mrballsonya

Yeah... What PFA and Objectsinmirror said. Follow that protocol and you'll get your money. If you deviate from the protocol, everything will get screwed up. No one likes the process, but it's much better than starving. Good luck Brother. -_-

I agree 100%. As an owner of a Dodge SRT4, I've always viewed GM's decision to Supercharge the original Cobalt SS as an extremely foolish decision. The "Import Tuner" scene has always focused mainly on Turbocharging as the power adder of choice. Compared to Supercharged OEM cars, Turbo OEM cars have always been much easier to extract "cheap" power. I viewed the original Cobalt SS as a unfortunate side affect of misinformed product planners and clueless executives. But from everything I've read recently (Car&Driver, Sport Compact Car, & Motor Trend), the new Cobalt SS, is the real deal. In my opinion the styling of the Cobalt is just average, and from what I've read the interior quality isn't the greatest. But It seems that GM definitely hit a home run as far as the handling and performance bang for the buck ratio goes. After 80,000 trouble free miles on my UAW built Dodge SRT4, I'm not ready to give it up just yet..... But If I did, the new Cobalt SS would be my car of choice. Are you listening Ford? The Mazdaspeed3 is great, but I want to buy a Ford.

You're out of your friggin' mind. McCain = more of the same, Obama = Change. The Change could be worse, or could be better... I tend to believe that after 8 years of "MORONIC LEADERSHIP" any change would be an improvement. Anybody but another Bush/Clinton/ or McCain in 08.

I hate to say it, but for once I agree with Dick-Head DAV. I don't think it's right, but in this global (middle class eliminating) economy, cleaners will no longer make $80K+. I know this is a very sad reality to a lot of my union brothers and sisters, but there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. The corporation friendly foreign trade policies, and public anti-union sentiment have guaranteed this. Union workers will no longer dictate policy, we'll take whatever we're given. This sucks, I know because I'm in the same situation as most of you are. My Job (JSP Wixom) currently pays $10 an hour more, than I'd be able to earn anywhere else. Try finding a job, that currently pays what you make. I think most of you will be very surprised. U.A.W. workers have already conceded to an inevitable reality, we are no longer needed. And because no one wants us, we no longer have any power, and thus we take what we're given. I hope you CAW guys remain strong, and resist this anti-Union contract. But in reality I don't see any other option. Buzz is putting a Band-aid on a festering wound. He's doing the best he can in a war type situation, If your not given the supplies (power), then the best you can do is a Band Aid. Good luck, in this Global Economy Fellas, you're going to need it.

Thanks for all the info Level, It's much appreciated. :beerchug:

This isn't true, I'm almost 100% positive that all 16 of us signed up for something. Level, you seem to be very knowledgeable when it comes to these matters, so I'd like to ask you a couple of questions. 1) If ACH plants have certain trades in JSP, are they combined with Ford plants that also have JSP's, and thus put in the same seniority pool for Ford job postings? 2) Under current contractual language, If trades are never "offered" a job (and by offered, I mean not enough seniority to obtain a job opening) , are we still only limited to 2 years in the JSP? ...... There's an ongoing debate about this, amongst us Wixom JSP'ers. The way I read the contract, it sounds like 2 years is the Max in JSP...Unconditionally. Am I wrong? I sure hope so. Thanks for your help brother.

Hey Rusty, how long have you guy's had 3 M/W's in JSP? Do you recall the date on which you guys were first offered these job postings? I'm just trying to figure out why SRP wasn't included as one of the contenders on our original job posting list. So if you guy's had 3 M/W's in JSP, and 3 SRP M/W's got jobs, does that mean you guys no longer have any M/W's left in JSP? How many total M/W's do you guys have left?

Well, we here at Wixom finally got our list posted yesterday. One thing that I found rather strange, was how 2 Millwrights from Sheldon Road managed to get bids, when according to our postings Sheldon Road wasn't even in the fray. The Millwright Job postings that we were offered, supposedly only went to 4 plants... and Sheldon Road wasn't one of them. Four Wixom Millwrights got lucky and made the cut. After their departure, we'll be down to eleven left in JSP.

