May 30, 2012 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
From Chairman Mike Bullock: Last week the plant suffered another major breakdown on 1st and 2nd shift that lasted longer than 4 hours. Page 243 of the National Contract allows management to make up the production lost from this breakdown. Only the production lost from this specific breakdown can be made up. Management has scheduled K-line to work 11 hours on both shifts this week to accomplish this. The 11 hours plus some schedule relief and no team meetings should accomplish this. Tentatively this will keep us from having to work this Friday. Management has also informed the Union of their plans to change the 2nd shift starting time permanently to 6pm starting on June 4. June's schedule has us back on 10 hour shifts for the month. The application period for the Paragraph 96 agreement from Shreveport to Wentzville has closed. A total of 20 production employees signed up and 21 skilled trades employees signed up. Per the agreement, these employees will be able to transfer to Wentzville when openings are available.
Model change this year is scheduled for July 16. Per the National Agreement (pg. 242) the provisions of the overtime agreement restricting daily overtime and weekends is suspended “beginning on a date two weeks preceding the announced build-out date and ending on the build-out date…..(and) for the week in which it frames the first unit of a new model and for three weeks thereafter or until the line reaches scheduled production, whichever is last”.
The $1000 Inflation Protection lump sum bonus will be paid during the week ending June 10.
Reminder From the Women’s Committee: The last day to enter online for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is June 1. The local has formed a team - the name is “UAW Local 2250” for anyone who would like to register with us and we will pick up the T-shirts and get them to everyone before the race. There will be entry forms at the doors that can be filled out and we can get them registered.
From Automotive News: The players are changing in the fleet business, especially in sales to daily rental companies. As General Motors, Ford and Hyundai-Kia back off, others are rushing in. For Nissan, Chrysler and Volkswagen, fleet is an integrated part of aggressive growth strategies, with Nissan even pushing dealers into local-level fleet deals -- so-called "fleet-tail." For Mazda and others, fleet is a lifeline to relieve bloated inventories.
Fleet is the stepchild of the auto industry. Few automakers discuss their participation, but almost everyone sells to fleet customers. Most years it's a fifth of U.S. light-vehicle sales, according to Edmunds.com, TrueCar.com and the Automotive News Data Center. Edmunds.com put 2011 fleet sales at 2.5 million units. Financial analysts see it as an unprofitable dumping ground. Not so, says Kevin Koswick, fleet boss at Ford Motor Co. "The fleet business is a profitable business" for Ford, he said in a recent interview. "All of it is profitable." Ford and GM dominate the commercial and government sectors, which Ford said in 2011 was 39 percent of total fleet business. "Everybody wants a fleet business, but not everybody can do it," he said. "Many automakers don't have the full product range, and few have the staff and expertise to run it well."
But the biggest chunk of fleet, the 61 percent of sales to daily rental companies, is drawing more import-brand competition in recent years, Koswick said. In the first four months of 2012, the total fleet mix has jumped for Toyota, Mazda, Nissan and Volkswagen brands compared with 2011 levels, TrueCar.com says, and is flat or falling for Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, Hyundai and Kia. Nissan North America is a prime example of a company using fleet in an aggressive push to boost total U.S. sales. The past 16 months, fleet has grown even faster than retail. The fleet mix this year is 23 percent, up from 13 percent for all of 2010, according to the Automotive News Data Center. Volkswagen Group of America also is using fleet in its ambitious drive to more than double U.S. sales by 2018, to 800,000 for VW and 200,000 for Audi. By Edmunds.com's count, VW group's fleet mix more than doubled, from 10.4 percent in 2008 to 23 percent in the first two months of this year. After heavy reliance on fleet sales to survive after its bankruptcy, Chrysler Group has slashed fleet volume. In 2011 it cut fleet volume by 4 percent, while retail sales jumped 43 percent. In four months this year, fleet sales are up 27 percent but retail volume is even loftier: 37 percent higher. Toyota Motor Sales has increased its fleet mix sharply this year. Fleet is 15 percent of the mix through April, compared with full-year figures of 8 percent in both 2010 and 2011.
From the Montgomery Advertiser: As of early last week, nearly 20,000 people have applied for the 877 new jobs that Montgomery’s Hyundai plant created to add a new production shift. And the applications are still coming. The deadline to apply is June 2, but Hyundai was so overwhelmed by the initial response that they suspended the application process on May 18 because of the high volume. Last week, HMMA issued a statement saying that it would reopen the application procedure through June 2 but warned that anyone who applies after May 18 may not have time to be processed. Gordy said later applicants will be seen “as needed” for future hires. Of the 18,500 applicants, who were in the system by May 22, an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 will make it to the assessment stage. Some get that chance immediately, while others are banked” to be assessed later. HMMA will then send the top remaining candidates through a pre-employment screening process and offer them a job.
Tom Brune
UAW/GM Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
State of the Union May 24, 2012
State of the Union May 24, 2012
· Reminder: Tomorrow is a VR blackout day. Tuesday, May 29 is the holiday qualifying day and a VR blackout day.
· From the Women’s Committee: The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is June 23 in St. Louis. The local has formed a team - the name is “UAW Local 2250” for anyone who would like to register with us and we will pick up the T-shirts and get them to everyone before the race. The last day to enter online is June 1. There will be entry forms at the doors that can be filled out and we can get them registered.
· Also: The annual Women’s Committee Benefit Golf Tournament will be held Saturday, June 30 at Country Lake golf course in Warrenton. It is a three person scramble with a 1:30 pm shotgun start. The cost is $70 per person/$210 per team. The first 3 places in 3 flights will be paid. There will also be a longest drive, closest to the pin and a skin game. Food and beer will be served after the tournament. The proceeds will go to “Turning Point” abused women’s shelter. Entry forms are available at the entrances.
· From Automotive News: The Obama campaign continued its assault on Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital today as it said the investment firm that Romney founded was responsible for laying off nearly 1,000 employees at a now-defunct Michigan auto supplier. Bain bought 39 percent of parts maker Cambridge Industries in 1995. Within two years, the investment firm owned a majority stake in Cambridge. By 2000, Cambridge suffered financial trouble stemming from an overeager acquisition strategy, mounting debt and years of earnings shortfalls, according to a Crain’s Detroit Business report at the time. That year Bain took Cambridge into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and sold the company to Meridian Automotive Systems, which slashed more than 1,000 jobs, according to current news reports. In its bankruptcy filing, Cambridge listed debt worth $459.7 million. In 2009, Meridian filed for bankruptcy and liquidated its assets. The Obama campaign said Romney’s firm “went on an ‘aggressive acquisition binge’ racking up hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and laying off hundreds of workers, while paying itself millions of dollars in management fees.” The president said private equity firms, like Bain, are a “healthy part of the free market,” but he dismissed the presumptive Republican nominee’s claims that his private-sector experience qualifies him to be president. “If your main argument for how to grow the economy is ‘I knew how to make a lot of money for investors,’ then you’re missing what this job is about,” Obama said. “It doesn’t mean you weren’t good at private equity, but that’s not what my job is as president.”
· From the Detroit News: Saturday, May 26 will mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Overpass, the infamous encounter between leaders of a young United Auto Workers and Ford Motor Co. security men on a footbridge over Miller Road outside the company's River Rouge complex. It would prove a defining moment in the history of Detroit and American labor. The UAW had won its first major victory in the fight to organize American automakers with its famous Sit-Down Strike against General Motors' operations in Flint that ended in February 1937. By May of that year, all the big car companies had capitulated, except for one. A defiant Henry Ford still vowed that his company would never recognize the union or its right to bargain on behalf of his employees. "Labor unions are the worst things that ever struck the earth," he declared. Ford treated his employees better than his rivals, and many were devoutly loyal to the man and his company. But times were changing, and Ford's Old World paternalism was rejected by a growing number of labor militants. Ford resented what he saw as ingratitude and ordered his private police force, the notorious Ford Service Department, to do whatever was necessary to keep the UAW out of his factories. But the union was undeterred. It redoubled its efforts to organize Ford under the leadership of the young, charismatic labor activist Walter Reuther. Billboards went up near the Rouge declaring "Fordism is Fascism; Unionism is Americanism," and secret meetings were held inside the sprawling factory complex. On May 26, Reuther and other union leaders decided to make what they characterized as a reconnaissance trip to the factory. If it was, it was a reconnaissance in force. They were accompanied by a large group of clergymen, reporters, photographers and even staffers from the Senate Committee on Civil Liberties. Scores of women from the UAW Local 174 auxiliary were on hand to pass out leaflets to workers as they filed out via the Miller Road Overpass outside Gate 4. The footbridge had already been the scene of a bloody battle five years before that had left five workers dead and dozens more wounded. Reuther and the other UAW men knew there could be trouble this time, too. And they were not disappointed: Dozens of Ford Service men were waiting in cars outside the plant.
