Fear Factor

For some reason, i just haven't been able to update this blog the past couple weeks.  Its not like there hasn't been a wealth of subject matter to comment on with the announcement of the closing agreement, the meeting at Convention Center and  the subsequent ratification.  I have  sat down here multiple times and started a post, only to walk away with nothing.  My heart just hasn't been in it. 

I have to admit something.  More for myself, really, than anyone who may happen to read this.  

The bottom line is......I'M SCARED.  

I think this fear has been growing inside of me for quite some time now and has begun to fully ramp up in the past two weeks.  First, our union left us hanging right up until the Friday before the big meeting.  During this lull, i began to grasp the reality that our union truly would not be there to support us.  Day after day after day, i drove into the parking lot expecting to see the congregation of union groupies handing out the information that we so desperately craved.  Day after day i clocked in and put my head down and went to work, hoping tomorrow would be the day.  And then Friday came and the "informational packet" was finally handed out.  Did anyone else notice the near silence across the plant floor during the first half hour of Fridays shift??  Stunned silence, as we came to the realization that 2 years of negotiations had resulted in virtually nothing.  Confusion, as we wondered how our union officials could hand out such a vague summary at a time when we desperately needed detailed specifics. 

And then came "THE MEETING".   A few details finally began to emerge.  Transfer Rights? "Wait your turn behind every member of the UAW before going one for one with a new hire off the street."  Service Time?  "Sorry, we couldn't get you that tenth you needed to get to retirement or anywhere else."  Health Insurance? "Use your 5 office visits wisely, after that you pay 100%...And oh yeah by the way, that VEBA? It will probably only last 10 years...15 tops." Alternatives? "Take this deal or be prepared to walk away with nothing."

That's when the fear truly hit me.  The realization that my GM career was really over. There is no other option.  All the math and all the common sense points to one obvious direction: BUYOUT.  

The problem with that is this: I AM A GM WORKER.  Its what i do.  Its what I've done for the past 14 years.  To some large degree, it has become a part of my identity.  My family is deeply rooted within the company. My Father retired from GM.  My Grandfather retired from Frigidaire.  I have 2 uncles and multiple great uncles that have either retired from GM or currently work for GM.  I have been fully aware for quite some time that i would never retire from GM, but i honestly never planned to quit either.  

The funny thing is that i have been preparing for this day for quite some time. I will graduate with my college degree in the near future and will hopefully be positioned to find another job beyond GM.  I thought this preparation would allow me to transition smoothly and walk away from this place without a second thought. I thought i would leave on my own terms.  I thought i would go out with my dignity, feeling good about the time i have given to this company.  I thought i would just stop being a GM worker and everything would be OK.  I thought i would not be scared.

I was wrong.

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Everything You Ever Wished For, And Then Some...

I realize that most everyone believes that the decision to close our plant was sealed during the 2007 GM-UAW negotiations. I, myself, believe that the final decision was made during those talks. However, several decisions were made LONG before those contract negotiations that put us on our current path. As early as 2006, GM announced an investment of more than $400 million in the retooling of the Spring Hill plant. As we know, that retooling would ultimately result in Spring Hill producing the Chevy Traverse. The Chevy Traverse is the logical successor to the Chevy Trailblazer. General Motors ended up spending over $600 million and idled the Spring Hill plant for nearly a year in order to accomplish this retooling. It is fairly well known that GM could have built the Traverse here in Moraine for pennies on the dollar compared to the massive rebuild necessary in TN. In fact, several members of upper management have confirmed that initial preparations for the then unnamed Traverse were being made here in Moraine as early as 2005....well before the UAW had their chance to kill us. Why then did we lose this product?? Who dropped the ball?? What determining factors led GM to decide it better to spend hundreds of millions in Tennessee rather than tens of millions here in Ohio??

Years from now, when i look back at my days at Moraine Assembly, this missed opportunity will continue to haunt me. I don't know what happened. I certainly don't know what would have happened. Maybe we survive. Maybe UAW kills us anyway. Its over and done with so i know there is no point in playing the coulda/shoulda/woulda game. That said, it still stings when i see this..........


