Ford reported 4th quarter and full-year earnings today. Overall, yearly earnings were $5.7 billion. In the all-important North American region, 4th quarter earnings were $1.87 billion and for the year were $8.3 billion – both records for the company. This will generate profit sharing payouts of $8300 that the company says will be paid March 14. The question on everyone’s minds is: what will GM North American (NA) earnings be and how much will profit sharing be? We will find out on Thursday, Feb. 14. What we know is that the first 3 quarters have totaled $5.478 billion in NA profit. Guidance from the company has been that this year’s 4th quarter will be “similar to or slightly better” than last year, which was $1.5 billion for NA. Based on that, profit share should fall between $6500 and $7000. Last year, of course, it was $7000 and paid on March 2, although contractually payment can be made as late as the end of March.
FYI- As a service to its employees, General Motors offers GM employees (Active, Retired, Salaried and Hourly), the option to purchase parts and accessories at a discounted rate for their own personal vehicles or for vehicles owned by immediate family members, as defined in the corporate new vehicle purchase guidelines. Parts are available for GM & Saturn vehicles only. All U.S. employees must call 1-855-GMCARES (855-462-2737), prompt 5, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (Eastern), Monday through Friday, to obtain part information and to place orders. The next available specialist will answer your call. By having the following information available when you call, you will receive quicker and more effective service:
- Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
- Option Codes.
- These can be found on a sticker in the glove box or in the trunk of the vehicle on 1989 and newer Model Years.
- Part Number (if known)
Employees must pick-up their parts at the appropriate CCA stocking facility (the closest for us are Chicago and Cincinnati) Parts/accessories will NOT be shipped. Employees and Retirees are required to verify their GM Employee or GM Retiree status when picking up their parts. All stocking facilities have different pick-up times. Typically, if you order one day, you can pick-up the part/accessory the next day that the plant is open for pick-up. Failure to pick-up an ordered part/accessory could result in loss of program privileges. Any order over $500 will require a cashier’s check or money order.
From the Detroit News: United Auto Workers President Bob King said his union is stepping up its efforts to organize foreign automakers and advised Michigan Democrats to rethink their strategy for countering the "war on the middle class" being waged by "right-wing" Republicans. "Labor has got some huge challenges in front of it. It's a labor movement issue. It's not unique to the UAW," King told The Detroit News in an interview at Solidarity House in Detroit on Friday. "The labor movement has got to come together and have new strategies, new ideas and a new level of focus on rebuilding their ability to get fairness and justice for their members."
While some analysts say Michigan's new right-to-work law could accelerate the UAW's membership decline, King says he is not worried. "Our membership has been very strong in their beliefs about the importance of being in the union. They may disagree with some issues or some policies. But they've got a great understanding that they would not have the wages and benefits, the security, the due process, the democracy that they have — the voice they have in the companies — without the UAW," he said.
Membership rates have remained high at UAW-organized factories in other states that have adopted similar legislation, he noted. "We're not taking it for granted; we're going out and talking to our members and making sure that the members feel like they've got a good sense of what the vision and the plan of the UAW is," King said. "It is a concern. (But) a greater concern is the shrinking middle class, the lessening of funding for K-12 education, the taxation of retirees pensions, the attack on women's rights, the attack on immigrants — all this broad extreme-right agenda that right to work is just one piece of — and, in many ways, is not as harmful to workers as the attacks on kids, the attacks on education, the attacks on community colleges."
Foreign automakers wonder just how much the UAW has changed. "If those companies knew all the background, they would understand," King said. "We're not saying we're going to stop working for the benefit of workers." What he is saying is: "Nobody has more of a stake in the long-term success of the companies than the people in the plants."
But, so far, the companies are not listening. And in the case of the UAW primary target — Japan's Nissan Motor Co. — King says they are doing too much talking of their own. "In Nissan Canton, every level of management in that plant has been involved in threats and intimidation of workers," King said, adding that workers at the Mississippi plant have been told the factory will be closed or future vehicles will be produced elsewhere if they vote to unionize. "It is an attack on human rights, civil rights, worker rights."
Tom Brune
UAW/GM Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
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