Detroit News photographer James "Scotty" Kilpatrick was one of the news media on hand to record the event. Just before the 2 p.m. shift change, he asked Reuther and three other UAW leaders to mount the staircase to the overpass so that he could snap a picture with the Ford logo behind them. As the men turned to face Kilpatrick, a group of thugs rushed them from behind. Kilpatrick shouted a warning, but it was too late. The Ford Service men set upon the four union activists and began beating them savagely as the photographer's camera snapped picture after picture. Reuther later described the beating he received. "Seven times they raised me off the concrete and slammed me down on it. They pinned my arms … and I was punched and kicked and dragged by my feet to the stairway, thrown down the first flight of steps, picked up, slammed down on the platform and kicked down the second flight. On the ground they beat and kicked me some more," he recalled. His companion, Robert Kanter, was pushed off the bridge and fell to the ground 30 feet below. The jacket worn by Richard Frankensteen, who headed the UAW's Ford organizing drive, was pulled over his head, and two men held his legs apart while a third kicked him repeatedly in the groin. Ford's thugs then took the fight to the crowd that had gathered to support the union leaders. One man's back was broken, and several of the women from Local 174 auxiliary were also beaten, according to eyewitnesses. The Dearborn police refused to intervene. "The very most we anticipated was that Harry Bennett, then head of Ford security, might order the fire hoses turned on us," Frankensteen told the Associated Press in a 1975 interview. "But we miscalculated." So did Ford. When The Detroit News' photographs went out on the wires, they turned the public against Henry Ford and galvanized support for the UAW. Washington began pressuring Ford to negotiate with the union. "That one incident — the sheer stupidity on the part of Bennett and his men — did more to build the UAW in the auto industry than any other incident in the history of organized labor," Frankensteen said. Four years later, the UAW finally struck the Rouge and forced Ford to recognize the union. And Reuther would go on to become one of the most powerful figures in U.S. labor history.
Tom Brune
UAW/GM Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
· Reminder: Tomorrow is a VR blackout day. Tuesday, May 29 is the holiday qualifying day and a VR blackout day.
· From the Women’s Committee: The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is June 23 in St. Louis. The local has formed a team - the name is “UAW Local 2250” for anyone who would like to register with us and we will pick up the T-shirts and get them to everyone before the race. The last day to enter online is June 1. There will be entry forms at the doors that can be filled out and we can get them registered.
· Also: The annual Women’s Committee Benefit Golf Tournament will be held Saturday, June 30 at Country Lake golf course in Warrenton. It is a three person scramble with a 1:30 pm shotgun start. The cost is $70 per person/$210 per team. The first 3 places in 3 flights will be paid. There will also be a longest drive, closest to the pin and a skin game. Food and beer will be served after the tournament. The proceeds will go to “Turning Point” abused women’s shelter. Entry forms are available at the entrances.
· From Automotive News: The Obama campaign continued its assault on Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital today as it said the investment firm that Romney founded was responsible for laying off nearly 1,000 employees at a now-defunct Michigan auto supplier. Bain bought 39 percent of parts maker Cambridge Industries in 1995. Within two years, the investment firm owned a majority stake in Cambridge. By 2000, Cambridge suffered financial trouble stemming from an overeager acquisition strategy, mounting debt and years of earnings shortfalls, according to a Crain’s Detroit Business report at the time. That year Bain took Cambridge into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and sold the company to Meridian Automotive Systems, which slashed more than 1,000 jobs, according to current news reports. In its bankruptcy filing, Cambridge listed debt worth $459.7 million. In 2009, Meridian filed for bankruptcy and liquidated its assets. The Obama campaign said Romney’s firm “went on an ‘aggressive acquisition binge’ racking up hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and laying off hundreds of workers, while paying itself millions of dollars in management fees.” The president said private equity firms, like Bain, are a “healthy part of the free market,” but he dismissed the presumptive Republican nominee’s claims that his private-sector experience qualifies him to be president. “If your main argument for how to grow the economy is ‘I knew how to make a lot of money for investors,’ then you’re missing what this job is about,” Obama said. “It doesn’t mean you weren’t good at private equity, but that’s not what my job is as president.”
· From the Detroit News: Saturday, May 26 will mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Overpass, the infamous encounter between leaders of a young United Auto Workers and Ford Motor Co. security men on a footbridge over Miller Road outside the company's River Rouge complex. It would prove a defining moment in the history of Detroit and American labor. The UAW had won its first major victory in the fight to organize American automakers with its famous Sit-Down Strike against General Motors' operations in Flint that ended in February 1937. By May of that year, all the big car companies had capitulated, except for one. A defiant Henry Ford still vowed that his company would never recognize the union or its right to bargain on behalf of his employees. "Labor unions are the worst things that ever struck the earth," he declared. Ford treated his employees better than his rivals, and many were devoutly loyal to the man and his company. But times were changing, and Ford's Old World paternalism was rejected by a growing number of labor militants. Ford resented what he saw as ingratitude and ordered his private police force, the notorious Ford Service Department, to do whatever was necessary to keep the UAW out of his factories. But the union was undeterred. It redoubled its efforts to organize Ford under the leadership of the young, charismatic labor activist Walter Reuther. Billboards went up near the Rouge declaring "Fordism is Fascism; Unionism is Americanism," and secret meetings were held inside the sprawling factory complex. On May 26, Reuther and other union leaders decided to make what they characterized as a reconnaissance trip to the factory. If it was, it was a reconnaissance in force. They were accompanied by a large group of clergymen, reporters, photographers and even staffers from the Senate Committee on Civil Liberties. Scores of women from the UAW Local 174 auxiliary were on hand to pass out leaflets to workers as they filed out via the Miller Road Overpass outside Gate 4. The footbridge had already been the scene of a bloody battle five years before that had left five workers dead and dozens more wounded. Reuther and the other UAW men knew there could be trouble this time, too. And they were not disappointed: Dozens of Ford Service men were waiting in cars outside the plant.
Detroit News photographer James "Scotty" Kilpatrick was one of the news media on hand to record the event. Just before the 2 p.m. shift change, he asked Reuther and three other UAW leaders to mount the staircase to the overpass so that he could snap a picture with the Ford logo behind them. As the men turned to face Kilpatrick, a group of thugs rushed them from behind. Kilpatrick shouted a warning, but it was too late. The Ford Service men set upon the four union activists and began beating them savagely as the photographer's camera snapped picture after picture. Reuther later described the beating he received. "Seven times they raised me off the concrete and slammed me down on it. They pinned my arms … and I was punched and kicked and dragged by my feet to the stairway, thrown down the first flight of steps, picked up, slammed down on the platform and kicked down the second flight. On the ground they beat and kicked me some more," he recalled. His companion, Robert Kanter, was pushed off the bridge and fell to the ground 30 feet below. The jacket worn by Richard Frankensteen, who headed the UAW's Ford organizing drive, was pulled over his head, and two men held his legs apart while a third kicked him repeatedly in the groin. Ford's thugs then took the fight to the crowd that had gathered to support the union leaders. One man's back was broken, and several of the women from Local 174 auxiliary were also beaten, according to eyewitnesses. The Dearborn police refused to intervene. "The very most we anticipated was that Harry Bennett, then head of Ford security, might order the fire hoses turned on us," Frankensteen told the Associated Press in a 1975 interview. "But we miscalculated." So did Ford. When The Detroit News' photographs went out on the wires, they turned the public against Henry Ford and galvanized support for the UAW. Washington began pressuring Ford to negotiate with the union. "That one incident — the sheer stupidity on the part of Bennett and his men — did more to build the UAW in the auto industry than any other incident in the history of organized labor," Frankensteen said. Four years later, the UAW finally struck the Rouge and forced Ford to recognize the union. And Reuther would go on to become one of the most powerful figures in U.S. labor history.
Tom Brune
UAW/GM Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
State of the Union May 22, 2012
May 22, 2012 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
Weekly build options: 27 E-26 vans; 1119 cutaways (34%); 626 slider doors; 725 r/h door deletes; 232 15-pass vans; 21% 07 loop; 199 diesels; 330 Onstar; 68 brake deck spare tire; 31 YF7s; .4% tan interior trim; 205 exports; 348 Enterprise rent-a-car; 108 U-Haul; 73% white vans.
There have been questions about which Fridays are scheduled in the near future. Production is scheduled for this Friday, May 25. There is no production scheduled for Friday, June 1 (holiday weeks are 40 hours per the local agreement so next week will be Monday off for Memorial day, 10.7, 10.7 and 10.6 for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). The next 2 Fridays (June 8 & 15) are scheduled with the 22nd off. June 29 is scheduled and July 6 is off. As always, this is subject to change.
From the Veteran’s Committee: We will be having a shotgun meat shoot Saturday, June 2 at the Wentzville VFW 5327, 1414 Highway Z. Start time is 1 pm and there will be 14 rounds – 12 at $3, 1 at $4 and 1 at $6. Half are money rounds and half are meat rounds. Proceeds will go to the Veteran’s Memorial. For more information call 636-639-1648 or Steve Melson at 636-262-1234. Also, we are having a T-shirt design contest for this year’s SOS ride. The winner will get $100. The design must include all branches of the armed forces with no more than 6 colors used. All artwork must be original hand drawn work. The design is for the back only. Artwork may be dropped off at the Union Hall no later than 5 pm Monday, June 4.