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"We Tried."

The following is the official response from IUE-CWA President Jim Clark concerning the recent plant closure date announcement along with some of my own thoughts regarding this response.

DAYTON, Oct. 3, 3:00 PM “IUE-CWA is deeply disappointed in General Motors’s
Refusal to keep the Moraine Assembly plant open. The announcement that the plant will
be closed much earlier than initially stated will further hurt our members, their families
and a Dayton community already rocked by plant closings and layoffs.

‘The IUE-CWA Division and the Local 798 negotiating committee worked closely
together to try to rescue this plant. We had a strong basis to start from given the high
quality and productivity of the workforce. Despite offers to do whatever it takes to save
Moraine. GM was determined to shut down the plant.

“We are finalizing a package that we believe will give our members in Moraine options to allow them to transition their lives after this devastating blow. The package, which negotiators have worked extremely hard to achieve, will include buyout, retirement and flow back opportunities. We are proud of what we have won, but realize nothing compensates for the end of a career.

“Rest assured that the IUE-CWA and the Local 798 leadership left no stone unturned in searching for a way to keep Moraine open. From outreach to elected officials to a range of innovative bargaining proposals, we fought to save this plant. I commend Local 798 President Gaylen Turner and his entire team for their commitment and leadership in a most difficult situation.

I know that we can count on the professionalism of our membership to see that the last truck out reflects the quality they are known for. We are saddened and angered by what has happened to our plant. I call on our members to express their outrage by voting in November for an Obama administration that will work to keep good manufacturing jobs in the United States instead of a continuation of the same trade policies and lax regulation that have destroyed our economy.

Jim Clark
IUE-CWA President

What stands out to me most in this response is the use of past tense by President Clark. "The IUE-CWA Division and the Local 798 negotiating committee WORKED closely together to try to rescue this plant." "We HAD a strong basis...." "....we FOUGHT to save this plant."

Perhaps i am just being picky, but ARENT there still dues paying members of this union active in this plant?? In fact, unless every single one of us takes the buyout, wont there STILL be dues paying members even after the plant closes on December 23? Am i wrong??? If i dont accept the buyout, i will still have to pay union dues while i collect subpay after the plant closes? If there are still people paying union dues, DOESN'T PRESIDENT JIM CLARK STILL OWE US REPRESENTATION???????

Why then isnt President Clark telling us that the IUE-CWA will continue to work to try to rescue this plant? Why isnt he stating that we STILL HAVE a strong basis to present GM in regards to reopening the plant once it closes? WHY ISNT HE SAYING THAT WE WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT TO SAVE THIS PLANT???

Look, i am not blind to what is going on here. I understand that our plant will close on December 23. I realize that it is GM's stance that they have no intention of putting a future product in Moraine. I will even acknowledge that our union did actually do everything they can to save the plant from closure....lets face it, IUE-CWA doesnt wanna lose our union dues anymore than we wanna lose our jobs.

However, i believe that our top union officials owe it to us to continue to fight for this plant for as long as there are members from this plant paying dues. Okay, so you left no stone unturned...turn them over again! Okay, you made innovative proposals....make more! Okay, you fought to save the plant...keep fighting! I dont care if Rick Wagoner himself told Jim Clark that the situation was irreversible....keep pestering him until he is sick of hearing about Moraine Assembly.

I just cant understand this garbage where Jim Clark decides the situation is hopeless and therefore he declares it a lost cause and moves on to other matters. I do understand that state and local government officials at some point have to shift their focus towards finding ways to reuse the plant. That makes sense because those government officials have a duty to serve the entire populus of the City of Moraine as well as the State of Ohio. However, Jim Clark has only an obligation to those of us who pay dues. The way i see it, that obligation continues for as long as there are dues paying members, even if it does seem like a pointless waste of time.

Humor us here, Jim.
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Here's to You 798

Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.

King Whitney Jr.

