The June Union Meeting will be moved to the last Wednesday (June 27) of the month due to scheduling conflicts with several Executive Board members.
Van sales continue their comeback from the depths of the recession. You’d have to go back to 2007 to find a better May result. Here’s how the month shook out among all the players:
| 2011 | 2012 | Change | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ford Econonline |
14,160 | 10,778 | +31.4% | 52.4% |
GM |
10,018 | 8,954 | +11.9% | 37.0% |
Mercedes Sprinter |
2,041 | 1,420 | +43.7% | 7.5% |
Nissan NV |
825 | 360 | +129% | 3.1% |
Ford Transit connect |
3,937 | 2,581 | +52.5% | ---- |
From the Detroit Free Press: On Friday, GM told the CAW it plans to shut down one of its Oshawa assembly lines next year as it moves production of the next-generation Impala to its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant and some production of the Chevrolet Equinox to Spring Hill, Tenn. The decision means that three shifts of workers, or about 2,000 employees, will lose their jobs at the Ontario complex that once employed 23,000 in the early 1980s. About 2,000 workers will continue to build the Buick Regal, Chevrolet Camaro and Cadillac XTS at GM's remaining assembly line at the plant. GM's decision is likely tied to the lower value of the dollar compared with the Canadian dollar and the concessions that the UAW has agreed to in recent years that have lowered GM's U.S. labor costs, said Chris Buckley, president of CAW Local 222. "It makes us one of the highest-cost producers in the world," Buckley said of the currency rate. The CAW estimates that GM's total labor costs for wages and benefits is about $60 per hour in Canada compared with about $56 per hour in the U.S. Buckley contends the CAW could have closed that cost gap if it was given the chance.
" ... Every time we met with GM we pressed for future investment," Buckley said. "What is so frustrating is not even being able to have the opportunity to close the gap. We find that offensive."
GM spokeswoman Faye Roberts said currency values and UAW concessions played no role in GM's decision. "There was a large group of capacity reductions announced in 2005," Roberts said. "We've been very fortunate that the demand for the products built there sustained the line longer than anticipated." The move comes as the CAW enters contract talks this year with all three major U.S. automakers. Buckley doesn't think GM's decision is a negotiating ploy. "On numerous occasions I have asked GM not to wait until contract talks to discuss new products. GM has consistently responded that there are no plans to put new product here."
From Reuters: General Motors Co will cut nearly a quarter of its U.S. pension obligation by transferring the management of its pension plans for 118,000 white-collar retirees to a third party and offering lump-sum buyouts. The two moves unveiled on Friday will cut $26 billion from the automaker's massive U.S. pension liability of nearly $109 billion. GM's pension overhang is a top concern for investors. It was one of a handful of issues left untouched during GM's U.S.-financed bankruptcy restructuring three years ago. "There are lots of companies with pension plans. Very few have plans in the absolute or relative size as us," Chief Financial Officer Dan Ammann said during a conference call. "We would like to get back into the category where this is sort of a non-issue for us," Ammann added. "That doesn't mean eliminating it completely, but obviously we've taken a big step in the right direction today." The automaker also announced a third pension-related move. GM will shift most of its salaried employees and a small number of retirees who started receiving pension benefits on or after December 1, 2011, to a new pension plan that GM will continue to pay for. These retirees are not part of the 118,000 affected by the pension overhaul announced Friday. GM will buy a group annuity contract from a unit of Prudential Financial Inc, which will pay and manage benefit payments starting in January 2013 to retirees who are ineligible or elect not to take a lump-sum pension buyout.
GM will also offer pension buyouts to about 42,000 retirees and their surviving beneficiaries, who will have until July 20 to make a decision. The company will start sending those offers to eligible retirees next week. To fund the transaction, GM will shift $29 billion from its pension plan assets to Prudential and put in between $3.5 billion and $4.5 billion in cash. GM's pension shortfall will also narrow by $1 billion. GM will take a special charge of between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion in the second half of the year. It will also result in a $200 million non-cash hit to earnings. Over a 15-year stretch that ended in 2006, GM put $55 billion into its workers' pension plans, compared with $13 billion it paid out in dividends, according to the 2008 book, 'While America Aged" by Roger Lowenstein.
"We will be less exposed to the funding volatility and calls on cash we have experienced in the past, which in turn, will improve our flexibility to deploy cash for alternate uses," Ammann said on Friday. GM retirees represented by the United Auto Workers union are not affected by Friday's announcement. Last year, GM and the UAW agreed to discuss ways to cut the risk posed by GM's pension plan during contract negotiations. During the conference call, Ammann declined to shed light on those talks, beyond saying that pensions were a "significant topic of discussion" during those meetings. "We have generally agreed with the UAW that we will maintain a dialogue on pensions going forward and continue to look at de-risking alternatives, but anything we discuss with them on that remains private between us and them," Ammann said. A UAW spokeswoman could not be immediately reached.
Tom Brune
UAW/GM Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
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