From the Detroit Free Press: The future of Opel's factory in Bochum, Germany, remains uncertain after CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke gave no guarantees that the plant will escape closure under a restructuring plan due June 28 for General Motors Co.'s European division. Stracke told Bochum's workers today that he planned to stick with a labor agreement valid through 2014 and had not made any decision yet on what will happen after that. "There is no decision for Bochum beyond 2014," Stracke said in a 20-minute speech at a closed-door meeting with staff, as workers booed him. Stracke said he will present the restructuring plan June 28 to Opel's supervisory board. There is concern that Bochum is at risk after Opel's decision last week to pull production of its Astra compact car from Germany. Opel said it will build the next generation Astra only at its plants in Ellesmere Port, England, and Gliwice in Poland, from 2015, halting Astra production at Opel's main plant in Ruesselsheim, Germany.
From USA Today: Makers of alternative-fuel cars and the government love to create colorful images for how much gasoline the vehicles save and General Motors has come up with one: It says Chevy Volt owners collectively have saved a supertanker's worth of gas since the extended-range plug-in went on sale. That would be about 2.1 million gallons of gas, based on Volt owners driving more than 40 million miles on electricity alone (GM should know, since it monitors the operation of all Volts through its OnStar connection). The Volt can go about 35 miles on the plug-in charge before the gas engine kicks in. Based on the OnStar monitoring, Chevy says Volts are being driven about 60% of their miles electric-only, so they've also gone about 27 million miles using gasoline. "With each click of the odometer, Chevrolet Volt owners are measuring their contribution to reducing America's dependence on foreign oil and to preserving the environment," Cristi Landy, Volt marketing director, said in a statement, adding that they saved about $8 million at the pump, minus the cost of the electricity.
From Wards Auto: The 13.9 billion gallons of ethanol added to the U.S. fuel supply last year reduced the price of gasoline by $1.09 a gallon, researchers at the University of Wisconsin and Iowa State University say. The Center of Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State says regular gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon in 2011 and without the ethanol, the price would have been about $4.61. A new report from the center says the average American household used 1,124 gallons of gasoline in 2011, meaning ethanol cut the gasoline expense by more than $1,225.
From Automotive News: Toyota is taking a beating from the yen's unfavorable exchange rate vs. the dollar, but that won't stop the company from ramping up exports from Japan this year. Vehicle shipments to North America from Japan are forecast to surge 25 percent to 730,000 units in the fiscal year that began April 1, Toyota says in its latest earnings outlook. Raising exports from Japan is not a Japanese automaker's best option these days because of the yen's corrosive exchange rate. A dollar taken in sales in the United States now brings about ¥80 for the automaker vs. ¥90 or more two years ago. In the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2012, currency losses lopped ¥250 billion, or $3.04 billion, from Toyota's operating profit. But Japan's biggest automaker has no other option as it chases a 26 percent increase in North American sales to 2.35 million units. With its assembly plants in the United States and Canada running near capacity, it needs imports from Japan -- especially of the hot-selling family of Prius hybrids, all of which are made in Japan -- to hit its target. Toyota, which exports a much larger percentage of its Japan-made cars than rivals Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co., wants to make more cars overseas, but the shift is happening slowly. Toyota aims to make 3.4 million vehicles in Japan this fiscal year, even though it expects domestic sales of only 1.55 million.
Tom Brune
UAW/GM Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
Weekly build options: 27 E-26 vans; 1119 cutaways (34%); 626 slider doors; 725 r/h door deletes; 232 15-pass vans; 21% 07 loop; 199 diesels; 330 Onstar; 68 brake deck spare tire; 31 YF7s; .4% tan interior trim; 205 exports; 348 Enterprise rent-a-car; 108 U-Haul; 73% white vans.
There have been questions about which Fridays are scheduled in the near future. Production is scheduled for this Friday, May 25. There is no production scheduled for Friday, June 1 (holiday weeks are 40 hours per the local agreement so next week will be Monday off for Memorial day, 10.7, 10.7 and 10.6 for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). The next 2 Fridays (June 8 & 15) are scheduled with the 22nd off. June 29 is scheduled and July 6 is off. As always, this is subject to change.
From the Veteran’s Committee: We will be having a shotgun meat shoot Saturday, June 2 at the Wentzville VFW 5327, 1414 Highway Z. Start time is 1 pm and there will be 14 rounds – 12 at $3, 1 at $4 and 1 at $6. Half are money rounds and half are meat rounds. Proceeds will go to the Veteran’s Memorial. For more information call 636-639-1648 or Steve Melson at 636-262-1234. Also, we are having a T-shirt design contest for this year’s SOS ride. The winner will get $100. The design must include all branches of the armed forces with no more than 6 colors used. All artwork must be original hand drawn work. The design is for the back only. Artwork may be dropped off at the Union Hall no later than 5 pm Monday, June 4.
From the Detroit Free Press: The future of Opel's factory in Bochum, Germany, remains uncertain after CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke gave no guarantees that the plant will escape closure under a restructuring plan due June 28 for General Motors Co.'s European division. Stracke told Bochum's workers today that he planned to stick with a labor agreement valid through 2014 and had not made any decision yet on what will happen after that. "There is no decision for Bochum beyond 2014," Stracke said in a 20-minute speech at a closed-door meeting with staff, as workers booed him. Stracke said he will present the restructuring plan June 28 to Opel's supervisory board. There is concern that Bochum is at risk after Opel's decision last week to pull production of its Astra compact car from Germany. Opel said it will build the next generation Astra only at its plants in Ellesmere Port, England, and Gliwice in Poland, from 2015, halting Astra production at Opel's main plant in Ruesselsheim, Germany.
From USA Today: Makers of alternative-fuel cars and the government love to create colorful images for how much gasoline the vehicles save and General Motors has come up with one: It says Chevy Volt owners collectively have saved a supertanker's worth of gas since the extended-range plug-in went on sale. That would be about 2.1 million gallons of gas, based on Volt owners driving more than 40 million miles on electricity alone (GM should know, since it monitors the operation of all Volts through its OnStar connection). The Volt can go about 35 miles on the plug-in charge before the gas engine kicks in. Based on the OnStar monitoring, Chevy says Volts are being driven about 60% of their miles electric-only, so they've also gone about 27 million miles using gasoline. "With each click of the odometer, Chevrolet Volt owners are measuring their contribution to reducing America's dependence on foreign oil and to preserving the environment," Cristi Landy, Volt marketing director, said in a statement, adding that they saved about $8 million at the pump, minus the cost of the electricity.
From Wards Auto: The 13.9 billion gallons of ethanol added to the U.S. fuel supply last year reduced the price of gasoline by $1.09 a gallon, researchers at the University of Wisconsin and Iowa State University say. The Center of Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State says regular gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon in 2011 and without the ethanol, the price would have been about $4.61. A new report from the center says the average American household used 1,124 gallons of gasoline in 2011, meaning ethanol cut the gasoline expense by more than $1,225.
From Automotive News: Toyota is taking a beating from the yen's unfavorable exchange rate vs. the dollar, but that won't stop the company from ramping up exports from Japan this year. Vehicle shipments to North America from Japan are forecast to surge 25 percent to 730,000 units in the fiscal year that began April 1, Toyota says in its latest earnings outlook. Raising exports from Japan is not a Japanese automaker's best option these days because of the yen's corrosive exchange rate. A dollar taken in sales in the United States now brings about ¥80 for the automaker vs. ¥90 or more two years ago. In the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2012, currency losses lopped ¥250 billion, or $3.04 billion, from Toyota's operating profit. But Japan's biggest automaker has no other option as it chases a 26 percent increase in North American sales to 2.35 million units. With its assembly plants in the United States and Canada running near capacity, it needs imports from Japan -- especially of the hot-selling family of Prius hybrids, all of which are made in Japan -- to hit its target. Toyota, which exports a much larger percentage of its Japan-made cars than rivals Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co., wants to make more cars overseas, but the shift is happening slowly. Toyota aims to make 3.4 million vehicles in Japan this fiscal year, even though it expects domestic sales of only 1.55 million.
Tom Brune
UAW/GM Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
Thursday, May 17, 2012
State of the Union May 17, 2012
May 17, 2012 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
The annual May Day Annie Malone Parade is this Sunday, May 20. Those wishing to ride in vehicles – help pass out beads – help decorate: We meet at Belhmann Buick GMC, 820 McDonnell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63042 at 10:30 am the day of the parade and plan on departing for the staging area no later than 10:45. Those that would like to ride on the Chairman’s Fire Truck can locate us in the staging area located on Market Street between Compton Ave. and Jefferson Ave. We will not know our exact location until closer to the 20th and will let you know when we find out. It should be noted that the only vehicles allowed in the staging area must have entry stickers. There is on street parking in the downtown area and some near the staging.
From the Chaplaincy Committee: The annual Blessing of the Bikes will be Tuesday, May 22 at 4:45 pm at the parking lot across from the Arch and the flagpoles. All bikes are welcome. If you can’t ride, come for the Blessing.
From the Women’s Committee: The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is June 23 in St. Louis. The local has formed a team - the name is “UAW Local 2250” for anyone who would like to register with us and we will pick up the T-shirts and get them to everyone before the race. The last day to enter online is June 1. There will be entry forms at the doors that can be filled out and we can get them registered.