Hallelujah, I'm glad you've finally had your "Captain723" epiphany. It's totally obvious that either he's very bored, or just very uninformed. I really can't tell you if he's just an egomaniac, or if he's deliberately trying to muddy up the information process. Either way, I personally hold the validity of his posts, somewhere between pond scum and horse shit. Oh crap.... I forgot. The Cap knows everything about everybody. Maybe I should watch my back. :hysterical:

Hey Indy, is that number just ACH plants or is it 40 MW's throughout the Ford system? I believe there's 13 of us left, here at Wixom Assembly.

I hate to be a buzzkill, but nowhere in the article did the Detroit Free Press declare the Focus "great". The Focus is definitely selling well, as most small cars currently are in the U.S. . One has to wonder how many profitable SUV sales have been sacrificed in the name of buying a Focus. I personally know of two Ford families that have switched from a Expedition and Explorer to a Wayne built Focus. This is great news for my fellow UAW workers at Wayne, but it's terrible news for Ford Motor Company. According to Ford, They make little if nothing off of Wayne built Focus. Congratulations to Wayne assembly, I'm glad you guys are staying busy. Critically, the "New" Focus has been panned in comparison to its Japanese and European Rivals. Evidentially American consumers don't read car mags, and for this I'm glad. If they're happy, I'm happy.

Very eloquent Cap, I would've expected nothing less from you. So how exactly have I pointed my finger at the U.A.W.? Was it my posed question about who exactly is screwing us? If thats the case then I'd have to say that First off, it was a question and not a statement and secondly I indicted both union officials (NOT THE ENTIRE U.A.W.) as well as Labor Relations/HR. If you feel that this is "pointing the finger at the UAW" then so be it, but I don't. I know in your idealistic, Swashbuckling, Star Wars fantasy world, there's no reason to question authority. However here in the real world we must hold our leaders feet to the fire, If we don't, they seem to have a certain proclivity to do whatever they want. But before I get too philosophical and preachy, let me get back to the subject at hand. It's obvious that no one on this board has any concrete answers as to why this process is taking such a long time. Level has brought up some very realistic theories, but he freely admits that he is far from having all the answers. I think much of the ire on this board, could be quelled if the company and or union would just be a little more forthright with its information. A simple update bulletin would be a great first step. Once again, I'd like to say that there's no amount of excuses or explanations that can account for the amount of time its taken for the Welder job postings to be assigned here at Wixom. According to the Welder Job postings, Wixom was the only plant that these bids would be offered to. There were two jobs available and we only have six Welders left. There's no reason, for it to take almost three weeks to get those guys assigned. Someone, somewhere, must have screwed up.

I can only hope that Ford Motor Co. isn't being run as ineptly, as this flowback/transfer process would indicate. If these morons can't follow a simple contractual hierarchy, then we're all doomed. I just can't fathom the purported confusion about these job transfers, it's simply a matter of reading the contract and knowing an employees trade seniority date. So who's screwing us? Is it our Union officials or Labor relations/HR? I'd really like to know. To whom should I direct my tremendous angst, about this debacle of a process? To me, Its become fully evident, that our livelihoods are currently hanging in the balance of decisions being made by Clowns and Chimps. If you've got an especially moronic Labor Relations rep/ local Union, then you might get lucky and land a Job.... or conversely you might just get screwed out of a job. Basically, it's a crap shoot. Good luck everybody, looks like it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

