March 11, 2015 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
• From the Benefits Department: Everyone should have received a letter from Blue Cross about the security breach at Anthem. This does not mean that your personal information was compromised and no action is required on your part. You are automatically enrolled in a credit monitoring service free of charge for 2 years. You can go to www.anthemfacts.com for more information or call 877-263-7995 from 9 am to 9 pm Eastern time Monday through Saturday.
• Anyone interested in playing men’s softball on Sunday nights at Ozzies in O’Fallon should contact Kevin Dandois at 636-578-3683. Tryouts will be the first warm weekend at Ozzies.
• Reminder: Tomorrow, March 12, is Irish Heritage day in the cafeteria. There will be displays, information and popcorn. Come on up to learn more.
• From Community Services: There will be a canned food drive to help stock area food pantrys. It will begin this Saturday, March 14 and run through Friday, March 20. You can drop off your canned goods in the barrels located at each entrance.
• There will be a bake sale Monday, March 16 at the Suggestions office to benefit Habitat for Humanity. Sale will begin at approximately 6 am so you third shifters can grab some baked goods before heading home.
• Activist investor and hedge fund lackey Harry Wilson managed to get GM to agree to a $5 billion stock buyback by the end of next year in exchange for him dropping his demand for an $8 billion buyback and a seat on the board of directors. “Mary’s highly thoughtful approach is a sea change from the old GM, and it’s why we were able to come to a win-win conclusion so quickly”, Wilson said, referring to GM CEO Mary Barra. It certainly is a win for Mr. Wilson, who will be compensated by the 4 hedge funds he represents by some 2-4% of their profits from any increase in GM share prices. With 34 million shares, this translates to between $680,000 and $1.36 million for every $1 increase in GM's price. We’re not sure what the other win represents, or who benefits. Wilson had said his rationale for a board seat was "to help General Motors build for the long-term strengths that it needs to become a world-class company and to thrive for many years to come." Apparently that requires jettisoning 20% of your cash cushion. Memo to Harry: If your idea of creating long term growth is reducing a company’s ability to ward off the next inevitible ecomomic downturn by enriching hedge funds, Apple is sitting on $178 billion in cash. Why don’t you round up your hedge fund masters and mount a charge up that cash mountain?
• From the Detroit News: Mercedes-Benz said Friday it plans to spend $500 million to build a new plant in Charleston, S.C., so it can assemble its next-generation Sprinter commercial van there, providing more evidence that the commercial van segment in the U.S. is continuing to get more competitive. The investment will create 1,300 new jobs. "This plant is key to our future growth in the very dynamic North American van market," Volker Mornhinweg, head of Mercedes-Benz vans, said in a statement. Mercedes-Benz said construction of the 8.6-million-square-foot plant is expected to begin in 2016. The plant will include a new body shop, a paint shop and an assembly line. Daimler was the first automaker to sell a European-styled commercial van in the U.S. in 2001. But over the past three years, the commercial van segment has become vastly more competitive as Ford, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Nissan have all introduced new or completely redesigned commercial vans in the U.S. In recent years, Nissan has launched its NV commercial and cargo vans, Ram has launched its the ProMaster and ProMaster City and Ford has launched the Transit Connect and replaced its Econoline with the Transit commercial van. Last year, Daimler AG sold 26,000 Sprinter vans to U.S. customers under the Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner brand names. The new plant will continue to produce Sprinter vans for both brands. Until now, the automaker has been shipping the van in kit-form from Germany and reassembling in Charleston, S.C. This has allowed Daimler to avoid the 20% “chicken tax” levied on foreign trucks.
• One persistent rumor regarding the midsize pickup category is the Jeep will be building a pickup in the not too distant future. Going back to 2005 and the Jeep Gladiator concept – essentially a Wrangler with a bed – rumors have swirled about the possibility of such a vehicle. As recently as 2012 Jeep ran a “J-12” pickup in the annual Moab Easter Jeep Safari off-roading event. "I remain a big fan of a Jeep pickup," Jeep CEO and President Mike Manley said earlier this year. "I think we have history that says it belongs in our portfolio." But just because a Jeep pickup seems like a great idea on paper, Manley stresses it doesn't mean it will come to fruition anytime soon. "At this moment and time, I have higher priorities. That doesn't mean to say that we don't work on it, we're not looking at it," said Manley, adding he had "nothing further to add than that." Analysts remain udeterred in their belief that one will be built. "How many SUVs can you make? They're running out of space within their own lineup to generate sales with new product," said IHS Automotive analyst Stephanie Brinley. "The only one that makes sense is a small/compact pickup truck."
• The UAW, and everyone else who opposes the free trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, got an important ally. According to MarketWatch, Nobel laureate Paul Krugman came out against the Pacific Rim trade deal, calling it “fundamentally trivial“ for the U.S. trade sector. “Pushing this [trade deal] has nothing to do with the interest of a vast majority of Americans,” Krugman, the Princeton University economist and New York Times columnist, said Tuesday in a speech to a conference sponsored by the National Association for Business Economics. The U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim nations are now trying to agree to the final terms of the trade partnership. Krugman said special interests, especially “Hollywood and pharmaceuticals” are pushing hard for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Specifically, they favor intellectual property protections included in the measure, he added. These copyright and patent protections simply create monopolies, are “anti-growth,” and hurt vulnerable poor people looking for medicine, he said. Krugman said the Pacific deal would only boost GDP by a fraction of one percent per year. “The claims that this is going to be an enormous engine of growth just doesn’t hold water,” Krugman said. “There can no longer be ground-breaking, world-transforming deals on international trade because we’ve already done those,” Krugman added.
Tom Brune
UAW Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
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