*** The images shown in the video above were used courtesy of KimFatBastard(http://www.flickr.com/photos/fat_bastard_/), www.daytondailynews.com and www.save798.com. The video was created for my own personal and non-commercial use.
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Equal Time

The following is a comment posted on this blog earlier this evening by Jim Marlow. While i understand this reads like a Marlow handbill, i felt it was necessary to re-post this on the main page so that everyone had an opportunity to read and respond to it. I also believe that it would not be right for me to post my criticisms of Mr. Marlow in headlines on the main page while burying his response on the back page. While this blog is primarily my own thoughts and opinions, i am willing to open it up to allow all different viewpoints to be expressed.

Mr. Marlow's comments are being posted in their entirety and completely unedited.

Jim Marlow said...

My first visit to this site. My compliments. I can't help but whole heartedly agree that there are a many more important issues facing our members other than this election. But to be fair, when you lose your right to vote for your leadership -- you're done. Everybody knows that our current leadership is not negotiating in the members' best interest. Far from it. And, after last Friday, it appears that Harry Bogan is not either. To have the audacity to declare to the media 'he has knowledge of a closing date but cannot share it at this time' is a disgrace for a so-called union leader. When our members are facing the loss of their jobs, possibly their homes and even their entire way of life, his actions are incredibly insensitive. While our members are wondering where their next check will come from, Mr. Bogan is drawing two paychecks -- one as a retiree from GM and the other from our union dues as an employee of the IUE. The last time I checked Jim Clark runs this union. And it's time he gets a handle on Harry Bogan. Enough said on that subject. For the individual who suggested that I, Jim Marlow, am more interested in getting elected than the members' needs...that could not be further from the truth. As a matter of fact, I spend hours on the phone every night after I get home from work trying to help members with their problems and many times I am successful. These are problems our elected leaders should be handling, but are too busy taking care of number one. In fact, one of the first arguments I had with John Harlow was over my helping fellow members with their problems. John pointed out I was out of line and over-stepping my boundaries! As far as the election goes, I humbly accepted the opportunity to run on this ticket. I knew two things: 1)the current leadership was in way over their heads and 2) I have the experience to do the job. There are no personal gains in this for me. Thanks to all for visiting our website: www.save798.com. It's our first effort at constructing a website; we're trying to make it informative and user-friendly. Hope you enjoy some of the old pictures/slide shows. Thanks for the opportunity to vent.

September 29, 2008 9:10 PM

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Hmmmm.....

Whatever hysteria exists is inflamed by mystery, suspicion and secrecy. Hard and exact facts will cool it.
Elia Kazan

I cant help but notice that the boys over at www.save798.com have picked up on my idea to flood our International Union officials with phone calls demanding answers. However, it seems that they are only interested in answers regarding the election. Why aren't they instructing people to demand answers regarding why Harry Bogan is effectively now representing management by keeping secrets concerning our future from the dues paying membership???

Look, i believe that our local should conduct a "free, fair and equal" election as dictated by our constitution. However, the election is a secondary concern to me and, i believe, the rest of this membership. My primary concern is the secrecy taking place within our unions upper echelon and how that secrecy is affecting my ability to plan for the future.

Why is Harry Bogan keeping secrets from us? What is the status of negotiations? What exactly is being negotiated?? What/who is holding us back from reaching an agreement?? Will our sub pay be replenished?? Will there be a jobs bank? Will we have a REAL transfer opportunity and not just a transfer agreement that does nothing but put our names on a meaningless SEPO list?? Will there be a VEBA and if so, how will it be funded? Will there be another SAP and if so, what are the details??

These are the primary issues that affect each and every one of us. These are the things that must be answered in order for us to move forward with our lives. I would think that the folks over at http://www.save798.com/ would be aware of this and would be advising members to seek answers to ALL of the above issues and not JUST those regarding an election.

I have personally placed calls to Jim Clark and Harry Bogan demanding that they be transparent with us regarding the issues listed above. I will continue to place daily calls to these men until our concerns are answered.

I can not encourage you enough to do the same!