Also: The annual Women’s Committee Benefit Golf Tournament will be held Saturday, June 30 at Country Lake golf course in Warrenton. It is a three person scramble with a 1:30 pm shotgun start. The cost is $70 per person/$210 per team. The first 3 places in 3 flights will be paid. There will also be a longest drive, closest to the pin and a skin game. Food and beer will be served after the tournament. The proceeds will go to “Turning Point” abused women’s shelter. Entry forms are available at the entrances.
Chevrolet today announced the return of a V-8 powered, rear-wheel-drive performance sedan to the U.S. lineup, the Chevrolet SS. The SS will also be Chevrolet’s next NASCAR Sprint Cup racecar and will debut in its race configuration at the 2013 Daytona 500. The limited production version of the Chevrolet SS will be a 2014 model and will arrive in dealer showrooms in late 2013. It is the first time in 17 years that Chevrolet will offer a rear-wheel-drive sedan for sale in the United States. The Chevrolet SS will be a derivative of the award-winning global rear-wheel-drive architecture that spawns performance vehicles like Chevrolet Camaro and Holden’s upcoming VF Commodore.
From the Detroit News: General Motors Co.'s Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson on Wednesday described Warren Buffett, whose company recently bought 10 million shares of the Detroit automaker's stock, as a "wise investor" with a "track record to prove it." Investors and the market initially agreed with Akerson, as GM stock rose higher than 4 percent at one point Wednesday. "It's a great vote of confidence in what we've done and what we hope to accomplish," Akerson told The Detroit News of Buffett's investment into GM. UBS automotive analyst Colin Langan, who has a buy rating on GM, said he doesn't expect Buffett's investment to factor into Treasury's decision on when it will sell GM stock. "Seems like GM's low valuation is just too good for Warren to resist: While buying 10 million shares of GM isn't a huge bet (yet), the market signal for the U.S. auto industry is as unprecedented as it is fascinating," Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas, managing director and automotive analyst, wrote in a Wednesday note to investors.
From Automotive News: Ford Motor Co. will lead the industry in introducing new or refreshed vehicles in the U.S. at the fastest rate for model years 2013 through 2016, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch report today. Ford will replace 26 percent of its lineup during the period, analysts led by John Murphy wrote in the annual "Car Wars" report. The analysts said replacement rates will be 25 percent for General Motors Co., 24 percent for Toyota Motor Corp. and 23 percent for Nissan Motor Co., which will match the industry average. Chrysler Group LLC, majority owned by Fiat S.p.A., and Honda Motor Co. will trail the industry average with replacement rates of 20 percent, according to the report. Ford will replace vehicles representing 46 percent of its volume in model-year 2015, Bank of America estimates, by introducing the new Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossovers, F- Series pickups and Mustang sports car, according to the report. GM's U.S. market share may rebound to the "low 18 percent range" with 2013 model year vehicles including the Cadillac ATS and XTS sedans and Chevrolet Malibu and Spark cars, according to Bank of America estimates. GM will update vehicles accounting for 52 percent of its volume in the 2014 model year, with vehicles including the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups and Cadillac CTS and Chevy Impala sedans.
From the Wall Street Journal: General Motors Co. plans to stop advertising with Facebook Inc. after deciding that paid ads on the site have little impact on consumers' car purchases, according to a GM official. The move by GM, one of the largest advertisers in the U.S., puts a spotlight on an issue that many marketers have been raising: whether ads on Facebook help them sell more products. On Friday, Facebook is expected to sell shares in an initial public offering that could put a market value on the company of as much as $104 billion. GM spent only about $10 million last year to advertise on Facebook, according to people familiar with the matter. That is a fraction of GM's total 2011 U.S. ad spending of $1.8 billion, according to Kantar Media. GM will continue to promote its products on Facebook, but without paying the social-media company, the GM official and other people familiar with the matter said. The auto maker's marketing chief, Joel Ewanick, said the company "is definitely reassessing our advertising on Facebook, although the content is effective and important." Mr. Ewanick has spent the last year restructuring the Detroit company's marketing operations in an effort to cut billions of dollars in costs.
Tom Brune
UAW/GM Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
The annual May Day Annie Malone Parade is this Sunday, May 20. Those wishing to ride in vehicles – help pass out beads – help decorate: We meet at Belhmann Buick GMC, 820 McDonnell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63042 at 10:30 am the day of the parade and plan on departing for the staging area no later than 10:45. Those that would like to ride on the Chairman’s Fire Truck can locate us in the staging area located on Market Street between Compton Ave. and Jefferson Ave. We will not know our exact location until closer to the 20th and will let you know when we find out. It should be noted that the only vehicles allowed in the staging area must have entry stickers. There is on street parking in the downtown area and some near the staging.
From the Chaplaincy Committee: The annual Blessing of the Bikes will be Tuesday, May 22 at 4:45 pm at the parking lot across from the Arch and the flagpoles. All bikes are welcome. If you can’t ride, come for the Blessing.
From the Women’s Committee: The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is June 23 in St. Louis. The local has formed a team - the name is “UAW Local 2250” for anyone who would like to register with us and we will pick up the T-shirts and get them to everyone before the race. The last day to enter online is June 1. There will be entry forms at the doors that can be filled out and we can get them registered.
Also: The annual Women’s Committee Benefit Golf Tournament will be held Saturday, June 30 at Country Lake golf course in Warrenton. It is a three person scramble with a 1:30 pm shotgun start. The cost is $70 per person/$210 per team. The first 3 places in 3 flights will be paid. There will also be a longest drive, closest to the pin and a skin game. Food and beer will be served after the tournament. The proceeds will go to “Turning Point” abused women’s shelter. Entry forms are available at the entrances.
Chevrolet today announced the return of a V-8 powered, rear-wheel-drive performance sedan to the U.S. lineup, the Chevrolet SS. The SS will also be Chevrolet’s next NASCAR Sprint Cup racecar and will debut in its race configuration at the 2013 Daytona 500. The limited production version of the Chevrolet SS will be a 2014 model and will arrive in dealer showrooms in late 2013. It is the first time in 17 years that Chevrolet will offer a rear-wheel-drive sedan for sale in the United States. The Chevrolet SS will be a derivative of the award-winning global rear-wheel-drive architecture that spawns performance vehicles like Chevrolet Camaro and Holden’s upcoming VF Commodore.
From the Detroit News: General Motors Co.'s Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson on Wednesday described Warren Buffett, whose company recently bought 10 million shares of the Detroit automaker's stock, as a "wise investor" with a "track record to prove it." Investors and the market initially agreed with Akerson, as GM stock rose higher than 4 percent at one point Wednesday. "It's a great vote of confidence in what we've done and what we hope to accomplish," Akerson told The Detroit News of Buffett's investment into GM. UBS automotive analyst Colin Langan, who has a buy rating on GM, said he doesn't expect Buffett's investment to factor into Treasury's decision on when it will sell GM stock. "Seems like GM's low valuation is just too good for Warren to resist: While buying 10 million shares of GM isn't a huge bet (yet), the market signal for the U.S. auto industry is as unprecedented as it is fascinating," Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas, managing director and automotive analyst, wrote in a Wednesday note to investors.
From Automotive News: Ford Motor Co. will lead the industry in introducing new or refreshed vehicles in the U.S. at the fastest rate for model years 2013 through 2016, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch report today. Ford will replace 26 percent of its lineup during the period, analysts led by John Murphy wrote in the annual "Car Wars" report. The analysts said replacement rates will be 25 percent for General Motors Co., 24 percent for Toyota Motor Corp. and 23 percent for Nissan Motor Co., which will match the industry average. Chrysler Group LLC, majority owned by Fiat S.p.A., and Honda Motor Co. will trail the industry average with replacement rates of 20 percent, according to the report. Ford will replace vehicles representing 46 percent of its volume in model-year 2015, Bank of America estimates, by introducing the new Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossovers, F- Series pickups and Mustang sports car, according to the report. GM's U.S. market share may rebound to the "low 18 percent range" with 2013 model year vehicles including the Cadillac ATS and XTS sedans and Chevrolet Malibu and Spark cars, according to Bank of America estimates. GM will update vehicles accounting for 52 percent of its volume in the 2014 model year, with vehicles including the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups and Cadillac CTS and Chevy Impala sedans.
From the Wall Street Journal: General Motors Co. plans to stop advertising with Facebook Inc. after deciding that paid ads on the site have little impact on consumers' car purchases, according to a GM official. The move by GM, one of the largest advertisers in the U.S., puts a spotlight on an issue that many marketers have been raising: whether ads on Facebook help them sell more products. On Friday, Facebook is expected to sell shares in an initial public offering that could put a market value on the company of as much as $104 billion. GM spent only about $10 million last year to advertise on Facebook, according to people familiar with the matter. That is a fraction of GM's total 2011 U.S. ad spending of $1.8 billion, according to Kantar Media. GM will continue to promote its products on Facebook, but without paying the social-media company, the GM official and other people familiar with the matter said. The auto maker's marketing chief, Joel Ewanick, said the company "is definitely reassessing our advertising on Facebook, although the content is effective and important." Mr. Ewanick has spent the last year restructuring the Detroit company's marketing operations in an effort to cut billions of dollars in costs.
