Wednesday, February 11, 2015

State of the Union February 11, 2015

February 11, 2015 online at www.uawlocal2250.com

• Reminder: The annual African American Heritage day is set for Thursday, Feb. 12. Displays will be in the cafeteria along with videos and, of course, popcorn. Come on over and check out the displays.

• There are Veterans Committee meetings Thursday, Feb. 12 at the Union Hall. The 2nd shift meeting is 3:15 pm and the 1st and 3rd shift meetings are at 5:15 pm.

• There are Women’s Committee meetings Tuesday, Feb. 17 in the cafeteria. The 2nd shift meeting is at 3:15 pm. The 1st and 3rd shift meetings are after the shifts. The Bake Sale raised $530 for Habitat for Humanity. The winter coat with embroidered Colorado on front and donated by Pat Wyse will be raffled off. Ticket sales will run through Friday, Feb. 20. Drawing will be at 1st shift lunch time in the cafeteria. Tickets are $5 apiece or 3 for $10 and will be available from committee members.

• Reminder: You have to sign up by 2/12/2015 if you want any of your profit sharing deferred to PSP. The performance bonus will automatically be put into your PSP at your current elected deferral rate. You have until 2/20/2015 to change that percentage. W4 changes need to be submitted by 2/13/2013 (keep in mind that the PSP deferral for the performance bonus and the W4 changes will apply to all paychecks afterward until you decide to do otherwise).

• FYI – JLL (the facilities housekeeping and maintenance contractor) is hiring 4 mobile equipment repair persons. Our members can apply at http://www.careerbuilder.com or http://www.us.jll.com/united-states/en-us

• In case you hadn’t heard, David Hurst met his goal by collecting $7585 for Missouri Special Olympics. This made David the top individual fundraiser for the 2nd consecutive year! It was your generosity that made this happen. Thanks to everyone who donated. David proudly wore a UAW 2250 t-shirt as he plunged into the cold waters of Lake St. Louise. Great job, David and thanks for representing the UAW and GM so well!

• US News and World Report released their 2015 Best Cars/Trucks for the Money list. They chose the Chevrolet Colorado as the best compact truck. “The all-new 2015 Chevrolet Colorado surpasses its competitors with first-rate cabin materials and composed driving dynamics, according to test drivers. Because it has the best combination of positive reviews and long-term ownership costs in its class, the Chevrolet Colorado is the 2015 U.S. News Best Compact Truck for the Money.” The only other GM product to win was the Chevrolet Impala.

• With all the news about earnings, profit sharing and the pending launch of the third shift, January sales news has gotten lost in the shuffle. You may recall that the Colorado overtook the Nissan Frontier for 2nd place in the compact truck segment. Here’s a look at both the van and compact truck segment results:

  2015 2014 Change Share
Ford Transit 6380 ---- ---- 33.8%
GM 5071 5828 -13.0% 26.8%
Ford Econoline 3308 7476 -55.8% 17.5%
Ram ProMaster 1580 607 +160% 8.4%
Mercedes Sprinter 1505 1288 +16.8% 8.0%
Nissan NV 1059 749 +41.4% 5.6%
  2015 2014 Change Share
Toyota Tacoma 11,409 9842 15.9% 44.9%
Chevy Colorado 5942 ---- ---- 23.4%
Nissan Frontier 5868 4931 +19.0% 23.1%
GMC Canyon 2205 --- ---- 8.7%


At the present time, our production of both the van and pickups is basically sold out. In fact, we stopped taking orders for 2015 vans some time ago. Field supplies tell a similar story. In the case of the Colorado, there are 3239 units in net field stock, or a 14 day supply. Only the Escalade ESV has a lower supply. Given the fact that there are roughly 3500 Chevrolet dealers, it’s obvious that some of them do not even have a single Colorado. With the marketing campaign ramping up, expect the plant to be producing as many vehicles as possible for some time to come.

• Harry Wilson, a former member of the Auto Task Force that restructured GM through bankruptcy, announced yesterday that he would be seeking a seat on the board of directors and be pushing for an $8 billion stock buyback this year. This is not the kind of news we like to hear, particularly in a contract year. Wilson is acting at the behest of 3 hedge funds who collectively own 2.1% of GM’s shares. In their view, GM stock is undervalued (agreed) and that the buyback is a better use of GM cash as opposed to, say, fully funding the pension plan or expanding capacity at plants that build products whose demand outstrips supply.

We are reminded of the last time GM was doing well and was under pressure to execute a share buyback to support/increase stock prices. In 1999 GM earned then record profits, riding the crest of the pickup and SUV craze (sound familiar?). That year they completed what turned out to be a $9 billion share buyback. GM said at the time, “In total -- through share buybacks, spin-offs, and dividends -- General Motors has returned more than $34 billion in capital to its shareholders since 1997.” In hindsight, this seems like failed policy as GM was ultimately forced into bankruptcy just 10 years later. Had this money been either kept or used to enhance assembly plants and products, things could well have turned out differently. And obviously GM stockholders who hung in there watched there investments turn to dust. Bob Lutz, no stranger to these situations, said yeserday pressure on auto makers for big share buybacks “are always a harbinger of the next downturn…in almost all cases, you regret it later.”

Tom Brune
UAW Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119

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