• From Chairman Mike Bullock: Pursuant to the requirements of the UAW Constitution, it is necessary for all General Motors local unions to take a strike vote. This vote gives the International and Local Negotiating Committee the authorization if needed to present a five (5) day letter of intent to the Corporation. In no way does this mean we are going on strike! This ONLY gives the Bargaining Committee the right to issue a five (5) day letter if the corporation fails to bargain in good faith.
UAW Local 2250’s Strike vote will be taken on Thursday, August 20, 2015, beginning at 4:30 AM and ending at 11:30 PM. You must have your union card or badge to vote. The strike vote will take place at the UAW Local 2250 Union Hall, 1395 E. Pearce Blvd., Wentzville, MO. Strike vote will be made by secret ballot. Please vote to support your Local and National Union.
• Basic computer classes are now forming that will be held on each shift in the Learning Center. Courses include MySocrates, 2-step Verification, Ipay, the new Hourly Communication Channel (HCC), Suggestions and Tuition Assistance Program (TAP). This is a great opportunity to learn how to use HCC to apply for Saturday time off as applications will go paperless soon. You can sign up at the Suggestions office or the Benefits office. A minimum of 4 sign-ups is required to have a class.
Times will be: 3rd Shift: 6:45 am to 7:45 am and 9 pm to 10 pm
1st Shift: 2:45 pm to 3:45 pm and 5 am to 6 am
2nd Shift: 10:45 pm to 11:45 pm and 1 pm to 2 pm
The Learning Center is located on the A-aisle next to Medical.
• From the Detroit Free Press: The UAW is opposed to General Motors importing from China the Buick Envision, a midsize crossover model that it would be able to produce in the U.S. The company declined to comment on its plans to offer the Envision in the U.S. It was launched in China about a year ago and is built at a three-year-old factory in Yantai, China. It is larger than the Buick Encore subcompact crossover and smaller than the Buick Enclave. "It’s doing extremely well in China, but we haven’t made any announcement about bringing it to another market," said Buick spokesman Nick Richards. GM assembles the Encore in Mexico, Spain and South Korea. It produces the Enclave in its Delta Township plant near Lansing. “After the sacrifices made by U.S. taxpayers and the U.S. workforce to make General Motors the profitable quality company it is today, UAW members are disappointed with the tone-deaf speculation that the Envision would be imported from China," said Cindy Estrada, vice president of the UAW General Motors department. "GM should stand by its declaration that it will build where it sells." In her statement, Estrada called the prospect of importing the Envision "especially alarming in light of the current Trans-Pacific Partnership trade language debate."
• Toyota has at long last revealed pricing and specifications about the redesigned Tacoma. Suffice to say that we, and some automotive observers, are underwhelmed at what Toyota has wrought. Let’s start with pricing. The new base Tacoma, a 2 wheel drive, 4 cylinder “access cab” (extended cab - regular cab discontinued) starts at $24,200. This is a significant price increase from the old model and some $3200 higher than the base Colorado. Toyota defends this increase by arguing that base content is higher (it does come with a 6-speed automatic and a gimmicky Go Pro camera mount), but it offers nothing beyond the Colorado. And for that extra coin you get the same outdated 4-cylinder that, at 23 hwy mpg, can’t even match the V6 fuel economy of our pickups, or the Silverado V6 for that matter (from Car and Driver: “Meanwhile, the 2.7-liter four has limped into this program intact. That means 159 rather raucous horsepower and 180 lb-ft of torque at 3800 rpm. Four-cylinder engines don’t get much respect in this truck class, and adding insult to insult, the only manual transmission available with the four is a five-speed”). Did we mention that it continues to be the only pickup of any size that has drum brakes on the rear? And if you’re into nostalgia, you get an old-school C-section frame aft of the engine compartment. Plus a 5-speed manual. Alas, there is no 8-track tape player. But there are 3 fewer inches of rear legroom than the Colorado in the crew cabs. Toyota has an all-new 3.5 liter V6, which produces less horsepower and torque than our V6 and yet gets worse fuel economy (26 hwy Colorado, 24 hwy Tacoma). Toyota has made a calculated decision to target off-roaders with this truck, hence the Go Pro mount and standard 9” of ground clearance on all models. Automotive News noted this, observing “Tacoma proved it was happiest getting dirty….On road, we were less impressed with the harsh ride and noisy interior that couldn't match the refinement of the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon.”
Tom Brune
UAW Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
No comments:
Post a Comment