June 6, 2013 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
The Veterans Committee is raffling off a .45 caliber, nickel-plated Remington pistol to support this year’s SOS ride. Tickets are $10 each and only 250 will be sold. You can buy them from any committee member through June 25th and the drawing will be June 26. Thanks in advance for your support.
The UAW VEBA trust is selling 20 million GM shares along with the US Treasury, which is selling 30 million shares. The sale will raise $688 million for the VEBA and according to RBC Capital analyst Joseph Spak, the move means that the UAW trust will hold about 140 million shares after the sale, about the same size as the Canadian government's 140 million shares it still holds as part the Ontario and Canadian federal government's $10 billion GM bailout in 2008 and 2009 (an earlier edition of the SOTU incorrectly estimated VEBA’s GM holdings at around 200 million shares prior to the sale).
There’s good news and bad news in the latest surveys of brand loyalty conducted by RL Polk. The good news is that every GM brand increased their customer loyalty ratings in the 1st quarter this year compared to last year. Cadillac had the 2nd largest increase of any brand and GMC and Buick had the 6th and 7th biggest improvements. Chevrolet had the 3rd highest brand loyalty overall, behind Ford and Toyota. The bad news is that it was the only GM brand above the industry average despite the big improvements. To help build brand loyalty, GM announced yesterday that most 2014 models will come with free maintenance for 2 years or 24,000 miles. Chevrolet, Buick and GMC dealers will complete an oil and filter change, four-wheel tire rotation, and conduct a 27-point vehicle inspection based on what’s called for in the vehicle owner’s manual maintenance schedule and oil life monitoring system. The program covers up to four service visits in the 24-month period, and is fully transferrable to subsequent owners. Customers who have already purchased or leased a 2014 model year vehicle will receive the scheduled maintenance program.
In the “we didn’t know you could do that” file, Chrysler is refusing a NHTSA request for a recall of some 2.7 million Jeep Libertys (2002-2007) and Grand Cherokees (1993-2004) that are linked to 51 fire deaths that NHTSA says are caused by fuel leaks and subsequent fires from rear-end collisions. The vehicles have plastic gas tanks behind the rear axle that can be punctured in a rear-end collision and leak fuel, which then can catch fire. Estimated cost of the recall is $500 million. Chrysler says the vehicles met all federal standards at the time. NHTSA counters that "the existence of a minimum standard does not require NHTSA to ignore deadly problems."
South Africans have more rights than workers in Mississippi
By Danny Glover
As an actor/social activist, I never thought I’d see the day when the workers of South Africa have more freedom to join unions than the workers of Mississippi.
Last week, I visited South Africa with a delegation of Mississippi workers, clergy, students and UAW leaders to request support from their auto union, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa. There’s a special bond between the unions. In the 1980s, the UAW fought against apartheid in South Africa and for workers’ rights. When political prisoner and South African leader Nelson Mandela was freed in 1990, he traveled to Detroit to thank the UAW.
This time, we asked South Africans to help mobilize in support of the right of Americans to organize unions.
In South Africa – as in Japan and most other countries – Nissan workers have collective bargaining rights, and the company and unions work together. But Nissan has decided it won’t permit American workers to have that same respect. Nissan is treating its American workforce as second-class citizens.
When Nissan workers in Canton, Miss., began to organize, the company reacted with intimidation tactics and implied threats to close the facility. “If you are pro-union, you are anti-Nissan,” they said. The company subjected workers to one-on-one and group anti-union meetings, and has refused to agree to a fair election.
Located near the center of the civil rights movement, Canton is the site of the murders of Medgar Evars, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. In Canton, civil rights and freedom struggles fill the air and dreams of every man, woman and child. Fifty years later, Canton is at the heart of this struggle for economic justice and the American dream.
Just over a decade ago, taxpayers offered Nissan hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives to locate in Mississippi. Instead of delivering on expectations of full-time jobs, Nissan relies on a large pool of temporary labor for production. These workers earn just over minimum wage, have few benefits and no job security. Nissan claims to never have layoffs, but it lets go of temporary workers at will.
Canton’s Nissan workers support their company and its products, but they have health and safety concerns. They also question why pay and benefits are less in Mississippi than at Nissan’s Tennessee plant. Canton Nissan workers reached out to the UAW because they want to have a voice and a seat at the table to discuss these issues.
When the company moved to suppress this union effort, community leaders rose up. The Mississippi Alliance for Fairness at Nissan is led by the president of the Mississippi Baptist Convention and includes the state NAACP president and other civil rights and church leaders. Student activists from historically black colleges mobilized as the Mississippi Student Justice Alliance.
As someone committed to human dignity and civil rights, I believe their struggle for the right to freely form a union is one of the most important issues of our time. I’m committed for as long as it takes.
As long as powerful corporations such as Nissan use fear and threats to keep workers weak and without a voice, America won’t be a land of opportunity for all. With the help of our brothers and sisters in South Africa, we won’t let that happen.
Tom Brune
UAW/GM Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
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