I know you guys are talking about the ACH Flowback "List", so I'm sorry if I deviate to far from the subject at hand. Here at Wixom Assembly, we only have Tradesmen and Welder Machine Repairmen(red lined) left in our JSP. On Wednesday, March 26th, job postings for Millwrights, Pipe fitters, Toolmakers, Welders and Industrial Truck repair were posted. These jobs were scattered around the metro Detroit area (Wayne Assembly, Dearborn Truck, R & E etc.). We had to place our bids, no later than Friday, March 28th. Labor relations gave us only two days to make our decisions, and know we've been waiting for more than two weeks for the results. Now I would totally understand the lengthy wait, if this bid process involved all the ACH plants as well as all the plants in the Ford system. BUT according to the bid sheets, in some cases (Welder), these job bids only went up in one plant (Wixom). Millwright postings only went up in 4 plants, So my question is.... What the hell is taking so long? At the very least, the Welders should've been notified on Monday the 31st, I mean come on.... one plant, 6 Welders, 2 Job openings..... Wow.... Its not Rocket Science. In our case something else has to be going on.

If that picture really is an accurate representation of what the 2010 production Taurus will look like, then this is fantastic news. I think it looks great, Mullaly was right "the 2010 Taurus, is what the current Taurus should have been from the beginning".

Well said MSP, I agree 100%. It still baffles me, how quickly this Black and White contractual language turns into meaningless Grey B.S. . For Christ sake, why even put this crap in the contract if the Union had no intention of following its own placement hierarchy. I'm so tired of this shit. Just when I think there might be a little light at the end of the tunnel, some high ranking Union official decides that part of the contract isn't suiting his buddies all that well, so he feels the need to "look into the matter further". Apparently Wixom Assembly Plant has No high ranking union "Champions", or If I'm mistaken, and we really do have people fighting for us; then they must be the only ones downtown, that posses any semblance of ethics. Either way, it seems that us Wixomites are F*CKED.

Man.... Imagine that..... $60,000,000. It took Alan Mulally, almost two whole years of hard work to make that much. :shades:

I often disagree with most of what you post, but this is pretty good stuff. A lot can be said for good ole' fashion discipline. What ever happened to accountability? As a society, we are headed in the wrong direction.

I don't know what to say!! I read this.... and said to myself, "this can't be the same Young, Vibrant, and Personable Mark Conley that I knew". This must be some other, much older Mark Conley. This really is unbelievable. I just can't imagine what his family is going through right now. I didn't know Mark all that well. I only worked with him for a couple of weekends back in 2001. But Mark was such an amicable Guy, that a couple weekends of working together, was all it took to like the guy. We never had any deep and meaningful conversations, but we always waved in passing or stopped to chat. This is so sad. My greatest condolences to his family.

The Main point obviously, would be to show what a poorly designed and engineered product looks like when crashed at 35mph. The Chinese cars are coming, it's only a matter of when and not if. Why not be proactive, and start raising some safety doubts in the minds of the American consumer? After seeing some of the Chinese crash photo's that have been floating around on the Bon, I know I've become very skeptical of "Chinese Cars" in general.

I think the Taurus actually looks better crashed :shades: ...... just kidding. The crash performance of the Taurus is truly phenomenal, Kudos to the engineers. This car will save many lives, and the Engineers should be very proud of that. It's really ashame that such a terrific car, is concealed in such an unappealing shell. I think this crashed car display is a terrific idea. Albeit an idea that was taken straight from the marketing 101 text book, Focus on the products strengths (safety), and not the products weaknesses (styling). Why did it take so long for the Ford marketing team to come up with this? From the very beginning of the 500, I've been critical of the bland styling and lack of power. Ford addressed the power issue with the introduction of the 3.5, and finally the car had the power that it should've launched with. Unfortunately for Ford, the added power of the 3.5 and the "3 bar grill" styling update, still didn't help the Taurus stand out in a very crowded marketplace. Ford should definitely build on this "safety driven" marketing campaign. Does anyone know if they show 35mph crash pictures of the competition in the display? They should. Maybe Ford should display 35MPH crash pictures of that cheap Chinese SUV, I don't recall the make, the one that crumpled up like an accordion in crash tests. The Taurus crash photos would be very impressive when compared to that Chinese P.O.S.

As the common saying goes "Misery loves company", and in my case it's true. I'm glad to hear, that I'm not the only one that seems to be extremely dissatisfied with the current direction of our Country. I can only hope that there are many others like us, and soon we will unite and empower each other. I know that I sound very idealistic, but man, am I pissed. This Is Our Country!

As silly as it might sound, the pen is mightier than the sword. Words can incite millions. The sword is absolute, but it does have its flaws, it's usually a temporary solution to an ongoing problem. Force is not always the answer.

Thanks, I felt very impassioned yesterday. I'm so tired of hearing bad news. We have to start organizing all the people that have been disenfranchised by our current governmental system. This is OUR Country not the Corporations.

Who took our Country away from us? Who, and or what entity is to blame? You can make arguments for many singular instances, such as.. 9/11, "the war on Terror", tax cuts in the midst of a war, unfair trade agreements, foreign currency manipulation, the Sub-prime lending collapse, high gas prices, or even faceless corporate greed..... these are but a few of the countless contributors to the current decline of our country. So, to whom should we direct our angst? I believe there is one common denominator in this contrived equation. To me, it seems that all of the aforementioned problems, could've been and should've been addressed and or solved by our elected officials. You remember, those men and women that the MAJORITY of us voted into office, the very same ones that should be looking out for our best interests. Unfortunately for me and you, as normal tax paying citizens (voters), Corporations hold a lot more clout in Washington than us. We as a Nation, have allowed a governmental system that essentially casts a blind eye to legalized bribery (P.A.C. contributions). U.S. citizens just can't compete with rich corporations when it comes to political "Donations". We can't afford to send "lobbyists" with a satchel full of money every time a proposal comes up that might effect us. We must stand idly by, as every new senator or new house rep gets thrown into the same perverse, corrupt, flawed system. Decisions have been made, and will continue to be made in the best interest of corporations.....and not the American people. Until we as a people get really angry, this same system will perpetuate and essentially return to the basic Feudal system of the dark ages. Get out your history books. We as the majority(peasants, farmers, slaves) will serve the Lords(Governments, Corporations), who will serve the King (President). As ironic as it might sound... your DEM or REP vote means nothing. Why is this? Because it doesn't matter who you send to Washington, DEM or REP, they eventually will become corrupted by the system. As soon as they hit the Beltway, they'll stop looking out for our best interests, and start looking out for theirs. I don't blame them, everyone knows that greed and power consumes. It's been this way since the dawn of time. So who do I blame? I blame Us. Thats right. You, me and the rest of our 300,000,000 countrymen. We have became utterly complacent, we no longer organize and protest. We no longer get angry. We no longer question bad leadership. Essentially we've taken for granted all the rights that our forefathers fought for. We have become a Totalitarian, faux Democratic society. A society in which we're so busy working, that we don't seem to care whats going on. Tell me, whats the use in voting, if the same person with a different face gets elected every time? We need Change. Drastic Change. Revolutionary change. How many of you are happier now, than you were 10 years ago? How many of you believe that our Country is progressing and not regressing? How many of you feel that your children will have a better quality of life than you? If you answered yes to any of those questions, than you are by far the minority, and must be part of the ruling 5%. The Ruling 5%, whats that? That's the portion of our society that has invented something, discovered something, exploited someone, or is the heir to someone that has done these previous deeds. As a capitalistic society, these behaviors have to be examined, admired, and propagated. We have to make sure that every working class grunt has this same motivation, no matter how false it may be. Otherwise this 19th century, Gold rush/lottery, Pipe dream mentality will be dissolved, and our whole capitalistic belief system and work ethic would be decimated. If peasants don't think that if they work hard, they'll get a better life, then they won't work hard and they won't think outside the box. This is the whole beauty of capitalism, and catholicism for that matter, any average sinner can achieve and succeed. This is the capitalistic, catholic way. Our Country is severely broken, and desperately needs fixing. Our Country has way to many problems for one singular man or woman to solve. To think that a different President elect, will solve all our problems, is to be naive. All we can hope for, is an uprising and overthrow. I know this sounds extremely drastic, but in my mind it's the only way to take our country back from our Corporate controlled government. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!