more than one scheduled day off, our production schedule will not exceed 9 hours per day.
• Reminder: Ratification vote will on the Local Agreement will be tomorrow. Polls will be open from 4 am to 7 pm. Informational meetings will be held at 7am, 1:15pm, 3pm, and 15 minutes after the longest line time. The Shop Committee recommends you vote “yes” on this agreement as the final step to secure a new product and the future of this plant and this membership for many years to come.
• There will be a televised announcement from Chairman Mike Bullock and plant manager John Dansby tomorrow morning at the beginning of day shift.
• Here are the September results for the van segment:
2011 2010 Change Share
Ford Econoline 8711 8711 +2.8% 44.7%
GM 8402 6156 +36.5% 43.1%
Mercedes Sprinter 1779 804 +121% 9.1%
Nissan NV 607 --- --- 3.1%
Ford Transit connect 2611 3571 -26.9% ---
• Taking a look at field supplies, while overall net stock was up 829 units, the increase in sales resulted in a drop to a 50 day supply versus a 61 day supply in August. Specifically, cargo vans accounted for virtually all of the increase, while cutaway supplies declined. Passsenger van supplies are still very lean with an 18 day supply for the Chevy and total supplies of only 679 units.
• According to the UAW/Ford agreement highlights, the Avon Lake, Ohio plant will only build cutaway versions of the Econoline when the full-size Transit comes aboard in Kansas City. No timeline was given, but that will leave our van and the (anemic) Nissan NV as the only body-on-frame full sized vans available in the US.
• Stop the presses! Consumer Reports has given the coveted “Recommended” designation to the Chevy Volt and not the Nissan Leaf. CR praised the Volt’s “instant acceleration”, fuel economy, quiet ride and crash test performance. Never content to let a GM product off the hook, they had to find something to criticize – rear seat accommodations, poor visibility and reduced EV range in cold weather (which is akin to complaining about lower mpg going uphill).
• From Automotive News: General Motors is taking more steps to boost production of the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain at the Canadian assembly plant that makes the popular crossovers, GM and a union official said today. GM is adding as many as 100 workers and will adjust the assembly line speed at its CAMI Automotive Inc. plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, said Dan Borthwick, president of Canadian Auto Workers Local 88, which represents workers at the plant. GM of Canada spokeswoman Faye Roberts confirmed the plans to add as many as 100 workers at the plant "to meet demand for the hot-selling Equinox and Terrain." The move will increase production by more than 50 vehicles a day, to more than 1,100, Borthwick said in an e-mail to Automotive News. The plant has been running three shifts and Saturday overtime shifts for nearly two years to meet high demand, Borthwick said
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