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BOGAN ADMITS KEEPING SECRETS

In case you missed it, here is the link to the recent Dayton Daily News article concerning our plants future.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/b/content/oh/story/business/2008/09/26/ddn092608gmweb.html

In this article you will find Harry Bogan admitting that he has be informed of the exact closing date for our plant but apparently he is not at liberty to make it public. WHAT??????????????? Who EXACTLY DOES THIS CLOWN WORK FOR????

Let me get this straight....Harry Bogan, regional director for the International Union of Electronic Workers-Communication Workers of America, is in possession of information that is CRITICAL to the membership of this union. However, Harry Bogan has decided to keep this information from the dues paying membership. Harry Bogan has decided that keeping management secrets is more important than the well being of THIS UNION?!?!?

WE SIMPLY CAN NOT ALLOW THIS!!! I believe this is completely absurd and reinforces concerns we have had regarding whether the International is really acting in OUR BEST INTEREST. How long has Harry Bogan known the exact date of our plant closure?? What other secrets is Harry Bogan keeping from this membership???

WE DESERVE ANSWERS AND WE DESERVE THEM NOW!! This crap of keeping secrets until Management decides on a time frame that is in their best interest can not be tolerated.

We need to let Harry Bogan, Jim Clark and all the rest of those International clowns know that THEY WORK FOR US.

Below i have listed the phone numbers for our top IUE-CWA officers. It is my suggestion that we absolutely flood these officials with phone calls DEMANDING that they place our well being above the wishes of the Company that is eliminating our jobs. Perhaps these guys need a little reminder who exactly it is that they work for! It is obvious that our local leaders can not get information out of these International buffoons. It is up to us, the membership, to take action. Please take a few minutes out of your day to place a few calls and let these guys know what you think about them keeping secrets from us! I also encourage you to pass the word around the plant floor tomorrow so that we can get everyone involved in this.

It is obvious that our future has been decided, the least these clowns can do is allow us to go out with dignity instead of keeping vital information from us.

THE TIME IS NOW! PLEASE ACT!

Jim Clark President Phone: 937-294-9764

Lauren Asplen Assistant to the President Phone: 937-298-9984

Willie Thorpe Director of Member Benefits Phone: 937-294-7813

Harry Bogan Regional Director Phone: 937/294-1491

Bill Duncan Executive Council Member Phone: 937/244-5085 Ext. 16

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Random Thoughts

* I believe we will find out our plant closing date this week.

* I believe we will not have a new contract this week.

* I can't believe we are having ANOTHER union election this year.

* I think GM would love nothing more than to bankrupt its North American operations.

* I think Mr. Marlow is more interested in an International appointment than being our Shop Chairman.

* I think Mr. Marlow will still beat SC Harlow....easily.

* How many people have taken a buyout and succeeded in anything?

* I think all the talk about Transfer Rights is just a smoke screen to keep people distracted from real issues.

* Does anyone in the Dayton media really care that we are losing our jobs?

* I wish everyone would read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey....its life changing.

* Does everyone REALLY think they are going to be a nurse?

* I have to admit, i am a little excited about starting fresh.

* I do not think GM will ever build another product in Dayton, even though it makes a lot of sense.

* For the first time in my life, i wont rule out test driving a Toyota.

* Considering my Father, Grandfather, 2 uncles and 3 Great uncles all retired from GM/Frigidaire/Delco/Delphi...i cant help but feel a little embarrassed that Moraine Assembly is closing during my tenure....even if it isn't my fault.

* I am not so sure I'd be feeling all that great about my health insurance in the hands of union if i was a retiree.

* I wonder if we will ever find out exactly when the decision was made to close our plant. Trust me, it wasn't June 3rd 2008.

* I remember when my Dad wouldn't allow a foreign car to park in his driveway.

* Voting for George W. Bush may be the most embarrassing thing i have ever done.

* I wonder if Toyota assembly plants have stupid motto's that they don't understand or care about like "One Driven Team, Building Customer Dreams.

* I think cutting edge product design is what actually builds customer enthusiasm.