Tom Brune
UAW/GM Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
State of the Union May 15, 2012
May 15, 2012 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
• Union meeting is 15 minutes after 2nd shift line time today and Wednesday at 7:15 am, 1 pm, 3 pm and 15 minutes after 1st shift line time. There is also a Community Services committee meeting Thursday at 4:30 pm and after 1st shift line time.
• From UAW President Bob King: The Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, is taking credit for the success of the American auto industry, yet he opposed federal loans for U.S. automakers - loans that ultimately saved more than a million American jobs - in a 2009 New York Times editorial, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt."
Romney has been vocally opposed to the auto loans for the past three years. He criticized President Obama as recently as February, 2012 in his opinion article in the Detroit News saying, "The president tells us that without his intervention things in Detroit would be worse. I believe that without his intervention things there would be better." But now he's claiming credit for President Obama's intervention to save the industry.
President Obama and Democrats in Congress provided emergency bridge loans for an auto industry that was a casualty of a collapsed credit market, when no private investors or companies would provide financing. The loans - which were predicated on painful sacrifices by workers, management and other stakeholders - enabled the companies to return quickly to profitability and repay the loans years ahead of schedule.
Moreover, the industry has added more than 200,000 jobs in the last few years and 2011 was the strongest year of industry job growth since 1994. None of this would have happened if Romney had been the one making the decisions.
The successful recovery of the American auto industry is a great national success story that most Americans are very proud of. It's an example of how business, labor and the government can work together to find solutions to some of the nation's most difficult problems. Mitt Romney's values of profits-over-people are wrong for workers and wrong for all Americans who value hard work, shared sacrifice and shared prosperity.
• From the Wall Street Journal: General Motors Co.'s lofty plan to return its long-troubled European unit to profitability is taking shape as the company heads into its first major showdown with the region's powerful labor unions amid the latest restructuring. GM is preparing to make "unpopular decisions" to improve the efficiency of the region's underutilized factories, Karl Stracke, GM's Europe chief. He said GM won't increase exports as a means to bolster production and salvage factories, as the union leaders had hoped. Any factory that remains after the restructuring should be able to turn out enough vehicles to run 24 hours a day, or on three shifts, Mr. Stracke said. This would be a change from the current situation, in which underused plants are driving losses throughout the region. Getting to that point would likely require a combination of plant closings, shifting of production among factories and improved sales. GM needs the support of the region's powerful labor unions to push through its plan. For years, unions and regional governments have fought moves by the auto makers in the region to cut capacity amid increased competition and declining demand. The result is an overcrowded and largely unprofitable European auto industry—exacerbated by the region's sovereign debt crisis—in which Opel is among the weakest players. "We have to implement many individual measures to make Opel profitable again as soon as possible," said Mr. Stracke, picked by GM Chief Executive Dan Akerson last year to head Germany-based Opel and British sister brand Vauxhall. "This requires some unpopular decisions," he said. Mr. Stracke said, despite the problems, Opel can succeed if the company can slash costs, improve capacity utilization and generate savings through its new alliance with French peer PSA Peugeot-Citroën. Mr. Stracke said GM wants to use its European plants on a three-shift basis in the future to greatly reduce production costs. It is an ambitious goal. GM's plants in Europe overall are operating at 65% of capacity, among the lowest in the region, according to analysts. Around 80% is considered the minimum required for profitability. In the U.S., GM's factories operate at about 100% capacity, the company says.
• From Automotive News: A garage fire last week in suburban Houston has been linked to a Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid, but the company quickly noted that the battery remained intact and unplugged -- and did not appear to be the cause. But if not the battery, then what? More likely, poor packaging in the engine compartment and exhaust routing generated excess heat. When combined with a fluid leak, that would be enough to create a fire, said Jon Bereisa, CEO of consultancy Auto Lectrification. Bereisa was chief engineer of General Motors' EV1 and was the systems architect for the Chevrolet Volt, so he knows his way around these sorts of complex problems. Bereisa has driven the Karma and has nosed around the car's inner workings. When he saw the cramped engine compartment of his test car, he was immediately alarmed. "That engine is shoehorned into that bay, because they had to use a larger engine, because it was too heavy a car. As a result, there's no room for exhaust routing and heat shielding to route the heat away," Bereisa said in an interview. The Karma is "using the hell out of that motor-generator," Bereisa said. As a result, a "thermal condition" would be created under the hood or along the tightly packed exhaust routing path. With that sort of heat, an oil, fuel or coolant leak can cause a risk of fire. Jeremy Gutierrez, the owner of the Fisker Karma, said he smelled rubber when the fire started. Bereisa said: "You don't smell rubber with batteries, but you will if it's something on the engine.”
Tom Brune UAW/GM Communications Coordinator Wentzville Assembly 636-327-2119
• Union meeting is 15 minutes after 2nd shift line time today and Wednesday at 7:15 am, 1 pm, 3 pm and 15 minutes after 1st shift line time. There is also a Community Services committee meeting Thursday at 4:30 pm and after 1st shift line time.
• From UAW President Bob King: The Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, is taking credit for the success of the American auto industry, yet he opposed federal loans for U.S. automakers - loans that ultimately saved more than a million American jobs - in a 2009 New York Times editorial, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt."
Romney has been vocally opposed to the auto loans for the past three years. He criticized President Obama as recently as February, 2012 in his opinion article in the Detroit News saying, "The president tells us that without his intervention things in Detroit would be worse. I believe that without his intervention things there would be better." But now he's claiming credit for President Obama's intervention to save the industry.
President Obama and Democrats in Congress provided emergency bridge loans for an auto industry that was a casualty of a collapsed credit market, when no private investors or companies would provide financing. The loans - which were predicated on painful sacrifices by workers, management and other stakeholders - enabled the companies to return quickly to profitability and repay the loans years ahead of schedule.
Moreover, the industry has added more than 200,000 jobs in the last few years and 2011 was the strongest year of industry job growth since 1994. None of this would have happened if Romney had been the one making the decisions.
The successful recovery of the American auto industry is a great national success story that most Americans are very proud of. It's an example of how business, labor and the government can work together to find solutions to some of the nation's most difficult problems. Mitt Romney's values of profits-over-people are wrong for workers and wrong for all Americans who value hard work, shared sacrifice and shared prosperity.
• From the Wall Street Journal: General Motors Co.'s lofty plan to return its long-troubled European unit to profitability is taking shape as the company heads into its first major showdown with the region's powerful labor unions amid the latest restructuring. GM is preparing to make "unpopular decisions" to improve the efficiency of the region's underutilized factories, Karl Stracke, GM's Europe chief. He said GM won't increase exports as a means to bolster production and salvage factories, as the union leaders had hoped. Any factory that remains after the restructuring should be able to turn out enough vehicles to run 24 hours a day, or on three shifts, Mr. Stracke said. This would be a change from the current situation, in which underused plants are driving losses throughout the region. Getting to that point would likely require a combination of plant closings, shifting of production among factories and improved sales. GM needs the support of the region's powerful labor unions to push through its plan. For years, unions and regional governments have fought moves by the auto makers in the region to cut capacity amid increased competition and declining demand. The result is an overcrowded and largely unprofitable European auto industry—exacerbated by the region's sovereign debt crisis—in which Opel is among the weakest players. "We have to implement many individual measures to make Opel profitable again as soon as possible," said Mr. Stracke, picked by GM Chief Executive Dan Akerson last year to head Germany-based Opel and British sister brand Vauxhall. "This requires some unpopular decisions," he said. Mr. Stracke said, despite the problems, Opel can succeed if the company can slash costs, improve capacity utilization and generate savings through its new alliance with French peer PSA Peugeot-Citroën. Mr. Stracke said GM wants to use its European plants on a three-shift basis in the future to greatly reduce production costs. It is an ambitious goal. GM's plants in Europe overall are operating at 65% of capacity, among the lowest in the region, according to analysts. Around 80% is considered the minimum required for profitability. In the U.S., GM's factories operate at about 100% capacity, the company says.
• From Automotive News: A garage fire last week in suburban Houston has been linked to a Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid, but the company quickly noted that the battery remained intact and unplugged -- and did not appear to be the cause. But if not the battery, then what? More likely, poor packaging in the engine compartment and exhaust routing generated excess heat. When combined with a fluid leak, that would be enough to create a fire, said Jon Bereisa, CEO of consultancy Auto Lectrification. Bereisa was chief engineer of General Motors' EV1 and was the systems architect for the Chevrolet Volt, so he knows his way around these sorts of complex problems. Bereisa has driven the Karma and has nosed around the car's inner workings. When he saw the cramped engine compartment of his test car, he was immediately alarmed. "That engine is shoehorned into that bay, because they had to use a larger engine, because it was too heavy a car. As a result, there's no room for exhaust routing and heat shielding to route the heat away," Bereisa said in an interview. The Karma is "using the hell out of that motor-generator," Bereisa said. As a result, a "thermal condition" would be created under the hood or along the tightly packed exhaust routing path. With that sort of heat, an oil, fuel or coolant leak can cause a risk of fire. Jeremy Gutierrez, the owner of the Fisker Karma, said he smelled rubber when the fire started. Bereisa said: "You don't smell rubber with batteries, but you will if it's something on the engine.”
