Kzinti

***DISCLAIMER*** Due to previous political upheaval, please read this Disclaimer. The following is my personal opinion, solely my opinion and in no way reflects that of Ford Motor Company, the UAW or anyone else for that matter. It in no way reflects anything factual, or anything that might actually occur and might in fact piss you right the hell off. If you are prone to being pissed off, suffer from high blood pressure or have chronic crap leakage from your mouth which soaks through to your posts, please do not read below. If you are interested in a mature and calm factual based discussion of any of the points I outline below, which again, are solely my opinion (mine alone), then please continue to read on and I encourage you to post comments. The future of Kansas City Assembly Plant? In my opinion, it lies here. Some facts about the site: It has rail loading facility right there, no more costly AAG shipments all the way to the rail. Cost savings in the tens of millions Four million square feet of floor space compared to the current plant's one point two million square foot. Separate eighty thousand square foot stamping facility, something which Kansas City cannot have due to nearby mining Cheap upgrade facility-wise compared to retrofitting a building built in the, um, '40's is it? Well, the main plant anyways. Money paid by Missouri to keep a Ford plant open here can be used to purchase plant, (it's in MO). It's idled, for sale cheap. Facility was already setup to run automotive. Best part is they can refit the plant while KCAP closes out the current models. Closer for delivery of roll steel to the stamping facility from Indiana Steel mills, four hours closer to everything else up north. No call back rights for St. Louis employees because Ford plant is gone. UAW under previous existing Chrysler Local. After picking one shift of people to go run the Transit there, KCAP shuts down and they are done. If they add another shift (much later) in St Louis, they can hire them at $15 an hour.

Last I heard on skilled trades was that they were looking for a total of 20 electricians. I will check to see that the number is still good (minus current report to works)

In the end my friend, it's still all about politics. No one is going to vote for the person best suited for the job when there is a much better liked candidate who is lesser qualified. Once in office, they play the same game and pander to the masses because no one wants to hear the truth anymore and those that tell it like it is are soon voted out of office. Can you say rock and hard place? I do agree that people should be voted in because of their merits and should be expected to do what is right, not neccesarily what is popular. But hey, that's just me talking, right?

Oh the horror stories I could tell here, that you wouldn't believe, yet are true. <SIGH> At the least I can say that my daughter (age 16) knows pretty much the value of a dollar, savings - what it is and how to do it, retirement plans - how if she saves money ($4k a year) for several years now, she'll be all set for retirement later in life with no extra effort. The kid makes good money on her own and has had several offers to work for places already making more than I do. Very talented. The stepkids on the other hand, her brothers and sisters, well... Let's just say that there is a whole lot to be learned about fiscal responsibility on the other side. There was a point when my daughter started getting a bit superficial, so I put it to her this way. She would ask for X amount of money for something and I would ask her if it was worth X Hours of my life, equating dollars per hour to my earnings. At first she was just stunned, "That's just morbid!" But then she began to realize that some things are worth the money and other things are just not. Some art pens she can use to make money with are worth spending moeny on, while snacks, soda and useless crap are not so important now. Hopefully she will continue to learn the good aspects of money.

Zero percent financing is a big plus for me. If I buy, I don't want to pay those high interest fees. Pay another few grand on top of what you spent for the car just for making payments. When they offered zero percent last year, I bought a new car on 72 months. Doesn't cost me anything other than a payment I was already prepared to make and no interest to boot. Saves me all the way around. As for who can afford things, it really depends on your definition of afford. It seems that more and more people are spending over what they are earning. In that case, you can't even afford to pay attention let alone another payment. However, if you live well within your means, bank your overtime or invest it or even use it to pay down debt, you will be in good shape. This is the minority of workers. Two years ago I saw what was coming down the road and made sure that my family could survive on 40 hour weeks and I made sure to tell many many others. They all looked at me like I was crazy and yet today the bulletin boards are filled with toys, houses and things for sale. Shame really. I would never encourage people to buy a car they could not afford and would never want to risk their home and family stability just to make a sale. Problem is that most people are mortgaged to the hilt, deep in credit card debt and are sinking slowly in the have-to-have-it-now society that is the USA. Want to make America better? Do what President Lincoln tried and almost did, get us away from banks!

Change is coming, and a lot of people are not going to like what they see. Just remember, for those of you who like to work three days a week, abuse medical or slack off: There are companies that bid to Ford for running their body shops, paint departments and final areas. You think clean-up replacement was just a gimme? They looked at what they spent versus what they received in value. Is what you are doing adding value? Just watch the next round of FPS training, you'll see soon enough. If we don't take FULL control and run with it, we will have to accept whatever they give us (and we'll deserve it because we didn't take control). If you are not sure what to do to help, stand up and ask.

Just wait until the new F-150's start rolling out, Sweet!!!