* I think Quality should be expected, not something to get excited about.

* For some strange reason i don't feel like i wasted the last 14 years, even though i think i might have.

* Does anyone really still think we will be working next year?

* Rick Waggoner is a clown, but i think Jim Clark isn't much better.

* I wonder how many of my co-workers actually have a plan for when the plant closes.

* I think the next 60 days are going to be the longest of my life.
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Upon Further Review

You know, funny things happen when you go without electricity for a few days. Your mind actually begins to break free from the mind numbing effects of the television and you find yourself doing something that, at first, seems entirely foreign. You actually begin to THINK. I know that seems crazy, but it really is true. Its amazing what your brain can come up with once it shakes itself free from the hypnosis of our modern electronic gadgetry. Has anyone else experienced this over the past few days?? Or is it just me???

Regardless, here is what I've come up with.

Ever since Sunday's union meeting i haven't been able to shake something. What has been bothering me is the notion that perhaps President Turner and SC Harlow really are just as boggled as we are. Is it possible that these guys really don't know anymore than we do? It crossed my mind briefly at the meeting, but i quickly dismissed it as nonsense. But after a few days of reflection, i am convinced that my first instinct was correct.

Allow me to elaborate....

Lets start with Sunday's meeting. I admit that i walked into the meeting expecting the same old song and dance. I expected lots of questions to be asked with very few answers provided. I was not disappointed. However, what i did not expect was the almost "hands in the air" demeanor of our leaders. It was almost if they stood on the podium and surrendered. They knew the questions were going to come and they knew they had nothing to give us. Perhaps that's why they hired the cops. This membership is fed up with being in the dark and things have progressed well beyond just a mild curiosity. People are losing their jobs. In fact, people HAVE lost their jobs. Lives are being turned upside down and people are beginning to get desperate. Heck, if i was walking into that meeting knowing that i didn't posses any answers, id probably hire some cops too.

The first sign of this surrender was when President Turner admitted that he did not support continuing negotiations involving a VEBA. Huh?? From everything i have heard the past few days, our contract IS going to include a VEBA. And our President doesn't support this???? This tells me that he is basically out of the loop in terms of the direction of negotiations. Say what you will about SC Harlow, but by almost all accounts President Turner is a well respected man. I can not imagine our President pursuing a path of negotiations that he did not believe was best for our membership. When he openly critiqued the inclusion of the VEBA in any future agreement, that told me that our local leaders are not steering this ship. It appears to me that International officials have completely taken over negotiations to the point that our local leaders are just as much in the dark as we are. Is that possible? I admit i didn't think so even a few days ago, but now I'm not so sure.

The second clue came courtesy of SC Harlow. When questioned about the official closing date of the plant, Harlow all but admitted that Harry Bogan, Regional Director IUE-CWA Region Seven, potentially possessed information that the local boys were not privy to. In fact, Bogan does refer to such information regarding our plant closing in his most recent handbill. I think most people read that handbill and assumed that the local boys also had this much needed information. I know that i certainly did. That, however, was before SC Harlow stood in front of the membership Sunday looking weary and defeated while proclaiming "if anyone still believes this plant has a future, i feel sorry for you." While i have never been a fan of SC Harlow, i do believe that IF he knew anything he would have told us at that point.

So what am i saying?????

What i am saying is that we as a membership are being played by our union officials once again, only this time it reaches past the local boys to the International level. Look, i understand that it is customary for the International boys to take the lead in national negotiations. That makes perfect sense. What strikes me as unusual, however, is the apparent complete lack of communication between International and local official. Shouldn't there be open sharing of information between fellow negotiators? shouldn't the LOCAL PRESIDENT have some say in the direction of the agreement?? Are International officials negotiating the best possible deal for LOCAL 798 or are they trying to get the best possible deal for IUE-CWA?????? To me, this is a very fair question! No offense to our fellow union brothers and sisters within the IUE-CWA, but i don't give a crap about them at this point! This negotiation should be about the retirees and workers within our Local. It should be directed towards meeting OUR needs as we approach and move beyond our plants closing. This seems fairly straightforward, however negotiations continue be held up by the International Officials who seem to be seeking to protect themselves and their desires more than their membership.

