Post by TonyV on May 22, 2010 23:23:03 GMT -5
Hello, I would like to bring your attention on a new post published on the
UAWLAP.org Site.
Details of the post follow.
In Solidarity,
Steven M. Stone
National Ford Council, May 13, 2010
May 13, 2010
Chicago, IL
The National Ford Council met in Chicago, Illinois last week. The meeting will
be the last meeting of the Council before the Constitutional Convention convenes
in Detroit this June. Although there appears to be some administrational changes
at the national level nothing will be finalized until after the convention. The
first to address the council was UAW Vice president Jimmy Settles. He stated
that the two most important issues for the UAW was the need to re-energize our
commitment to community involvement and our focus on job security. Jimmy
reminded the Council that next year is contract year and we should start
thinking contract resolutions. These are very important to the negotiation
process and all members should take time to submit a resolution to their
committeeperson.
Vice President Bob King addressed the council after Vice president Settles. He
was upset with the way that Ford Motor Company is handling its business. He
understands the membership's skepticism regarding the way Ford Motor Company has
treated the UAW and this message has been relayed to Alan Mulally. Bob stated
that the company needs to win back our trust and understand that we have a plan
and a strategy for our future. Bob told the Council that it is his plan to
eventually get rid of the entry level payscale. This will be a huge task due to
the pressure of Toyota utilizing this over the years. Although Toyota has used
temps for 25 years for approximately 25% of their workforce, our entry level
program is considerably better than what their employees face, but it still
needs to go. He would like to see more activity out of our membership and more
delivery from the UAW Leadership. He updated the status of the two grievances
filed with the company to restore the concessions that we have given up over the
past few months. The Educational Benefits have been restored for active
employees effective May 4, 2010 and the equality of sacrifice grievance Bob
feels will go to the arbitrator. He thanked the leadership for the support in
the processing of the two grievances. He understands that the membership has
made huge sacrifices and feels the company has forgotten what the UAW has done
to help Ford Motor Company turn around its business. He said that, "We will not
tolerate broken promises on commitments that the company has made especially on
product." He spoke passionately about where we are going in our future, but he
also challenged us all to take part and take a strong stand for what is right.
This concluded his address and department reports were next on the agenda.
Health & Safety- Dan Brooks- Dan reviewed some safety data which showed a lot of
yearly improvements on issues such as; Serious Injuries and Lost Time Cases
(DART). Although we are seeing a lot of improvement there is never room for a
fatality. General Motors has not had a fatality in over 5 years and Toyota has
never had one since they have been building in America. At this point, Dan
showed the video concerning Ron Cassady's death here at KTP. The video will be
shown around the Ford system and it is very moving. It is a very good video that
will heighten awareness for our safety and encourage us all to take the extra
step to ensure that we go home the same way we came to work. Dan told us that
December 26, 2009 will never go away for our membership and it will stay on our
minds forever.
E.S.S.P. Report- Dan Brooks – Dan reported that over 80% of our current
referrals are emotional issues and not just alcohol or drug issues. The stress
that our membership is going through is very real and serious. Our ESSP reps
(Mark Dowell) will be going through new core training and become certified
through our own process.
Manpower- Chuck Browning- Chuck updated the Chicago transfer. Currently 351
employees have signed up in addition to the 72 that signed up and will fill the
openings at the Chicago Stamping facility. The 351 number will partially fill
the 1108 needed for production at Chicago Assembly. Those transferring will be
looking to leave anywhere from June to November of 2010. There will be no
mandatory jobs offerings in zones 1, 2 and 7, which include the Louisville area,
in other words no one will be given a strike in these zones for turning down the
opportunity to go to Chicago.
Quality- Brett Fox- We have experienced a steady increase in our quality.
Currently we have a rate good to buy on 75% of all our vehicles. This is
compared to 17% in 2003. Our improvement is very significant in all areas
especially Power Train which we have seen anywhere from 60 to 80% improvement.
For the first time we can say we are #1 in Customer Satisfaction! Also, at Wayne
Assembly they are #1 in repair per 100o in their class. Our quality achievements
are great but we need to stay on the course.
Skilled Trades-Lisa Barnett- currently we have 9000 trades-people with 357 of
those in production and another 60 on ILO. Currently we have 70 apprentices
enrolled out of which 10 are on ILO.
Benefits- the benefit reps now are at the National Programs Center and not the
NESC. When logging in on the www.myfordbenefits.com employees will either use
their social security number or date of birth initially and then you can set up
your password. Health care information will be on this website effective
6/1/2010. Also, effective 11/1/2010 pension information will be available on
this same website. When making phones calls, starting on 6/8/2010 you will be
dealing with English speaking personnel, which has been an issue with some of
the membership.
Legal Services – our membership is now able to apply for Social Security
Disability through Legal Services. Currently Legal Services have 520 cases
open.
Currently we have a total of 35,971 UAW Ford members on the role and 3303 ACH
for a total of 39,274. We are down to 466 employees laid off which 254 are from
LAP. Also, 1816 jobs have been in-sourced since the beginning of the last
agreement, and currently there are two market studies active which could affect
75 more jobs. Also, Ford will be changing banks from Comerica to State Street
bank in November of 2010; this will not affect the membership in anyway.
