¢ Report from the Chrysler Council
Vice
President General Holiefield held a meeting of the UAW’s Chrysler Council the
week of April 16. While the majority of time was specific to Chrysler, part of
the meeting was held together with the other Councils which are under the
direction of Vice President Holiefield: General Dynamics and Bus, Engine and
Truck. The Chrysler Council is composed of the Local Presidents and Shop
Committee Members from each of the UAW local unions representing Chrysler
workers. Local 1700 was represented by:
Bill Parker,
President
James Harris,
Plant Shop Chair and Shop Committee Member from Trim and Chassis (Division II)
Charles Bell,
Shop Committee Member from Body and Paint (Division I)
Chuck Archard,
Shop Committee Member from Final, Reprocess and Indirect Labor (Division III)
Russell “Spanky” Phillips, Shop Committee Member from Skilled Trades
(Division IV)
¢ UAW President Bob King addressed
the Councils and stressed the importance of the Union’s safety initiatives. Some
of the information presented to the Council included these statistics:
l There were
seven fatalities in UAW-represented plants in 2011
l The skilled
trades accounted for 43% of the fatalities over the last seven years, despite
being only 12% of the membership
l 13 of the 24
fatalities 2007-2011 were employees working alone, in isolation from others
l We must focus
on the issues of working alone and the by-passing of safety interlock devices
l In the seven
year period of 2005-2011, GM had 0 fatalities, Ford had 4, and Chrysler had 8
fatalities, despite having the smallest workforce of the three
¢ King also emphasized that it was
not workers’ wages or benefits that created the deficit; rather, it was three
Bush administration actions: 1) Tax breaks given to the wealthy and the
corporations; 2) Immoral wars and spending trillions of dollars over false
stories of weapons of mass destruction when it was really over oil – that money
should have been spent here at home; and 3) Abuses of Wall Street – unchecked,
greed will lead them to destroy the country. Bush eliminated oversight of Wall
Street activities.
¢ UAW Secretary-Treasurer Dennis
Williams discussed how quickly companies can regain profitability, but forget
how they got there. He stressed that we can’t let them commit the same sins of
the past by cutting corners on safety or quality. We can’t allow them to place
us back into jeopardy. They have competitive pressures; but our members and
families have pressures too. It cannot be a one way street.
¢ Williams stated that some of
labor’s opponents say we are engaging in class warfare. He said it is class
warfare, but it is starting from the other side. When CEOs can make 400 times
what a worker makes, it is class warfare. The unfair tax system we have now is
unfair class warfare. He also talked to the Council about the importance of
organizing.
¢ There was discussion about the petition
campaign to amend the Michigan State Constitution to protect collective
bargaining rights. If you have not yet signed the petition to support this
initiative, contact your Chief Steward.
¢ General Holiefield stated the
importance of continuing our involvement in WCM, saying we still have a ways to
go in quality. If necessary, meetings of the national joint WCM Steering
Committee will be in the plants where there are issues. Holiefield said this is
a matter of establishing a voice for the workers in the workplace and establishing
workplace democracy, as Walter Reuther talked about.
¢ There was discussion at the
meeting about the company’s 3-2-120 system. Several locals, including ours,
spoke against it, based on the adverse impact it will have on our members.
Local 1700 President Bill Parker stated the 3-2-120 was one more way that the
company was cutting costs at the expense of the workforce.
¢ The second half of the contract
signing bonus (the remaining $1,750) will be paid by the end of this year to
eligible employees.
¢ Information about the Quality
Bonus will be distributed around the beginning of May. This will be determined
on a plant-by-plant basis. No date for the payment was announced.
¢ The Production LTTC (Local
Technical Training Committee) members were designated as the contacts for TAP
information in the plants. For us at SHAP, this means that anyone seeking
information regarding the Tuition Assistance Plan should contact Twyla Moss at (586)
977-5335. Members can also get information and forms by going on line to uaw-chrysler.com
or by calling (888) 675-1392.
¢ Health Care Dependent Audit:
corporate wide, we are currently 91% compliant with the audit. Those dependents
not verified by May 5 will be terminated from health care coverage by May 30.
¢ Group Insurance: there will be
an open enrollment period for both hourly and salary employees May 7-13, with
changes effective July 1. Members will receive information packets on this.
¢ Identity Theft Protection,
negotiated as an optional, employee-paid benefit in the 2011 national
agreement, should be available soon.
¢ Members hired under the terms of
the 2007 contract (and the 2009 modifications) should have received a letter
regarding the interest paid in their Cash Balance Account. The Cash Balance
account ended March 23, 2012. Once approved by the IRS, members can convert
those funds to an independent account or roll it over to the 401K plan. They
are aiming for an August deadline on this. Seniority members hired before
October of 2007 and anyone hired after October 2011 are not impacted by this.
¢ We are moving towards our own,
negotiated 401K plan. Ford and GM’s were always negotiated plans; ours was
given by Chrysler and has to follow certain company rules. This was negotiated
in 2011 and should be ready in 2013.
¢ Local Agreement on Overtime
Under
the terms of the local agreement between Local 1700 and SHAP management, the
national language on overtime does not apply at our plant. Instead, our
agreement provides that Sundays are voluntary and that employees have the right
to opt out of a third consecutive Saturday except, however, that management can
declare a three month period during each model year in which they can schedule
three consecutive Saturdays and employees have the right to opt out on the
fourth Saturday. SHAP management advised the local that they were implementing
that language effective April 9.
¢ This language was negotiated in
1985 by the International Union, and modified in local negotiations in 1986 and
1990.
¢ Next Membership Meeting
The
next meeting of Local 1700 will be held on Sunday, May 20, 2012, at 12:00 noon
at the Local 1700 Hall, 8230 East 8 Mile Road in Detroit. The agenda will
include the regular order of business.
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