imdevo

Overall, I've caculated my income increase has been about 30 cents/hour per year for 30 years {about $9 over 30 yrs}. Would the white-collar workers be OK with that raise? Would it be unreasonable to ask for a lump sum payment for COLA starting around 2010 (or when Ford became profitable again) up to 2023? Is it unreasnable to ask for a better PENSION formula for retirees? "Market Share" doesn't seem to be a factor as PROFITS have increased substantiallly for the "BIG 3". One should question how is it OK when a CEO earns an income in 1 DAY that I earn in 1 YEAR? Let's be competetive and have our execitives earn the same as those at Toyota & Nissan: Good for Japan I suppose, those HVAC workers are helping their economy. We do the work, companies reap the benefits, I'm just looking for a more FAIR trade of my labor for companies' profits.

You do realize that 30 years of service is required for retirement, right? Or a combination of age + years of service, to receive a pension. If I only have 10 years left on this earth at least I can leave knowing that I tried to make your next 10 years of work/life better. Not asking for much, just a fair return for the $$$ Billions in profit each quarter they earn off the backs of you, me, and everyone else in the UAW. One side has always taken and never given back, the other side just takes the scraps that are thrown at them.

Very well stated! This is exactly the scenario at our building (which I won't name because somehow some of my posts were possibly traced back to me & my building chairman had to warn me that there could be repercussions). Hostile work environment, whipsawing new hires vs. Legacy employees, national upper management on-board with local management tactics. No help from anyone. What a disgrace from both HR & National UAW. Obvious to me that the company wants to force Legacy employees out of this division. Ain't gonna happen, I've dug in and gonna fight till the end.

Bin picking is supposed to be 81 lines per hour. New management is trying to increase bulk to impossible numbers by trying to spread all letter routes. Parts division is a Joke! No oversight from either company or Union. HR is just another company tool to support management & their possible illegal actions. WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND - KARMA WILL BE FUN TO WATCH!!

Thanks for the info. After more than 25 yrs of service, shame on me for not knowing all the details of our contracts.

Anyone know how our Union Dues are calculated for our profit sharing? Monthly dues = 2.5 hrs of pay. Profit Sharing = over 4 hrs pay? Is the extra amount payment for the negotiated benefit of receiving Profit Sharing? I know this might sound petty, but I did work my butt off for every cent. And please, now haters, just asking how this was calculated.

Who, exactly, are "we" and "us"? Aren't you a UNION MEMBER like all of "us"? That door you like to talk about swings both ways. Why did you enter the door knowing the situation and then turn against UNION brothers and sisters once you are inside? You are more than welcome to exit the door to work for a non-union shop. Might be hard to accept but we can't protect one from Company abuses without protecting all! Say 5-10 years from now, will you have the same attitude towards the new hires? How low do want our standard of living/work life to go if Ford Motor Co. operates outside the lines of a collectively bargained contract? Just saying...

Very well-stated!!! It seems that since this last contract, Management, with HR's consent, has been allowed to harass, bully, intimidate, and discipline as they want. An overheard statement from salary was that the contractual language were only "guidelines". About time for local leaders to step up and support us hourly grunts, and IUAW to support the local leaders as well as us that create the profits. As far as looking for the door to quit, maybe somebody should have never entered the door into a UNITED WORK FORCE!

Not sure if you are Salary or IUAW with comments like these. But first, I am not a scumbag - (I'd have to have your definition of "scumbag"), and my old man did not get me this job, (I have no relatives that work at Ford). I might leave in 7 years, or maybe 17 years, depending on my financial situation and relative circumstances. I am not lazy, (could probably work circles around you) - so you can take my seniority rhetoric, pull it out my ass and chew on it. Maybe then you might understand some of the aspects of UNIONISM. As far as the other hater, if employees are driving around the lot looking for a closer parking spot, why are they not being docked for being late? or sent to HR for discipline? I am all about helping "new hires" - when they want the help. Problem is the last 2 or 3 contracts has divided our workforce. We really need to get back to being a UNION. Back to the original discussion: who benefits from a kiosk system? OK, you are responsible for your time and pay, eventually will you be responsible for PM on your equipment?, maybe the group leaders will eventually be responsible for discipline? starting & stopping the line? I prefer to show up on time, do the work I'm assigned to do, check the DROT for proper payment, and let the over-payed salary earn a living by pushing some buttons or a pencil to pay me for an honest day's work. This is probably my last post - so typical of this board that it has to turn into a shitshow.

What kind of job do you have that a supervisor "f's" up your pay? An hourly worker is at their work station when the line starts and leaves when the line stops. You get paid for that amount of time. I know Ford hires some poor quality supervisors, but to not pay you for your working time, 3-4 times a month, is hard to believe. In 23+ years I can't think of one time that I didn't get paid for the time I worked. As far as the personal jab, I am not a cupcake, (but I do like eating Hostess brand cupcakes). Not sure but you might need to grow some whiskers and gain some seniority, bid on some jobs, then see how you like being tied to the line like a new-hire that you seem to be. LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE. What is Ford or the IUAW trying to accomplish by implementing a kiosk system, dictating when we can be sick (only 1 fri or mon in a calendar year) etc... The squeeze is on...

Then why do we need a kiosk system to clock in and out?

Seriously??? First off, you know nothing about me, I know nothing about you or your seniority. Not that I really care that you know, but I've worked the line for well over 20 years, grunting on some of the worst jobs in a plant, so I think I've worked for my living.Yep, I know about arriving to work 1/2 hr early to get to my work station and leaving the facility 20 minutes after the line has stopped. This is just the logistics of our careers. I'm just looking at the big picture of what this contract is about... Can't be sick more than once on a Fri or Mon unless you want to enter the "attendance program", kiosks to make sure we are all tied to the line, part-timers to eliminate OT (3rd tier), and what else in the fine print? Don't worry about me needing another job lined up, I'll be OK, but maybe it's about time we start behaving like a United work force.

So at the assembly plant, let's just say the line starts at 6:00 am, if I swipe/time-in at 5:45 to make the trek to my work station by 5:59 to start my shift, and then clock out at 2:45 pm when leaving the building, will I get paid 8.5 hrs? Or, do I clock-in at 5:59, be late to my work station, leave my work station early and clock-out at 2:29, and get paid for 8 hrs? Who is stealing money/time from who in the kiosk system?

I am originally from an assembly plant (20 yrs), so after 2 years I am still trying to get accustomed to a parts facility. From what I understand by the original parts workers, there weren't any numbers that had to picked or put away? Some workers would pick 500 lines and others might pick 300 lines in 8 hours. Now there are set goals to achieve so everyone is supposed to do the same amount of work. With this process some workers find ways to achieve their goals in less than 8 hours, the incentive is to be able to leave a bit early, (similar to working up the line or having a tag-relief job). The company still gets 8 hours of work accomplished. Just seems that with a time-clock the company will get an honest 8 hours of work for 8 hours of pay, regardless of how much work gets done. Again, I am fairly new to this division so I might be way off-base on my line of thinking, but if the company needs a certain amount of work to be completed they should pay us for the amount of work we do, whether it takes 3, 7, 8, or 10 hours to accomplish. We are not tied to an assembly line.

Sad to say I am in agreement as well. The international pretty much sold out the parts division in this contract. We are "red-circled" and considered surplus workers. No more transfers to HVCs. Writing on the wall is the company wants to rid this division of all Legacy - Tier 1 workers. I'll do what I can to fight the good fight.

So True!! Building Chairman has the contractual right to come and go as needed - "union business". Eventually, regardless of classification, (most of us) will all be "tied to the line". Won't matter if I'm a parts picker, tag-relief person, fork driver, or a new hire decking hoods. When the whistle blows we all get to yell Yabba Dabba Do!

It is coming! Implementing first in the parts division May or June. Don't have any details yet other than you must remain at your facility for the entire shift, swiping a time card when you start and when you leave. I think this will come to assembly by 2017. This was some of the small print in our contract, along with the company's free will to hire as many part timers as they want. If our union brothers and sisters would have just read a few pages past the signing bonuses....or if our elected officials would have given us the real details before voting?

Pretty much the same here. Seems like the supervisors have free range to handle disciplinary actions - much different than the assembly plant where everything went through HR. Very frustrating! Seems like our division is the "red-headed step child" (no offense to red haired step children). Supervisors playing favorites with job assignments and favorable picking sign-outs, claiming they have the right to assign work. Might be about time to show the company that we are the United Auto Workers Union..

Do you have an "on sight" HR person for discipline hearings? We are just one small facility in the Midwest and our HR person is located in NY I think. Forced to transfer here 2 years ago and haven't met HR yet. Did your facility get the info on the kiosks (digital timeclocks)? Suppose to start implementing May/June. Has the company started hiring part timers yet? Sorry for all the questions but I'm trying to get all of us on the same page as far as workloads and HVC's futures are concerned.

Fellow HVC workers: Is management trying to raise "expectations" or "goals" at your facilities? Meaning, are they trying to add to your workloads, particularly in stock put-away? At our facility they are want to add numbers to the stock put-away. Would like to know if this is plant specific or nation-wide. Thanks for any input.

Nobody transferring yet, but the new/bad contract got some to retire. We don't have a huge workforce but seeing maybe 20% retire withing the year. Testing for new hires.

An honest day's work for an honest day's pay. At some point Ford decided that there was an expectation - a "number" or amount of work that needed to be accomplished in an 8 hour shift. Unlike the assembly line where we completed our task per unit each minute, at HVCs we can essentially "work up the line" to complete our tasks ahead of schedule, thus allowing the benefit of leaving a bit early if one is efficient. I suppose now with a time clock keeping track to make sure I am not "stealing", I can give Ford 8 hours of work for 8 hours of pay. Let's hope the Dealers get the parts on time!

This is how I think I understand the language of our new contract concerning HVC's: No transfers, only new hires. This I know: Within months Ford is implementing "kiosks", basically digitally time clocks so we will have to swipe in and out for our work hours - no leaving early even if our workload is met before 8 hours. (This is coming soon to assembly plants - how will relief workers, hi-low drivers, skilled trades, etc. like this system?) IMO, by the next contract Ford will try to eliminate all tier 1 workers from HVCs, either by a "buydown" in wages or worse just take a pay cut or transfer to an assembly plant. Now before all the haters start attacking the HVC workers, let's remember we are all Union workers, brothers and sisters! I have worked both and would go back to assembly in a heartbeat if I could make it work for my family having to move several states across country. This last contract had some bad mojo, and 51%(?) of voters didn't see some of this coming.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-09/detroit-to-mexico-shift-predicted-after-auto-union-s-big-victory Sorry I'm not to good at attaching links, but try to go to this article by David Welch at Bloomberg News. Amazing that yes voters fell for the dangling carrot ($$$) over our heads. Short-term gain for long-term pain! Pay extra attention to the info about cost of labor in building vehicles. The future does not look very good for the UAW.

And for icing on the cake:... Signing bonus #1 - International takes UNION DUES Signing bonus #2 - (our profit sharing paid in advance) International takes UNION DUES Profit Sharing in March - International takes UNION DUES How much of a bonus (our money) did the International make from these negotiations?