Please don't get me wrong here, i am not letting our local boys off the hook just yet. They are still woefully lacking in the area of competent leadership. They still continue to leave this membership uninformed. What they can't seem to grasp is that this membership deserves communication at the very least. Hey guys, if you don't know anything, stand up and tell us that you don't know anything! Furthermore, stop trying to protect the International officials. If they are holding up negotiations or if they are keeping you in the dark, TELL US THAT! What President Turner and SC Harlow have failed to grasp is that they are not the International's representatives to us....THEY ARE OUR REPRESENTATIVES TO THE INTERNATIONAL! Meaning, they work for us. They are to report our desires to International and then report the response back to us and vice versa. It really doesn't seem all that difficult.

Ok, sorry for the wide ranging commentary here. Please feel free to post comments below if you agree or disagree with me. My goal here is to start a much needed conversation before it is too late.

In the meantime, i think i will go watch TV.

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A Brief Word From Mr. Jordan

There probably aren't many people left at the plant that remember these days, but i found this humorous to say the least. Nostalgia may be all that we have left, so we might as well enjoy it....



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Cops & Robbers

In case you missed it, Sundays union meeting took place in hurricane like conditions under the watchful eye of the Dayton Police Department. Thats right, our union officals made the unprecedented decision to hire two of Dayton's finest to provide protection. Who EXACTLY was being protected and the EXACT nature of the threat was never made clear. The only thing we know for sure is that WE are picking up the tab for a few hours of protection from the boys in blue.

Other than that, the meeting itself was relatively uneventful. Some people said some things and then some other people said some other things. Questions were asked. Answers were given in the form of shrugs and "i dont knows". Yada Yada Yada. While DP&L works hard to restore electricity to the Miami Valley, members of IUE-CWA 798 continue to sit in the dark.
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Union Meeting

Just a quick weekend reminder of the upcoming union meeting this coming Sunday at 3pm. I encourage everyone to show up armed with questions for our local leaders. The handbills from Thursday and Friday simply will not cut it. We need information about what is taking place within the negotiations. We can not afford and do not deserve to be put on hold for ANOTHER two(2) weeks. I believe that our union leaders are doing their best to secure the best deal possible, but i also believe that they have done a great disservice to this union by keeping us in the dark for so long. I encourage you to show up and let your voice be heard. We don't have many chances left.
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Never Forget

Today, we set aside all workplace drama and just simply remember.










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Slow Fade

Two days from now another light goes off here at Moraine Assembly. By midnight friday, another chapter in our history will be closed. Moraine Assembly will be down to just one operating shift, and the clock will be ticking louder than ever. By now, only the most optimistic among us believe that our plant can be saved. The rest of us hear the death knell tolling in the distance and we know it is getting closer by the minute. There are, however, still many questions. There are many uncertainties. There is anxiety and quite honestly there is fear. We need leadership. We need direction. We need answers. Desperately.

I encourage anyone and everyone to be at our union meeting this weekend. We have so little time remaining. If we are going to be heard, IT MUST BE NOW! We can not allow our union leaders to hide behind the cloak of "negotiations" any longer. We deserve the right to know EXACTLY what our options are so that we can plan our lives accordingly.

Another light is being turned off with each passing day. If we continue to be left in the dark we have only ourselves to blame. Its now or never.
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GM Opens Virtual Toilet Stall

Have you ever found yourself at work reading up on the latest rumors and gossip written on the bathroom walls? How many times have you wished you had a pen handy so you could add your two cents to the "discussion"? Well good news union brothers and sisters!! General Motors has officially opened their own virtual toilet stall where we can post our questions from the comforts of our own home. This apparently will give GM executives something to read in the bathrooms of the Renaissance Center. GM will then post the questions and the corresponding answers on the web site listed below. No word on whether or not the executives will literally be sitting on the toilet when they answer the questions, however a load of crap is definitely expected.

http://gmfactsandfiction.com/
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Back to the future..Part II

Looks like its that time of year again. Let the politics begin......again.

http://www.save798.com/
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Back to the future

The following post was written the day after Rick Waggoner's announcement of our plant closing. I wrote this primarily to vent my own frustrations and therefore never posted it. I subsequently lost focus on this blog and allowed it to become idle. Today i am renewing my commitment to keep this blog updated, if nothing else as a personal diary of the last days of Moraine Assembly. The following is a representation of my thoughts back in June, unfortunately not much has changed.......