Tom Brune UAW/GM Communications Coordinator Wentzville Assembly 636-327-2119
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
State of the Union May 8, 2012
May 8, 2012 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
From the Benefits Department: We have been made aware that some members have gone to Walgreens and used the Take Care Health Care Clinics. Be advised that this is not a contract benefit. Also, the following is a message regarding preventive health care services: If you own a car, you know that routine maintenance will make it last longer. If you own a house, you know that you need to do annual checks of the heating and cooling system. In fact, any machinery that you own needs regular checkups.
How about your body?
It may not look like the equipment underneath the hood of your car or in your furnace room, but the parts of your body need regular attention and tune-ups too. Routine medical care and preventive screenings can help you understand what’s right and what’s not. Don’t base your decision regarding whether to get preventive services on how you feel now. Take action based on your long term health and well-being.
Your GM health care benefits include coverage for the following in-network preventive exams and screenings at no cost to you, based on your age, gender and risk:
o Health maintenance exams
o Gynecological exams
o Well baby and child exams
o Immunizations for adults and children as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
o Routine services such as cholesterol testing, colon, cervical and breast cancer screening services
For a complete list of preventive services or more detail on services mentioned above, contact your health care carrier at the number on the back of your GM Health Care ID card.
Take time today to invest in a healthier you tomorrow!
Weekly build options: 46 E-26 vnas; 831 cutaways (31%); 574 slider doors; 281 r/h door deletes; 150 15 pass vans; 22.5% 07 loop; 198 Onstar; 66 diesels; 53 brake deck spare tire; .6% tan interior trim; 206 exports (141 Saudi Arabia); 221 Enterprise rent-a-car; 95 Budget; 95 Penske; 60 U-Haul; 37 government vehicles; 80.4% white vans.
The annual May Day Annie Malone Parade is Sunday, May 20. Those wishing to ride in vehicles – help pass out beads – help decorate: We meet at Belhmann Buick GMC, 820 McDonnell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63042 at 10:30 am the day of the parade and plan on departing for the staging area no later than 10:45. Those that would like to ride on the Chairman’s Fire Truck can locate us in the staging area located on Market Street between Compton Ave. and Jefferson Ave. We will not know our exact location until closer to the 20th and will let you know when we find out. It should be noted that the only vehicles allowed in the staging area must have entry stickers. There is on street parking in the downtown area and some near the staging.
From Automotive News: General Motors executives have insisted for months that they're not about to sacrifice profits by discounting vehicles to lift market share. GM's first-quarter results signal that they're walking the walk. The automaker resisted loading on incentives during the January-March period, despite sliding U.S. market share, which finished the quarter at 17.5 percent, vs. 19.6 percent for all of 2011. The result: GM's North American profits surged 35 percent, to $1.69 billion (which equates to $1500 in profit sharing). GM said its average transaction price per vehicle in the United States rose $300 in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, while its average incentive fell $380. "This discipline you're seeing with respect to pricing and incentives ... it bodes well," GM CEO Dan Akerson said. He said new vehicles such as the Chevrolet Sonic are being sold with more features and content, allowing GM to "hold price and get a premium." Akerson added, though, that it hasn't been easy for GM to hold the line on incentives. "Sometimes it's difficult to remain as disciplined as we have been when you look at the activity of some of our competitors," he said. Even so, a presentation GM prepared for analysts showed that GM's first-quarter incentive spending was about 9 percent higher than the industry average when measured as a percentage of average vehicle-transaction prices.
Proving that audacity and selective memory are 2 things that are not in short supply in Mitt Romney comes this article from the Detroit News: Campaigning in the backyard of America's auto industry, Mitt Romney re-ignited the bailout debate by suggesting he deserves "a lot of credit" for the recent successes of the nation's largest car companies. That claim comes in spite of his stance that Detroit should have been allowed to go bankrupt. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee told a Cleveland television station on Monday that President Barack Obama followed his lead when he ushered auto companies through a managed bankruptcy soon after taking office. "I pushed the idea of a managed bankruptcy, and finally when that was done, and help was given, the companies got back on their feet," Romney said in an interview inside a Cleveland-area auto parts maker.
"So, I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry has come back." The course Romney advocated differed greatly from the one that was ultimately taken. GM and Chrysler went into bankruptcy on the strength of a massive bailout that Romney opposed. Neither Republican President George W. Bush nor Democratic President Barack Obama believed the automakers would have survived without that backup from taxpayers. Romney opposed taxpayer help. "If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye," Romney wrote in a November 2008 opinion article in the New York Times. "It won't go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed."
Tom Brune UAW/GM Communications Coordinator Wentzville Assembly 636-327-2119
From the Benefits Department: We have been made aware that some members have gone to Walgreens and used the Take Care Health Care Clinics. Be advised that this is not a contract benefit. Also, the following is a message regarding preventive health care services: If you own a car, you know that routine maintenance will make it last longer. If you own a house, you know that you need to do annual checks of the heating and cooling system. In fact, any machinery that you own needs regular checkups.
How about your body?
It may not look like the equipment underneath the hood of your car or in your furnace room, but the parts of your body need regular attention and tune-ups too. Routine medical care and preventive screenings can help you understand what’s right and what’s not. Don’t base your decision regarding whether to get preventive services on how you feel now. Take action based on your long term health and well-being.
Your GM health care benefits include coverage for the following in-network preventive exams and screenings at no cost to you, based on your age, gender and risk:
o Health maintenance exams
o Gynecological exams
o Well baby and child exams
o Immunizations for adults and children as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
o Routine services such as cholesterol testing, colon, cervical and breast cancer screening services
For a complete list of preventive services or more detail on services mentioned above, contact your health care carrier at the number on the back of your GM Health Care ID card.
Take time today to invest in a healthier you tomorrow!
Weekly build options: 46 E-26 vnas; 831 cutaways (31%); 574 slider doors; 281 r/h door deletes; 150 15 pass vans; 22.5% 07 loop; 198 Onstar; 66 diesels; 53 brake deck spare tire; .6% tan interior trim; 206 exports (141 Saudi Arabia); 221 Enterprise rent-a-car; 95 Budget; 95 Penske; 60 U-Haul; 37 government vehicles; 80.4% white vans.
The annual May Day Annie Malone Parade is Sunday, May 20. Those wishing to ride in vehicles – help pass out beads – help decorate: We meet at Belhmann Buick GMC, 820 McDonnell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63042 at 10:30 am the day of the parade and plan on departing for the staging area no later than 10:45. Those that would like to ride on the Chairman’s Fire Truck can locate us in the staging area located on Market Street between Compton Ave. and Jefferson Ave. We will not know our exact location until closer to the 20th and will let you know when we find out. It should be noted that the only vehicles allowed in the staging area must have entry stickers. There is on street parking in the downtown area and some near the staging.
From Automotive News: General Motors executives have insisted for months that they're not about to sacrifice profits by discounting vehicles to lift market share. GM's first-quarter results signal that they're walking the walk. The automaker resisted loading on incentives during the January-March period, despite sliding U.S. market share, which finished the quarter at 17.5 percent, vs. 19.6 percent for all of 2011. The result: GM's North American profits surged 35 percent, to $1.69 billion (which equates to $1500 in profit sharing). GM said its average transaction price per vehicle in the United States rose $300 in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, while its average incentive fell $380. "This discipline you're seeing with respect to pricing and incentives ... it bodes well," GM CEO Dan Akerson said. He said new vehicles such as the Chevrolet Sonic are being sold with more features and content, allowing GM to "hold price and get a premium." Akerson added, though, that it hasn't been easy for GM to hold the line on incentives. "Sometimes it's difficult to remain as disciplined as we have been when you look at the activity of some of our competitors," he said. Even so, a presentation GM prepared for analysts showed that GM's first-quarter incentive spending was about 9 percent higher than the industry average when measured as a percentage of average vehicle-transaction prices.
Proving that audacity and selective memory are 2 things that are not in short supply in Mitt Romney comes this article from the Detroit News: Campaigning in the backyard of America's auto industry, Mitt Romney re-ignited the bailout debate by suggesting he deserves "a lot of credit" for the recent successes of the nation's largest car companies. That claim comes in spite of his stance that Detroit should have been allowed to go bankrupt. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee told a Cleveland television station on Monday that President Barack Obama followed his lead when he ushered auto companies through a managed bankruptcy soon after taking office. "I pushed the idea of a managed bankruptcy, and finally when that was done, and help was given, the companies got back on their feet," Romney said in an interview inside a Cleveland-area auto parts maker.
"So, I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry has come back." The course Romney advocated differed greatly from the one that was ultimately taken. GM and Chrysler went into bankruptcy on the strength of a massive bailout that Romney opposed. Neither Republican President George W. Bush nor Democratic President Barack Obama believed the automakers would have survived without that backup from taxpayers. Romney opposed taxpayer help. "If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye," Romney wrote in a November 2008 opinion article in the New York Times. "It won't go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed."
