Shop Chairman’s Report February 12th, 2010
I want to summarize some questions/emails/concerns I have received recently;
Our Current Local and National Agreements are in effect. Any changes to our Local and National Agreement will need to be ratified by the membership. The pay raise is the largest issue at our plant. The Shop Committee has filed a policy grievance on the issue along with UAW VP Cal Rapson filing a grievance at his level. We are awaiting an answer from the International UAW and haven’t received any information on the status of the grievance. Another major issue is the potential reduction of severances for members hired in 2006 and 2007. Our current language still allows severances to be capped at $40,000. However, the agreement from the National Parties has severances being reduced to $10,000 for production and Skilled Trades severances remaining at $40,000. I know this is a major issue in the plant right now and we do have a proposal we have given to management to try to resolve this major issue through negotiations.
At past union meetings, we have discussed the GM Addendum in anticipation of the National Parties bringing that to the membership for ratification. Since we were told going forward we will NO longer be under a UAW/GM Master agreement, the local union is now faced with the challenges of accomplishing what the National Parties were supposed to do. Just like our last contract roll out in 2008, All info will be shared and this will not be a “rush rush” process. My intentions are to share all information pertaining to the agreement and having days in between the informational roll-out meetings and the actual vote.
In our 2008 agreement, there was work awarded to the Lockport Site. All that work is here including the replacement work. The only work NOT slated is the programs that have been cancelled or sold (Hummer, DTS Cadillac, Buick Lucerne). During these negotiations, we are trying to get contracts past 2014.
During our current negotiations, I have referred to the scorecard many times. The scorecard consists of changes to our local agreement such as OT equalization, Job Seats, and Full Utilization. Unfortunately, I cannot discuss details of the negotiations of the scorecard. The National Parties have made an agreement that each site will be required to get a 93% on the scorecard. I am aware that our members want to see the scorecard NOW. If we have an agreement we can bring for ratification, each member will have their own copy of the scorecard. Until such time, I cannot disclose the details. The bargaining committee along with Unit #1 President Gordie Fletcher are the only ones that have seen the scorecard. The appointed reps and alternates have NOT seen the scorecard.
A common question is “Why are we even in negotiations”? Answer; There are a few reasons. In order to get the gov’t loans to bailout GM from bankrupcy, the International UAW agreed to enter negotiations with GM regarding the taking back of the 5 keep sites and also agreed to open up our contracts. You can refer to the 2009 modifications to the 2007 UAW/GM National Agreement & Addendum to the VEBA “white book” pages 103-104. We have copies in the UAW Office and have previously handed them out to our members. Now that the 5 keep sites have been split up and will not have the same Master Agreement, locals are faced with doing the negotiations, NOT the National Parties! Another reason we are in negotiations is because we were told by the National Parties that in order to get future contracts beyond what we have today, we have to become “competitive”. The National Parties idea of” competitive” consists of changes identical to the GM Addendum, 93% on the scorecard and a lower tier of workers among other changes. We were also told by National Parties that getting our 3.75% raise makes us uncompetitive. I ask the question; how can a raise for the UAW workers make us uncompetitive but a raise for salary makes us competitive. That question is just a preview of what we deal with everyday during these negotiations. These changes have been approved and ratified at ALL OTHER GM sites and we are expected to do the same. We have been told that if we don’t do anything, we will wind down. To date, management has offered us proposals that we will NOT bring to the membership for ratification. The end result of these negotiations may result in a wind down situation if management doesn’t give us reasonable proposals. We will not bring an agreement to the membership that the Shop Committee can’t support. During these negotiations, we all must be well aware of the benefits that NYS offers such as an extension of unemployment benefits along with TAA/TRA. We have to evaluate who can give us a better deal. The Company or NYS. Both Hourly and Salary will lose their jobs if this becomes a wind down situation. If we can reach an agreement that gives Lockport longevity, we will bring it to the membership. If we can’t, we are prepared to walk away from negotiations and tell management we will see them at the bargaining table in Sept. 2011.
Another question is “Why doesn’t the union tell the company they can no longer Plan “A” us since they can just take our raise away”. The answer is that Plan “A” is better than the state laws in NYS. Prior to having Plan “A” which went into effect in 1979, all overtime hours scheduled by management that did not violate any state or federal laws were mandatory.
So Far, In my opinion, there is only 1 positive thought on not having a master agreement. If we get to a point where we can bring an agreement to the membership for ratification, only the Lockport Site can vote. I know we all remember back in 2007 when our site voted NO on the National agreement BUT it was still ratified due to the other sites voting yes. Moving forward, the way the other sites vote on their agreement will NOT affect us.
Our next union meeting is Sunday February 21st at 11:00a.m. I’m hoping to see the same attendance that we had at our meeting in January. We do discuss many confidential issues and always have open forum discussions.
In Solidarity,
McNall
OPEIU212 Shop Chairman
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