Link to the post: uawlap.org/union/national-ford-council-may-13-2010.php
Link to UAWLAP.org: uawlap.org
UAWLAP.org Site.
Details of the post follow.
In Solidarity,
Steven M. Stone
National Ford Council, May 13, 2010
May 13, 2010
Chicago, IL
The National Ford Council met in Chicago, Illinois last week. The meeting will
be the last meeting of the Council before the Constitutional Convention convenes
in Detroit this June. Although there appears to be some administrational changes
at the national level nothing will be finalized until after the convention. The
first to address the council was UAW Vice president Jimmy Settles. He stated
that the two most important issues for the UAW was the need to re-energize our
commitment to community involvement and our focus on job security. Jimmy
reminded the Council that next year is contract year and we should start
thinking contract resolutions. These are very important to the negotiation
process and all members should take time to submit a resolution to their
committeeperson.
Vice President Bob King addressed the council after Vice president Settles. He
was upset with the way that Ford Motor Company is handling its business. He
understands the membership's skepticism regarding the way Ford Motor Company has
treated the UAW and this message has been relayed to Alan Mulally. Bob stated
that the company needs to win back our trust and understand that we have a plan
and a strategy for our future. Bob told the Council that it is his plan to
eventually get rid of the entry level payscale. This will be a huge task due to
the pressure of Toyota utilizing this over the years. Although Toyota has used
temps for 25 years for approximately 25% of their workforce, our entry level
program is considerably better than what their employees face, but it still
needs to go. He would like to see more activity out of our membership and more
delivery from the UAW Leadership. He updated the status of the two grievances
filed with the company to restore the concessions that we have given up over the
past few months. The Educational Benefits have been restored for active
employees effective May 4, 2010 and the equality of sacrifice grievance Bob
feels will go to the arbitrator. He thanked the leadership for the support in
the processing of the two grievances. He understands that the membership has
made huge sacrifices and feels the company has forgotten what the UAW has done
to help Ford Motor Company turn around its business. He said that, "We will not
tolerate broken promises on commitments that the company has made especially on
product." He spoke passionately about where we are going in our future, but he
also challenged us all to take part and take a strong stand for what is right.
This concluded his address and department reports were next on the agenda.
Health & Safety- Dan Brooks- Dan reviewed some safety data which showed a lot of
yearly improvements on issues such as; Serious Injuries and Lost Time Cases
(DART). Although we are seeing a lot of improvement there is never room for a
fatality. General Motors has not had a fatality in over 5 years and Toyota has
never had one since they have been building in America. At this point, Dan
showed the video concerning Ron Cassady's death here at KTP. The video will be
shown around the Ford system and it is very moving. It is a very good video that
will heighten awareness for our safety and encourage us all to take the extra
step to ensure that we go home the same way we came to work. Dan told us that
December 26, 2009 will never go away for our membership and it will stay on our
minds forever.
E.S.S.P. Report- Dan Brooks – Dan reported that over 80% of our current
referrals are emotional issues and not just alcohol or drug issues. The stress
that our membership is going through is very real and serious. Our ESSP reps
(Mark Dowell) will be going through new core training and become certified
through our own process.
Manpower- Chuck Browning- Chuck updated the Chicago transfer. Currently 351
employees have signed up in addition to the 72 that signed up and will fill the
openings at the Chicago Stamping facility. The 351 number will partially fill
the 1108 needed for production at Chicago Assembly. Those transferring will be
looking to leave anywhere from June to November of 2010. There will be no
mandatory jobs offerings in zones 1, 2 and 7, which include the Louisville area,
in other words no one will be given a strike in these zones for turning down the
opportunity to go to Chicago.
Quality- Brett Fox- We have experienced a steady increase in our quality.
Currently we have a rate good to buy on 75% of all our vehicles. This is
compared to 17% in 2003. Our improvement is very significant in all areas
especially Power Train which we have seen anywhere from 60 to 80% improvement.
For the first time we can say we are #1 in Customer Satisfaction! Also, at Wayne
Assembly they are #1 in repair per 100o in their class. Our quality achievements
are great but we need to stay on the course.
Skilled Trades-Lisa Barnett- currently we have 9000 trades-people with 357 of
those in production and another 60 on ILO. Currently we have 70 apprentices
enrolled out of which 10 are on ILO.
Benefits- the benefit reps now are at the National Programs Center and not the
NESC. When logging in on the www.myfordbenefits.com employees will either use
their social security number or date of birth initially and then you can set up
your password. Health care information will be on this website effective
6/1/2010. Also, effective 11/1/2010 pension information will be available on
this same website. When making phones calls, starting on 6/8/2010 you will be
dealing with English speaking personnel, which has been an issue with some of
the membership.
Legal Services – our membership is now able to apply for Social Security
Disability through Legal Services. Currently Legal Services have 520 cases
open.
Currently we have a total of 35,971 UAW Ford members on the role and 3303 ACH
for a total of 39,274. We are down to 466 employees laid off which 254 are from
LAP. Also, 1816 jobs have been in-sourced since the beginning of the last
agreement, and currently there are two market studies active which could affect
75 more jobs. Also, Ford will be changing banks from Comerica to State Street
bank in November of 2010; this will not affect the membership in anyway.
Link to the post: uawlap.org/union/national-ford-council-may-13-2010.php
Link to UAWLAP.org: uawlap.org