March 8, 2012 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
A total of 24 skilled trades members have been accepted for the Special Attrition Program and will retire at the end of this month.
Entry level employees who have completed 90 days should be getting a new hire packet in the mail. If you have not received one and you have more than 90 days, see your benefits representative.
Entry level employees who have achieved 90 days are eligible for Tuition Assistance benefits. Specifically, this program provides up to $5000 per calendar year for courses at regionally accredited colleges or universities ($200 may be used to purchase books) for degree related courses or $2200 for job related courses – no personal/skill enhancement courses. For questions about college or course eligibility call 1-800-228-2946.
Schedule update: We are currently scheduled to work Friday, March 30. Also, the week of April 2 will be a 3-day work week, Monday through Wednesday (10.7, 10.7, 10.6) due to the Good Friday holiday. As always, this is subject to change.
There will be a Women’s Committee, a Veterans Committee and a CAP Committee meeting today after first shift at the Union Hall.
Reminder: This weekend is the beginning of daylight savings time, so remember to move your clocks forward one hour.
From the Detroit News: The United Auto Workers sued American Axle & Manufacturing Inc., claiming the auto supplier isn't following its contractual obligation to provide pension, insurance and other benefits to laid-off workers. The union said the Detroit-based company — which closed its factories in Detroit and Cheektowaga, N.Y., last month — wasn't following its contract, which required the company to pay early retirement pensions for employees laid off when a plant is closed. The UAW said the company in March 2011 adopted an amendment to the contract that canceled the benefit. The company said it was required to do so because of a federal law passed in 2006 governing pensions. The union said the dispute affects 100 UAW-represented employees who are over age 50 and have 10 years of service. The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit also says that disabled employees are entitled to short-term and long-term disability benefits. The supplier says when it laid off all employees at the two plants, it would end the benefits. American Axle also is halting retiree health care and life insurance, the UAW said. The suit seeks the restoration of the benefits.
From Automotive News: General Motors CEO Dan Akerson said it may be two years before its European division is back in profit as the continent sheds over-capacity the same way the U.S. industry had to over the past half decade. The world's largest automaker has lost money in Europe for the last 12 years. "I think it'll be a good year or two before we can achieve profitability in Europe again," Akerson said at an on-stage interview conducted in San Francisco on Wednesday night. European sales had been recovering before the continent became gripped by fears of debt defaults in the middle of last year, Akerson said at the event. "People stopped buying. I can see it every day in the sales reports," said Akerson. Industry-wide, Akerson believed there were between seven and 10 excess car plants in Europe and other executives estimate there is 20 percent over-capacity there. He emphasized that a deal with France's PSA/Peugeot-Citroen announced last week was merely an alliance and that each carmaker had its own problems to solve. GM announced last week that it would halt production of the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid car for five weeks and temporarily lay off 1,300 U.S. workers. But Akerson, arguing that a two-week production shutdown last year for its popular Cruze compact car did not generate as much concern, dismissed the worries surrounding the Volt as political. "Sometimes I feel bad for President Obama," Akerson told reporters, saying the Volt was in the works long before Obama's election, yet it was seen as his car due to the government's 27 percent stake in GM after its bailout. "It's not the Obama car." GM is adjusting the Volt to meet strict California requirements for a further $1,500 state rebate and allow drivers to use special carpool lanes in the state, where a fourth of the 7,671 Volts GM sold in 2011 were purchased. Akerson had said earlier that, while it was not up to him, his ideal outcome would be for the government to, for example, sell off the stake steadily over 10 quarters because he believed uncertainty about it was weighing on GM's share price.
From Marketwatch: Toyota Motor Corp. plans to recall about 682,000 cars and trucks in the U.S. to fix some stop lamp switches while remedying a separate problem with its pickups' steering wheel assemblies. The news is the latest in a string of wide-ranging recalls over the past three years for the Japanese auto maker, which has struggled to regain its reputation for quality. The challenges prompted the company last year to launch an advertising campaign touting its safety values while offering two years of free dealer scheduled maintenance. Toyota in November launched a separate safety recall involving about 283,200 Toyota and 137,000 Lexus vehicles to replace the crankshaft pulley on V6 engines. On Wednesday, the auto maker disclosed an issue with about 495,000 Tacoma models ranging from 2005 to early 2009 that could prevent the trucks' driver-side airbags from inflating in a crash. Friction between the steering wheel's spiral cable and its assembly could cause it to lose connectivity to the driver's air bag module over time, the company said. Toyota also plans to replace stop lamp switches on about 70,500 Camry vehicles and about 116,000 Venza vehicles after the company found silicon grease might have reached the inside of the switch during assembly in North America, causing an increase in electrical resistance. The flaw could cause the cars' warning lamps to light up, prevent the vehicles from starting or prevent shift levers from moving to the "park" position. Some of the vehicles' stop lamps might also stop working.
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