State of the Union February 5, 2013

February 5, 2013 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
From Chairman Mike Bullock: On Friday Management announced that the first two weeks in July (week of July 1 and 8) would be the "Plant Vacation Shutdown Weeks". Per Paragraph 202a of the National Agreement, "Local Management will notify the Shop Committee of its decision to schedule no more than two Plant Vacation Shutdown Weeks, and will identify the specific week or weeks such shutdown will occur. Plant Management may schedule the Plant Vacation Shutdown Weeks to take place during any weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day". Paragraph 202e states "An active seniority employee who is not scheduled to work during the Plant Vacation Shutdown Weeks, shall use any available Vacation Entitlement hours starting with the first day of the Plant Vacation Shutdown Weeks and will be placed on a leave of absence for vacation purposes for the balance of the Plant Vacation Shutdown Weeks". Numerous questions have been asked why the first week (week of July 1) is not the same as when we were off the first week of January and we were paid Short Work Week? The first week of January we were "laid off". A holiday fell during the week of the layoff which entitled us to Short Work Week. The first week of July (week of July 1) is a "Plant Vacation Shutdown Week", not a lay off, and as per Paragraph 202a and 202e we are not on a lay off. This contract language was part of the 2009 Modifications to the 2007 National Agreement that was agreed upon during the bankruptcy.

From the Benefits Department: Payroll discovered that deferred profit sharing from last year was not properly reported in box 1 of your W-2. If you deferred any of your profit sharing into your PSP you will be receiving a corrected W-2 (identified as W2-C) in the mail. You will need to submit this form with your original W-2 when you file your income tax return. You can expect to receive your W2-C in the mail by Tuesday, Feb. 19. You can also access it through IPAY by Feb. 15.

There will be an Education Committee meeting today between shifts at the Union Hall. All are welcome.
UAW-GM Lifesteps will be in the plant today from 7 pm to 10:30 pm for 2ndshift and tomorrow from 7 am to 11 am for 1st shift. Topics will be "Know Your Numbers" & "Prevention" (as well as typical weigh-ins) and will be located at the Wellness Center (gym).

This week is the annual National Community Action Program (CAP) Legislative Conference in Washington DC. UAW delegates from across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico are assembled until Wednesday to talk about the UAW’s legislative and political agenda for the coming year, meet with congressional representatives to advocate for issues of importance to working families and prepare for next year’s elections. UAW President Bob King gave the keynote address yesterday. He told delegates that the nation needs a social movement propelled by activists who care about eliminating poverty, discrimination and injustice, and the union needs to rebuild.
“You get what you are willing to accept in life. I’m not willing to accept the injustices that are growing in America,” King said. “It’s our responsibility to help reach down to those who have less.” In communities throughout the country, UAW members have been laying the groundwork for a large movement, said King. Now it’s time for the union to rebuild itself, partner with coalitions and allies, and build a social movement along the lines of America’s civil rights and suffrage movements. Also, more UAW members should consider running for political office, said King. “The average worker has more common sense than 75 percent of the politicians,” he added.
Workers, King said, can be proud to have elected Barack Obama, a president who understands the needs of working families. Now it is up to UAW members to help build the movement that will help the move the nation. “President Obama cannot do what he was elected to do unless we build a movement,” King told delegates who applauded with support. “To win justice, we need a movement that is active every day, not just election days…We want government that serves working people in America. We want government of the people, for the people and by the people,” said King.
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Shuler welcomed UAW CAP delegates to the nation’s capital and spoke of continuing challenges facing the labor movement – including the “bluster and baloney” of political dysfunction from some elected officials. “Along with our rare snowfall, we’ve also had more than our share of bluster and baloney [in Washington, D.C.]. Like the politicians who make it sound like the greatest, most dangerous threats to America’s future are Social Security and Medicare. Like John Boehner and Eric Cantor and Mitch McConnell claiming the free enterprise system will collapse if we end tax breaks for shipping good jobs overseas,” said Shuler. Washington Post columnist and longtime political observer E.J. Dionne spoke to delegates giving them reminders about their legacy of solidarity and how much of an impact it had on success of America’s story both for workers and the economy.
“With the decline of union membership over the past decades, we have sometimes forgotten Walter Reuther’s association with the great social justice movements of his time and ours, including the civil rights legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Dionne. “The union movement has always been attached to looking out for the interests of all.” Dionne said the U.S. has to increase the bargaining power of workers because unions “remind us of the dignity of workers in all stations of life. Capitalism would have gone off the rails again and again if we had not raised the living standards of the middle class.” He then urged the audience to remind the Tea Party that the first word in the U.S. Constitution is “We. The labor movement is at its best when it’s fighting not only for workers,” said Dionne, “but justice for the whole country, the legacy set by Walter Reuther.” Tom Brune
UAW/GM Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly