State of the Union October 13, 2015

State of the Union October 13, 2015

• From Chairman Mike Bullock: Wanda Richard was presented with the Beverly Krause Memorial Bluebird Award from Bridgeway Women’s Center as their Volunteer of the Year. Wanda volunteers countless hours helping Bridgeway Women’s Center and our community. Bridgeway Women’s Center is a local organization that assists women who are confronted with domestic violence situations, in addition to addiction and trauma services. Thank You Wanda for representing all of us here at Wentzville Assembly Center and the UAW.

• There will be signups for the Red Cross Blood Drive Wednesday, October 14 and 21 in the cafeteria on all shifts. The Blood Drive will be Wednesday, October 28.

• There will be Civil Rights Committee meetings Monday, October 19 at the Union Hall at the following times: 6:45 am for 3rd shift; 1:30 pm for 2nd shift and 2:45 pm for 1st shift. All are welcome to attend.

• Voting on the FCA/UAW tentative agreement will be October 20 and 21. No word on which company will be up next in national bargaining.

• This week marks the beginning of the new parking lot policy. Just to clarify: Lot 3 is the only lot that is GM vehicles only. If employees drive Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth or Jeep vehicles they can park in every other lot except Lot 3. All foreign branded vehicles must park in either Lot 1 or Lot 7. Which lot is which? Starting at the ballfields and moving west, you have Lot 1; the entrance at gate 2; Lot 2; the rock berm; Lot 3; the main security entrance at gate 3; Lot 4; Lot 5 (also the visitors lot) in front of the arch entrance; Lot 6; the chassis entrance at gate 4; Lot 7. It should also be noted that any brand of motorcycle can park in any designated motorcycle parking spot.

• Reminder: Temporary and flex employees are eligible for the GM employee discount on new vehicles. To get started go to www.gmfamilyfirst.com and either log in or create an account. The employee discount is a percentage off of the sticker price and if there are any consumer rebates on the vehicle you can get those as well. Here is a pricing example: A 2015 Chevy Malibu LT with a sticker price of $24,560 has an employee discount price of $22,785. There is also a $1500 rebate, giving you a final price of $21,285.

• You may have heard about the consternation among U.S. government officials about the rampant procurement and use of Toyota vehicles by the Islamic State (ISIS) – so much so that a U.S. Counterterrorism unit is interrogating Toyota officials how this can be. We’ve all seen pictures and video of black-cloaked terrorists with weapons raised high riding in the back of Toyota pickups. These are not beat up trucks captured from vanquished foes. They appear to be new or nearly so. John Oliver, host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” took on the automaker with tongue somewhat in cheek, but critical nonetheless. Regarding a statement to ABC news from Toyota that said it was not aware of any of its dealerships violating the company policy not to sell to terrorist groups Oliver said, “Hold on—you actually felt the need to make ‘not selling to terrorists’ official company policy? Is that in the handbook under, ‘Things that should go without saying?” He continued, “In light of the news this week, you would think Toyota would at least change the name of one of their cars.” You guessed it: Toyota sells a make of car called the “Isis”—a seven-seat minivan with a panoramic door and four-wheel drive. “Oh, come on, Toyota! You’re giving ISIS built-in vanity plates!” joked Oliver. “It seems Toyota might have a genuine problem here, because ISIS seems to really like their cars.” Indeed, a former U.S. ambassador to the UN told ABC News that, “Toyota has almost become part of the ISIS brand.” Said Oliver, “At this rate, we are almost a few months away from ISIS-owned dealerships, complete with fully-armed windsock guy. Come on down to ISIS Toyota, our salesmen are terrorists you can negotiate with!’”

• From the Detroit News: General Motors Co. will begin taking applications Wednesday for its Spring Hill Assembly Plant in Tennessee, which is adding production of the new 2017 Cadillac XT5 (SRX). The carmaker said it will begin to accept applications at 8 a.m. central time Wednesday to grow its hourly hiring pool for the facility, according to a posting Tuesday on the UAW-GM Facebook page. Jobs are expected to start in early 2016, the posting said. Hiring is expected in the hundreds, but GM officials could not immediately be reached for comment. UAW Local 1853 shop chairman Mike Herron’s website also confirms the hiring pool opens Wednesday for new manufacturing jobs at the plant. In August 2014, GM announced the plant would land the Cadillac crossover, now built in Mexico. The carmaker previously announced $350 million in investment at Spring Hill for two midsize vehicles, which were expected to create or retain about 1,800 jobs. The Cadillac is one of the vehicles. The carmaker has not publicly named the other vehicle that is coming to Spring Hill, but analysts believe it is a smaller version of the current GMC Acadia, which would move from the Lansing Delta Township Assembly Plant.

• VW lately has been hit with so many right crosses they’re begging for a left hook – and here it is. U.S. movie studio Paramount Pictures and actor Leonardo DiCaprio's production company have acquired movie rights to a book proposal by New York Times journalist Jack Ewing about the clean diesel scandal, the biggest crisis in Volkswagen's 78-year history, Paramount and New York literary agency Marly Rusoff and Associates said on Monday. Nothing like airing dirty laundry long before it’s dry.

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