Tom Brune UAW/GM Communications Coordinator Wentzville Assembly 636-327-2119
Friday, May 4, 2012
State of the Union May 3 2012
May 3, 2012 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
From the Veterans Committee: We will be having a shotgun meat shoot Saturday, June 2 at the Wentzville VFW 5327, 1414 Highway Z. Start time is 1 pm and there will be 14 rounds – 12 at $3, 1 at $4 and 1 at $6. Half are money rounds and half are meat rounds. Proceeds will go to the Veteran’s Memorial. For more information call 636-639-1648 or Steve Melson at 636-262-1234. Also, we are having a T-shirt design contest for this year’s SOS ride. The winner will get $100. The design must include all branches of the armed forces with no more than 6 colors used. All artwork must be original hand drawn work. The design is for the back only. Artwork may be dropped off at the Union Hall no later than 5 pm Monday, June 4.
Here are the April sales results for the van segment:
2012 2011 Change Share Ford Econoline 11,810 11,611 +1.7% 50.8% GM ,941 8,669 +3.1% 38.5% Mercedes Sprinter ,966 1,115 +98.4% 8.5% Nissan NV 514 260 +122% 2.2% Ford Transit connect 2,892 2,668 +8.4% ---
Field supplies as measured by days supply is down to 41 from 47 at the end of March, although overall supplies are up around 1800 units. Chevy passenger vans are down to a 9 day supply. Chevy cargo vans are at 41 days. Cutaway supplies are down slightly, with the Chevy at 60 days and the GMC at 37 days.
From Bloomberg: A proposed rule requiring automakers to double average fuel economy by 2025 to 54.5 mpg may reduce gasoline-tax collections for U.S. highway and transit systems by $57 billion over 11 years, the Congressional Budget Office said. That would reduce the amount of money available for the Highway Trust Fund by 13 percent from 2012 to 2022, the CBO said in a report released Wednesday. The CBO previously said the highway portion of the trust fund would run out of money during the fiscal year that starts in October. Lawmakers could deal with the shortfall by spending less on highways and mass transit, using more general fund money from the U.S. Treasury for surface transportation, or raising the U.S. gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, the report concluded. Complying with the rule, intended to reduce fuel use and vehicle emissions, would cost as much as $157 billion while saving consumers as much as $515 billion in fuel costs, the Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have said. General Motors Co today announced first quarter net income attributable to common stockholders of $1.0 billion, or $0.60 per fully diluted share. These results include a net loss from special items related to goodwill impairment that reduced net income by $0.6 billion, or $0.33 per fully diluted share.
In the first quarter of 2011, GM’s net income attributable to common stockholders was $3.2 billion, or $1.77 per fully diluted share, including a net gain from special items of $1.5 billion or $0.82 per share.
Net revenue in the first quarter of 2012 was $37.8 billion, an increase of $1.6 billion compared with the first quarter of 2011. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) adjusted was $2.2 billion, an increase of $0.2 billion compared with the first quarter of 2011.
"The U.S. economic recovery, record demand for GM vehicles in China and the global growth of the Chevrolet brand helped deliver solid earnings for General Motors,” said Dan Akerson, chairman and CEO. “New products are starting to make a difference in South America, but Europe remains a work in progress. We’ll continue to work on both revenue and cost opportunities until we have brought GM to competitive levels of profitability."
GM North America (GMNA) reported EBIT-adjusted of $1.7 billion, including restructuring costs of $0.1 billion, an improvement of $0.4 billion compared with the first quarter of 2011.
GM Europe (GME) reported an EBIT-adjusted loss of $0.3 billion compared with break-even results in the first quarter of 2011.
GM International Operations (GMIO) reported EBIT-adjusted of $0.5 billion compared with $0.6 billion in the first quarter of 2011.
GM South America’s (GMSA) EBIT-adjusted of $0.1 billion was flat compared with the first quarter of 2011.
GM Financial earnings before tax was $0.2 billion for the quarter, a $0.1 billion increase from the prior year.
Cash Flow and Liquidity
For the quarter, automotive cash flow from operating activities was $2.3 billion and automotive free cash flow was $0.3 billion. GM ended the quarter with very strong total automotive liquidity of $37.3 billion. Automotive cash and marketable securities was $31.5 billion compared with $31.6 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011.
2012 GMNA Outlook
With the strengthening U.S. economy helping release pent-up demand, GM now expects that full-year 2012 U.S. light vehicle sales will be in the 14.0 million – 14.5 million range. Previously, the company expected sales to fall between 13.5 million – 14.0 million units. Based on the company’s current outlook, GMNA’s results for the second and third quarters of 2012 are expected to be comparable to the first quarter of 2012 due to the scheduled downtime at factories that produce full-size trucks.
"We are aggressively eliminating complexity to reduce our costs, and at that same time, we are preparing for more than 20 major vehicle launches around the world in 2012 to drive revenue this year and farther into the future," said Dan Ammann, senior vice president and CFO.
Tom Brune UAW/GM Communications Coordinator Wentzville Assembly 636-327-2119
From the Veterans Committee: We will be having a shotgun meat shoot Saturday, June 2 at the Wentzville VFW 5327, 1414 Highway Z. Start time is 1 pm and there will be 14 rounds – 12 at $3, 1 at $4 and 1 at $6. Half are money rounds and half are meat rounds. Proceeds will go to the Veteran’s Memorial. For more information call 636-639-1648 or Steve Melson at 636-262-1234. Also, we are having a T-shirt design contest for this year’s SOS ride. The winner will get $100. The design must include all branches of the armed forces with no more than 6 colors used. All artwork must be original hand drawn work. The design is for the back only. Artwork may be dropped off at the Union Hall no later than 5 pm Monday, June 4.
Here are the April sales results for the van segment:
2012 2011 Change Share Ford Econoline 11,810 11,611 +1.7% 50.8% GM ,941 8,669 +3.1% 38.5% Mercedes Sprinter ,966 1,115 +98.4% 8.5% Nissan NV 514 260 +122% 2.2% Ford Transit connect 2,892 2,668 +8.4% ---
Field supplies as measured by days supply is down to 41 from 47 at the end of March, although overall supplies are up around 1800 units. Chevy passenger vans are down to a 9 day supply. Chevy cargo vans are at 41 days. Cutaway supplies are down slightly, with the Chevy at 60 days and the GMC at 37 days.
From Bloomberg: A proposed rule requiring automakers to double average fuel economy by 2025 to 54.5 mpg may reduce gasoline-tax collections for U.S. highway and transit systems by $57 billion over 11 years, the Congressional Budget Office said. That would reduce the amount of money available for the Highway Trust Fund by 13 percent from 2012 to 2022, the CBO said in a report released Wednesday. The CBO previously said the highway portion of the trust fund would run out of money during the fiscal year that starts in October. Lawmakers could deal with the shortfall by spending less on highways and mass transit, using more general fund money from the U.S. Treasury for surface transportation, or raising the U.S. gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, the report concluded. Complying with the rule, intended to reduce fuel use and vehicle emissions, would cost as much as $157 billion while saving consumers as much as $515 billion in fuel costs, the Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have said. General Motors Co today announced first quarter net income attributable to common stockholders of $1.0 billion, or $0.60 per fully diluted share. These results include a net loss from special items related to goodwill impairment that reduced net income by $0.6 billion, or $0.33 per fully diluted share.
In the first quarter of 2011, GM’s net income attributable to common stockholders was $3.2 billion, or $1.77 per fully diluted share, including a net gain from special items of $1.5 billion or $0.82 per share.
Net revenue in the first quarter of 2012 was $37.8 billion, an increase of $1.6 billion compared with the first quarter of 2011. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) adjusted was $2.2 billion, an increase of $0.2 billion compared with the first quarter of 2011.
"The U.S. economic recovery, record demand for GM vehicles in China and the global growth of the Chevrolet brand helped deliver solid earnings for General Motors,” said Dan Akerson, chairman and CEO. “New products are starting to make a difference in South America, but Europe remains a work in progress. We’ll continue to work on both revenue and cost opportunities until we have brought GM to competitive levels of profitability."
GM North America (GMNA) reported EBIT-adjusted of $1.7 billion, including restructuring costs of $0.1 billion, an improvement of $0.4 billion compared with the first quarter of 2011.
GM Europe (GME) reported an EBIT-adjusted loss of $0.3 billion compared with break-even results in the first quarter of 2011.
GM International Operations (GMIO) reported EBIT-adjusted of $0.5 billion compared with $0.6 billion in the first quarter of 2011.
GM South America’s (GMSA) EBIT-adjusted of $0.1 billion was flat compared with the first quarter of 2011.
GM Financial earnings before tax was $0.2 billion for the quarter, a $0.1 billion increase from the prior year.
Cash Flow and Liquidity
For the quarter, automotive cash flow from operating activities was $2.3 billion and automotive free cash flow was $0.3 billion. GM ended the quarter with very strong total automotive liquidity of $37.3 billion. Automotive cash and marketable securities was $31.5 billion compared with $31.6 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011.
2012 GMNA Outlook
With the strengthening U.S. economy helping release pent-up demand, GM now expects that full-year 2012 U.S. light vehicle sales will be in the 14.0 million – 14.5 million range. Previously, the company expected sales to fall between 13.5 million – 14.0 million units. Based on the company’s current outlook, GMNA’s results for the second and third quarters of 2012 are expected to be comparable to the first quarter of 2012 due to the scheduled downtime at factories that produce full-size trucks.
