December 10, 2014 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
• Reminder: Friday, Dec. 12 is also the deadline for turning in resolutions for the upcoming National Negotiations in 2015. Forms are available from your committee person or at the Union Hall and you can return them to same. All resolutions (except duplicates) will be submitted for negotiations.
• The Body Shop bake sale netted $1007 for Adopt-A-Child! This money will be used to level gifts. Thanks to everyone once again for your generosity. We have a revised number for number of children adopted – 190! This is easily the highest total ever. To those who have adopted a child, please return your gifts (unwrapped) to the communications office no later than this Friday, Dec. 12. Gift distribution begins Monday, Dec. 15.
• FYI – employees cannot attend Apprentice Orientation sessions on company time.
• The annual Chassis Christmas Party will be Friday, Dec. 19 at Maggie Malones after first shift. There will be free food, drink specials, prizes and live music as well as a visit from Santa! All are welcome so come and join us for an evening of fun and holiday cheer. For more info contact Susan Daniel (Picou) at column F-43 of the engine line.
• The UAW has been certified as the representative of more than 45% of Volkswagen's workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., a major victory for the union, which has been trying to gain a foothold in the South and in foreign auto plants. The results of the independent audit of union membership clear the way for the union to meet regularly with management on workplace issues.
Gary Casteel, secretary-treasurer of the UAW, who heads the International Union’s Transnational Department, released the following statement regarding Volkswagen's verification of the membership of UAW Local 42: "We appreciate Volkswagen's timely response in verifying UAW Local 42’s substantial membership level, which exceeds a majority of workers at the plant. As anticipated, we surpassed the highest level under Volkswagen's new Community Organization Engagement policy, and the local leadership is ready to move forward with additional conversations with the company. In the initial conversations, the local union will remind Human Resources and the Chattanooga Executive Committee of the mutually agreed-upon commitments that were made by Volkswagen and the UAW last spring in Germany. Among those commitments: Volkswagen will recognize the UAW as the representative of our members. We believe Volkswagen made this commitment in good faith and we believe the company will honor this commitment. Additionally, the local union will present the Chattanooga plant management with the September letter of intent in which the Volkswagen Global Group Works Council expressed its desire for the Chattanooga plant to be a ‘UAW-represented facility.' With this in mind, we will be working toward the process of collective bargaining with the company.”
• From the Wall Street Journal: Workers at U.S. assembly plants for General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. are likely to get 2014 bonuses exceeding $6,000 each, capping a four-year labor contract under which profit-sharing checks have gone to factory employees in record amounts. But the United Auto Workers union, gearing up for negotiations with Detroit’s Big Three next summer, is prepared to argue that isn’t good enough.
After 10 years without hourly wage increases as well as an agreement by the union to accept lower pay for new hires, compensation is increasingly tied to the auto makers’ performance, which has been in a boom-or-bust cycle for decades. “Workers at GM, Ford and Chrysler have made painful sacrifices,” UAW Vice President Cindy
Estrada said in an interview. “Now it’s time for workers to share in the success, too.”
Ms. Estrada, entering her first contract talks as the lead GM negotiator, said it is too early to discuss specifics. “I don’t want to talk about bargaining now, because we’re not bargaining,” she added. Ms. Estrada also oversees UAW activities tied to auto-parts suppliers. She said “this bargaining is important for all,” noting that some auto jobs at U.S. parts makers pay less than $10 an hour, forcing workers to go on food stamps or work elsewhere.
In discussions with UAW officials in October, Ms. Estrada and UAW President Dennis Williams said two-tier wages must be addressed. Mr. Williams, who was elected in 2014, has consistently said he aims to “close the gap” between what legacy UAW workers—hired before the U.S. economic crisis—are paid and what new hires earn. One of the UAW’s rallying cries in months to come is expected to be “no more tiers.”
Officials working for Detroit auto makers anticipate coming to a solution on two-tier wages that will make the UAW more comfortable, people familiar with the strategy say. Pay increases are not off the table. But the companies plan to continue pursuing pay structures that are heavy on variable compensation so they can avoid the troubles they had when the economy skidded in 2007, according to people familiar with the negotiating strategy.
Citing hourly-pay flexibility as a big factor, GM, Ford and Chrysler have invested billions of dollars in U.S. plants and hired tens of thousands of workers in recent years. Ford, for instance, will have hired 14,000 by the end of 2015, 2,000 more than it initially committed to. Chrysler has pledged $5.3 billion in U.S. factory investments over the term, $800 million more than its initial commitment.
To keep the money flowing, the UAW is seen as needing to continue to protect the Big Three from the consequences of a downturn by providing another contract laden with incentives that doesn’t drive up fixed costs.
Ms. Estrada said Detroit shouldn’t perceive labor as the source of its problems. “These companies didn’t go bankrupt because of their workers,” she said, adding that what “UAW workers did [to help bail out Detroit] was smart” and a template for how the union would respond in the face of crisis. “We have shown over and over that we will come to the table,” she said.
• Ford is no doubt still licking their wounds from the 3rd place finish for the F150 pickup in this year’s Motor Trend truck of the year contest. But a Car and Driver review of that pickup seems to validate the decision. Among other things, they point out that the truck they tested was 519 pounds lighter than its predecessor, not 700 (which makes the Ford only 150 to 200 pounds lighter than a comparable Silverado). They also say the cabin is “almost as quiet as the Silverado” and the brakes have a “touchy pedal that delivers no feedback.” Going inside the cab, they say, “the primary dash plastics are still relatively low-rent, and the fit and finish fall well behind what Chevrolet and Ram have achieved.” Focusing on price, “We drove a low spec, 4-dr XLT model with the 2.7 V6, cloth seats, rear wheel drive and few creature comforts that stickered at $42,875. Affordability is a problem…”.
Tom Brune
UAW Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
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