Announcement.

So this is it. So this is how it ends. This is how it all comes down. Fourteen years of service and and it all comes crashing down with little more than a pat on the back and a "sorry bout your luck". No advance warning. No "heads up" from plant management or union officials. For months we have been led to believe that no decision had been made about our future....and then suddenly it was made. Suddenly it was over. And this is it.


Management.

One of the most ridiculous and embarrassing aspects of todays announcement was the implication that these moves were part of a plan to return GM to profitability in North America. What a joke! Remember this is the same group that chose to spend HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of DOLLARS to basically rebuild the Saturn Spring Hill plant to produce the Chevy Traverse when they could have given the product to Moraine and spent merely pennies on the dollar to retool. Remember, these guys promised $200 Million to bail out American Axle....a company which GM does not own and has no controlling interest in. These guys piss away money in the hundreds of millions and yet somehow closing one of their most efficient plants is seen as a step towards profitability??

Lets take this one step further. During the recent layoff, several members of our local GM management team were sent to the Orion plant to help implement GMS procedures in the paint department. These management members were appalled at what they found. One said that walking into the Orion paint department was like going back in time 15 years! As a point of reference for those of you not familiar with the paint department.....Moraine Assembly's seal line operates with 14 production employees while the seal line at Orion requires 63 operators. SIXTY THREE!!!! Sixty three operators to seal up a mid size car while we do the same thing with 14 people on a much bigger vehicle? And yet Orion is being rewarded with a 3rd shift and future production and Moraine is being closed to "increase profitability in North America". Are you kidding me??????

Does GM really have any interest in becoming profitable in North America? Or have they simply written off America as a loss while they focus on moving their operations out of the country?


Union.

One word comes to mind...impotent. This is how Dictionary.com defines the word impotent....

1. not potent; lacking power or ability
2. utterly unable (to do something)
3. without force or effectiveness
4. Obsolete.

To be fair, i believe that our current officials gave it a legitimate shot but they were playing out a hand that was dealt years ago. That being said, this union has historically been tricked, fooled and or out smarted by management time and time again. If they wanted us to jump, we jumped. If they wanted us to beg, we begged. All without ever firmly securing the one thing that we so desperately needed....a product. Even the current union team fell victim to this as we waited...and waited...and waited...and yet STILL WAIT for the illusive VEBA to be worked out by upper management and international union officials. Guess what guys, obviously we cant have a VEBA if we don't have any employees to fund it. It is perfectly clear now that GM never had any intention of funding or setting up a VEBA. They were merely dragging their feet while CEO Waggoner put the finishing touches on his grand plan. Meanwhile, what did our International Union boys do?? They followed along. Impotent as always.

So now what do we do? There will be no VEBA. Do we have a contract of any sort? We have been told that everything else was agreed upon, but that was before the plant was written off as closed. Do we have anything now??? Where do we stand?? Where we stand now is where we have always stood. Unorganized and uninformed....even as we stare down the last days of our plants existence. What a shame that such a historically strong and innovative union has been reduced to its current impotent form. Sad isn't it.
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Rumors

"The mind revels in conjecture. Where information is lacking, it will gladly fill in the gaps."

James Geary

Why is it that union officials can never grasp this basic truth? Why do they so often fail to realize where it is exactly that rumors come from? In his latest handbill, Mr Harlow states that the shop committee simply can not take the time to answer each and every rumor that hits the shop floor. While i obviously agree with that, i would however argue that our union leaders have the power to stop the vast majority of the plant floor rumors in their tracks.

