November 8, 2013 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
Monday, in honor of Veterans Day, we will be selling poppies at the entrances before 1st and 2nd shifts. Proceeds will be donated to the Wentzville VFW Post 5327. Thanks in advance for your support of our Veterans.
•Reminder: This Saturday, Nov. 9 is the 30th Anniversary Celebration of the inception of UAW Local 2250. Doors open at the Union Hall at 6:30 pm. Dinner will be served and music will be provided by Heath Walker with Tune in a Bucket Productions. Come out and enjoy an evening of fun with your Union brothers and sisters as we celebrate 30 years of Solidarity.
•Motor Trend announced yesterday that the 2014 Cadillac CTS sedan is its Car of the Year for 2014. “The all-new 2014 Cadillac CTS prevailed over one of the most competitive fields in recent memory because it best met our award’s key criteria. Our judges were particularly impressed by the CTS’s responsive powertrains and masterful balance of smooth ride and sporty handling,” said Motor Trend editor-in-chief Ed Loh. Motor Trend’s Car of the Year program is open to any all-new or substantially upgraded 2014 automobile. Rather than being compared against one another, contending vehicles are first put through Motor Trend’s full battery of performance tests to measure acceleration, braking, and limit handling. All contenders are then evaluated on three separate courses at a professional automotive test center before finalists are selected. Out of 22 contending 2014 models, Motor Trend’s judges picked seven Car of the Year finalists, in addition to the Cadillac CTS:
BMW 4 Series
Chevrolet Corvette
Jaguar F-Type
Kia Forte
Mazda3
Mazda6
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Each finalist is then driven on a real-world road loop that provides a range of surfaces and traffic conditions to evaluate ride and handling, engine and transmission smoothness and responsiveness, wind and road noise, and ergonomics. After 10 full days of testing, driving and deliberating, Motor Trend selected the CTS as its Car of the Year. “The all-new 2014 Cadillac CTS sedan delivers crafted design, thrilling performance and sophisticated technology,” said Bob Ferguson, General Motors’ senior vice president of Global Cadillac. “With Cadillac growing globally, driven by rising product credibility, the new CTS elevates the brand to a new level.”
•From the Detroit Free Press: The UAW’s influential Reuther Caucus has nominated Dennis Williams to be the union’s next president and chosen other members of its future leadership team. Williams, 60, has been the UAW’s secretary-treasurer since 2010 and served as a regional director based in Chicago for 10 years before that. He has negotiated with John Deere, Caterpillar and agricultural equipment-maker CNH. The Free Press first reported last month that Williams was the likely nominee. “This is very humbling,” Williams said Thursday. “I remember the days when I came home and I was on strike ... so this is very meaningful to me.” Williams is in line to replace Bob King, who at 67 is too old to serve another term under UAW bylaws. King said Williams has the right strategic skills and experience to carry the union forward. “I am extremely excited and proud of the UAW for picking Dennis to be the Reuther Caucus nominee,” King said. “Dennis was an integral part of the 2011 bargaining” with the Detroit Three. The Reuther Caucus also nominated Jimmy Settles, Cindy Estrada and Norwood Jewell to be vice president as well as Gary Casteel to succeed Williams as secretary-treasurer. Settles, 63, is head of the Ford department and is running for a third term. Estrada, 45, is running for a second term. Jewell, 56, is director of the UAW’s south-central Michigan region. Casteel is director of the UAW’s south region where he has led efforts to organize Nissan and Volkswagen workers in Tennessee and Alabama. The union announced Wednesday that Vice President General Holiefield decided he will retire in June after 40 years of service.
•From Automotive News: Tesla Motors Inc.'s Model S electric car has suffered its third fire in six weeks. The Tesla Motors Club Web site contains pictures and a story about another fire involving a Model S on Wednesday afternoon that a company spokeswoman confirmed. Tesla, whose shares fell 7.5 percent today to close at $139.77, said it has been in touch with the driver, who was not injured. "Our team is on its way to Tennessee to learn more about what happened in the accident," Tesla spokeswoman Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean said in a statement. "We will provide more information when we're able to do so."
The company said the fire was the result of an accident and was not a spontaneous event. The Tennessee Highway Patrol said the incident occurred on Interstate 24 in Smyrna around 1:30 pm. "It's possible that it ran over a piece of metal in the roadway," police dispatcher Kathy Bryant said. "There was extensive damage." On Tuesday, Tesla forecast a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and posted third-quarter Model S deliveries that disappointed some analysts. The first Model S fire occurred on Oct. 1 outside Seattle, when the car collided with a large piece of metal debris in the road that punched a hole through the armor plate protecting the battery pack. U.S. safety regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration later said they found no evidence to indicate a vehicle defect. In a statement today, NHTSA said it will contact local authorities about the latest fire "to determine if there are vehicle safety implications that merit agency action." The second fire took place later in the month in Merida, Mexico, when according to reports a car drove through a roundabout, crashed through a concrete wall and hit a tree. After the first fire, Tesla CEO Elon Musk defended the safety performance of electric cars. "For consumers concerned about fire risk, there should be absolutely zero doubt that it is safer to power a car with a battery" than a conventional gas-powered vehicle, he said in a blog post. Company executives called that first fire a "highly uncommon occurrence," likely caused by a curved metal object falling off a semi-trailer and striking up into the underside of the car in a "pole-vault effect."
Tom Brune
UAW/GM Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
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