"We are aggressively eliminating complexity to reduce our costs, and at that same time, we are preparing for more than 20 major vehicle launches around the world in 2012 to drive revenue this year and farther into the future," said Dan Ammann, senior vice president and CFO.
Tom Brune UAW/GM Communications Coordinator Wentzville Assembly 636-327-2119
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
State of the Union May 1, 2012
May 1, 2012 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
• From the Chaplaincy Committee: Thursday, May 3 is the 61stAnnual National Day of Prayer. We will hold services at the flagpoles in the front of the plant at 5:30 am, 1st shift lunch time, 5 pm and 2nd shift lunch time. All are welcome to attend. You can access the flagpoles through the tour holding room doors for your convenience.
• The annual Women’s Committee Benefit Golf Tournament will be held Saturday, June 30 at Country Lake golf course in Warrenton. It is a three person scramble with a 1:30 pm shotgun start. The cost is $70 per person/$210 per team. The first 3 places in 3 flights will be paid. There will also be a longest drive, closest to the pin and a skin game. Food and beer will be served after the tournament. The proceeds will go to “Turning Point”. Entry forms are available at the entrances.
• General Motors Co. today reported April sales of 213,387 vehicles in the United States. Retail sales were essentially equal to April 2011. GM’s fleet sales declined 25 percent due to the timing of rental customer deliveries, as previously indicated. As a result, total sales were down 8 percent. Based on higher than expected first quarter industry sales and expectations that the U.S. economy will continue to grow, GM is increasing its full-year light vehicle sales forecast to 14.0 million – 14.5 million units from 13.5 million – 14.0 million units. “We expect gradual improvement in the economy going forward,” said Don Johnson, vice president, U.S. Sales Operations. “Over time, strength in the manufacturing sector and strong retail sales will lead to more job creation. That will help more consumers put the recession behind them, gain even more confidence and drive vehicle sales higher for both the industry and GM.” GM’s two newest vehicles, the Chevrolet Sonic and the Buick Verano, continue to perform well. Chevrolet Sonic sales were 38 percent higher than the vehicle it replaced. Buick Verano sales reached 2,989 units and have increased each month since it went on sale in late November 2011. In addition, Chevrolet Volt sales of 1,462 units were strong nationally but limited by availability of vehicles in California, where GM is launching a model that qualifies for high-occupancy vehicle lane access. Other highlights include a 7 percent year-over-year increase for the Cadillac CTS sedan, a 20 percent increase for the GMC Sierra, a 9 percent increase for the GMC Terrain, a 5 percent sales increase for the Chevrolet Silverado and a 7 percent increase for the Chevrolet Equinox. On a selling-day adjusted basis, GM total sales were up 3 percent and retail sales were up 12 percent (there were 3 fewer selling days this April versus last April). Van sales came in at 8941, a 3.1% increase over last April.
UAW says it's time for action on Workers Memorial Day
Workers Memorial Day is the annual anniversary of when working people and their unions pay tribute to those who have been hurt or killed on the job.
The UAW will join other unions across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico on Saturday to observe Workers Memorial Day by remembering workers who have suffered and died on the job and to renew the fight for safe workplaces. In Canada, union members observe a special National Day of Mourning, while trade unionists around the world mark April 28 as an international day of remembrance.
On a typical work day in the United States, an average of 12 workers lose their lives as a result of workplace injuries, and another 137 workers die from occupational diseases. Despite the UAW's success in setting workplace safety standards, five UAW members were killed on the job in tragic workplace incidents since we last observed Workers Memorial Day in 2011. This is a reminder to all of us that our work isn't finished.
The UAW, along with the entire labor movement, has a strong record of fighting for safety in the workplace, and creating health and safety standards that employers throughout the country have followed. For the more than 40 years since the Occupational Safety and Health Act was enacted, over 400,000 workers' lives have been saved on the job due to improved safety protections in the workplace. In Michigan, that law was strengthened further in 1975 when the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration was established, providing even further advocacy for health and safety for all workers.
Sadly, these health and safety protections are in jeopardy with right-wing opponents working on state and federal levels to dilute or eliminate hard-won worker safety laws - not to mention all collective bargaining rights - under the guise of job creation. These same opponents continue to work to decrease funding of critical health and safety oversight agencies which, in many cases, provide the only assurance that health and safety laws are being adhered to by employers. Contrary to opponents' arguments, health and safety protections are not job killers, but unsafe workplaces kill and maim workers.
The UAW will never stop its efforts to protect and fortify safe and healthy workplaces for all workers in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. UAW members will be involved in a variety of activities throughout North America on Workers Memorial Day. We urge you to join their fight for a safe and healthy workplace. Workers everywhere deserve to labor in safety. That's why workplace health and safety is the UAW's concern every day of the year, including April 28.
Tom Brune UAW/GM Communications Coordinator Wentzville Assembly 636-327-2119
• From the Chaplaincy Committee: Thursday, May 3 is the 61stAnnual National Day of Prayer. We will hold services at the flagpoles in the front of the plant at 5:30 am, 1st shift lunch time, 5 pm and 2nd shift lunch time. All are welcome to attend. You can access the flagpoles through the tour holding room doors for your convenience.
• The annual Women’s Committee Benefit Golf Tournament will be held Saturday, June 30 at Country Lake golf course in Warrenton. It is a three person scramble with a 1:30 pm shotgun start. The cost is $70 per person/$210 per team. The first 3 places in 3 flights will be paid. There will also be a longest drive, closest to the pin and a skin game. Food and beer will be served after the tournament. The proceeds will go to “Turning Point”. Entry forms are available at the entrances.
• General Motors Co. today reported April sales of 213,387 vehicles in the United States. Retail sales were essentially equal to April 2011. GM’s fleet sales declined 25 percent due to the timing of rental customer deliveries, as previously indicated. As a result, total sales were down 8 percent. Based on higher than expected first quarter industry sales and expectations that the U.S. economy will continue to grow, GM is increasing its full-year light vehicle sales forecast to 14.0 million – 14.5 million units from 13.5 million – 14.0 million units. “We expect gradual improvement in the economy going forward,” said Don Johnson, vice president, U.S. Sales Operations. “Over time, strength in the manufacturing sector and strong retail sales will lead to more job creation. That will help more consumers put the recession behind them, gain even more confidence and drive vehicle sales higher for both the industry and GM.” GM’s two newest vehicles, the Chevrolet Sonic and the Buick Verano, continue to perform well. Chevrolet Sonic sales were 38 percent higher than the vehicle it replaced. Buick Verano sales reached 2,989 units and have increased each month since it went on sale in late November 2011. In addition, Chevrolet Volt sales of 1,462 units were strong nationally but limited by availability of vehicles in California, where GM is launching a model that qualifies for high-occupancy vehicle lane access. Other highlights include a 7 percent year-over-year increase for the Cadillac CTS sedan, a 20 percent increase for the GMC Sierra, a 9 percent increase for the GMC Terrain, a 5 percent sales increase for the Chevrolet Silverado and a 7 percent increase for the Chevrolet Equinox. On a selling-day adjusted basis, GM total sales were up 3 percent and retail sales were up 12 percent (there were 3 fewer selling days this April versus last April). Van sales came in at 8941, a 3.1% increase over last April.
UAW says it's time for action on Workers Memorial Day
Workers Memorial Day is the annual anniversary of when working people and their unions pay tribute to those who have been hurt or killed on the job.
The UAW will join other unions across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico on Saturday to observe Workers Memorial Day by remembering workers who have suffered and died on the job and to renew the fight for safe workplaces. In Canada, union members observe a special National Day of Mourning, while trade unionists around the world mark April 28 as an international day of remembrance.
On a typical work day in the United States, an average of 12 workers lose their lives as a result of workplace injuries, and another 137 workers die from occupational diseases. Despite the UAW's success in setting workplace safety standards, five UAW members were killed on the job in tragic workplace incidents since we last observed Workers Memorial Day in 2011. This is a reminder to all of us that our work isn't finished.
The UAW, along with the entire labor movement, has a strong record of fighting for safety in the workplace, and creating health and safety standards that employers throughout the country have followed. For the more than 40 years since the Occupational Safety and Health Act was enacted, over 400,000 workers' lives have been saved on the job due to improved safety protections in the workplace. In Michigan, that law was strengthened further in 1975 when the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration was established, providing even further advocacy for health and safety for all workers.
Sadly, these health and safety protections are in jeopardy with right-wing opponents working on state and federal levels to dilute or eliminate hard-won worker safety laws - not to mention all collective bargaining rights - under the guise of job creation. These same opponents continue to work to decrease funding of critical health and safety oversight agencies which, in many cases, provide the only assurance that health and safety laws are being adhered to by employers. Contrary to opponents' arguments, health and safety protections are not job killers, but unsafe workplaces kill and maim workers.
The UAW will never stop its efforts to protect and fortify safe and healthy workplaces for all workers in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. UAW members will be involved in a variety of activities throughout North America on Workers Memorial Day. We urge you to join their fight for a safe and healthy workplace. Workers everywhere deserve to labor in safety. That's why workplace health and safety is the UAW's concern every day of the year, including April 28.
Tom Brune UAW/GM Communications Coordinator Wentzville Assembly 636-327-2119
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