You see when you get right down to it, rumors stem from a lack of information hitting the floor. It is when people are left guessing that they begin to concoct and spread rumors. Too often information is a scarce resource within our plant walls. Obviously we all know that management has there reasons for with holding information from us, but why does it seem so many times that even our own union is a little afraid to give it to us straight?

We feel as though our very lively hood is left hanging in the balance. "Whats going on?" "Whats being discussed?" "What are the possibilities?" "What are the probabilities?. "Where do we stand?" These aren't really tough questions, but they really sum up what we want to know. It's what we NEED to know so we can go home and tell our wives and our husbands and our children that everything is going to be alright....even when we are pretty sure its not. There is a peace of mind that comes with feeling as though you are informed.

Mr. Harlow mentions in his latest handbill that it is his desire to have "ALL members on the shop committee." I would like to challenge Mr. Harlow to make it his duty to keep us "ALL" informed as if we were on the shop committee. Here are just a few ideas for how this can be accomplished:

* Get our union website up to date and actually UTILIZE it. In todays computer driven age, a web site is an invaluable tool if used to its potential. Why not post all handbills on the website the same day they are delivered to the plant? Why not have a moderated message board where union members can interact and discuss plant issues? Why not post regular video messages from union leaders addressing the membership on important plant issues? Why not stream audio or even possibly video of union meetings? Why not have a regularly scheduled LIVE chat session online where the union President and or SC spend and hour or so interacting with members and fielding questions and concerns?

* Have the President and SC setup simple blogs such as this one and keep it updated with regular journal entries detailing the events of their day or even week. This doesn't have to be a huge commitment or a formalized process. Its just a matter of the SC or Pres sitting down for maybe a 15 minutes every few days or even once a week, and saying "hey guys, this is whats going on....." I'm not asking for full detailed essays on all the events taking place in the work center or Hall....but even just short messages relaying the general "goings on" within the union would be a HUGE benefit to the members. This can be easily set up on sites such as this and linked directly off of our own union home page. There would be absolutely no cost and would only result in a more informed membership. Of course this would also introduce a degree of accountability for union leaders...but i cant imagine anyone would argue with that.

* Make union committeemen more accessible on the plant floor....but FIRST educate them as to whats going on with major plant issues so that they are prepared to relay information and answer questions. During the last election it was mentioned multiple times that too often our union representatives spend most of their days holed up in the union work center. Heck, i can't really blame them. They know the members on the plant floor are starved for information, but they themselves aren't even in the loop. The information needs to come from the top and work its way down. If not the rumors will start on the floor and work their way up. Simple as that.

I am sure there are MANY more ideas that others have for educating and informing our membership. Occasional handbills and monthly union meetings just don't cut it when our plants future seemingly hangs by a thread.

All we want is information. Is that too much to ask??

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A few words from our Shop Chairman.....

In case you missed it here is a link to latest Shop Chairman's report. Unfortunatly plant handbills are very rarely posted on our union website, so i am going to strive to display each handbill here on my blog for retirees or anyone who happens to miss it in plant.

Interesting stuff here concerning rumor control and a possible 2 year National agreement. I am presently preparing my thoughts on both subjects as quite honestly this handbill struck quite a nerve with me. I encourage everyone to read the SC report and post comments below.


SHOP CHAIRMAN-ELECT REPORT 11.26.07


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How did we lose this??

I cant help wondering how we lost out on building the GMC Acadia...along with the Saturn Outlook, Buick Enclave and the Chevy Traverse. This should have been ours! Did we EVER have a chance to land production of these vehicles? Were we even considered?? Did our union or plant management drop the ball???

While we hang in limbo, preparations are being made to begin rolling the Chevy Traverse crossover off the line at Spring Hill, TN. Am i the only one who still cant shake the bad taste from my mouth over us not getting at least a share of these vehicles??????

Click on the links above for info about each of the vehicles....and also heres a little video of the Acadia. Kinda makes me sick.



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