From where I sit, Ford seems to have taken the stance that right now, it is more important to stay alive than go after bleeding edge products. Granted, they are dumping huge amounts into R&D, however, right now they are focusing on stopping the cash hemmorage. I think that a product to challenge the Corvette will be down the road. Rule #1 at the Harvard School for Business, never run out of cash. I see Ford watching their cash right now. They are focusing efforts on getting production under control and aligned with sales. I see some good things happening in '09 if the profitability comes back. In this case, as an industry observer, I would say that the Corvette doesn't represent that much of a threat to Ford's bottom line. Ford has shown they can bring a product from design to build in less than two years and it whooped the pants off of just about everything except for the Bugatti Veyron (Sweeeet!). Like Radar O'Reilly on M.A.S.H. always said, "Wait for it....."

While there is no guaranteed anything let alone a "Safe" Plant, KCAP has a lot going for it. Ask again after our "visitor" leaves next week...

bump...

FYI: COA Passed...

Standard Disclaimer here: These are my opinions only, and do not represent those of any company or the UAW. If you are easily offended, please read elsewhere. Now on to the good stuff. I know there are those out there who in the past I've upset by writing on here. Sorry guys, I told you two years ago what was coming and yet I somehow was the ass for trying to prepare you... Furthermore, I know firsthand that the truth is rarely popular, yet it is what it is. Some basic facts that are not being talked about here are as follows: 1) You do not need to be a MEMBER of a Union to work anywhere, it is not (according to Federal Law) a requirement to work anywhere. Period. You may resign your membership in the Union at any time you like. The company and the Union have no recourse, they must accept your resignation. You DO however, have to remain a member of the Bargaining Collective, and therefore will pay a reduced share of "dues", which pays for your basic bargaining and representation, which the Union must continue to do, since you are still a member of the Bargaining Collective. Talk of retaliation is just that. Lawyers handle things like that and companies have deep pockets. Having said all this, I do believe that there are certain individuals who are still within the structure of the Union who understand what the future holds and are afraid to tell the membership the truth, because, as we all know, it isn't the truthful candidates who get re-elected, rather the popular ones. When was the last time you saw someone unpopular elected? I will continue to stand with and behind the Union so far as I believe they have the interests and good of the majority at heart. 2) Until our UAW upper echelon are no longer appointed, and bear the same burden of responsibility that the everyman (and woman) does, things will continue to decline. We need elections, we need accountability, we need to eliminate the special retirement packages and perks for those jobs, since we are all Union Brothers and Sisters, why should they be any different than the rest of us? 3) A very important fact that everyone needs to know: The UAW does not ONLY fight for the lazy, the incompetent, the stupid, the drugged up, the habitually whatever person who consistently, through whatever means ends up in danger of losing their job. The UAW in fact REPRESENTS dues paying bargaining collective members, much like an attorney on retainer. It is their JOB to REPRESENT. It is the company's job to dot the I's and cross the T's, to make sure that things are documented enough that the leeches, slugs, etc... are not able to win their "cases", and are no longer a burden to the establishment. The UAW REPRESENTS the JOB, the MEMBER. It is their JOB, and why we pay dues. 4)We also need for people to understand exactly what was said above, about the customer paying our wages, and that the company merely handles the money. Until the customer is made #1, our future smells like #2. Speaking of which, has everyone exercised their X-Plan and A-Plan Pins? Every extra vehicle sold American equals job futures for all of us. It's the least we can all do for ourselves and each other. 5) We need for every single member of the UAW to take a step back and look at the big picture, to fully understand what is going on in the global marketplace today. If we do not get educated, if we do not get motivated, if we do not get things going in the right direction, we won't be worrying about which plant they'll close next. They'll all be closed. Just look at a certain manufacturer who moved operations overseas. Why? Not because they weren't making money. They moved because they weren't making ENOUGH money! I'm not advocating kissing ass (or becoming any more of a company Union than some people currently gripe about), rather I suggest we all get smart. Get educated. And get in the political game. After all, it's only our jobs at stake, ALL OUR JOBS! Anyone know the most important part of having well-paying jobs? How about keeping them. Ok, flame on everyone.

Last speculations pointed to Texas, with property being purchased already. The only way they are going to be able to beat Toyota in Texas is to build trucks in Texas. Heck, everyone badges their trucks special in Texas. The parts will be coming up from the Mexican Campuses straight up the NAFTA Highway. It will be a two line flex plant, and will have a capacity of near 500,000 units a year. There are a few people who are researching the land sales for confirmation, but Texas is a big state.

In my opinion, it has more to do with the facility than anything else. Like Norfolk, there is nowhere to go, no room to expand. Add that to the over capacity and it spells doom for a lot of top facilities. If this GM Merger goes ahead, I think you'll see a bigger cut on the US GM Plants too.