BTV to SHV Transferee

No comment on the brake issue...... It needs to be fixed. The FLEX design is geared at the 20-30 somethings just as the Scion Xb & Honda Element is. The 35-60 crowd doesnt like the Scion or the Honda, but something seems to be selling with the box design. The Honda Element seems to be selling well with the 60+ (semi) retired more affluent crowd. Honda quit putting the bigger surfboard sunroof in the Element because the 60+ crowd thought it was too big. The Element was marketed toward the California surf crowd. The Scion Xb is selling well with college students, the 'Gamer crowd', college & high school teachers. Scion (Toyota) got smart and immediatly associated the Xb with the X-box and Sony Playstation 3 although there really isnt a relationship between Toyota and Microsoft or Sony. Look in any college of high school parking lot in any major city and see if you dont see at least 10 Scion's or Element's per 300 cars. That is the market the Flex is aimed at, although three years to late!

Read this article and then tell everyone how much you'd rather not belong to the UAW or any Union. Click here---> Employee-At-Will. This reason alone is worth the $$$$ in Union dues.

It's al part of being an "Employee-At-Will"... here is a great article just published April 4th in the Cincinnati Enquier ---- Click Here---> Employee-At-Will ,FIRED for any reason!. These guys didnt have a chance and still dont!

Now that all the UAW bashers have had their turn bashing the UAW for organizing Toyota, lets see why the UAw really needs to organize Toyota. It has nothing to do with dues money. It has everything to do with what the UAW has gained for the Unionized worker for the last 65 years. The same thing the Steelworkers, Teamsters, UFCW, Machinist, Textile workers have faced for 20 years or better. Taking the jobs off shore to be made with cheap labor and bringing the goods back home to be sold at a premium price. When the UAW bargains for with the 'Big 3' they really bargain for all auto plants. The un-organized plants all have pay and benefits similar to the 'Big 3' to keep the Union (UAW or any other Union) out. It isnt up to the company to keep the Union out, it actually up to the employee, but if the company doesnt want the employee to have a voice, they shut them up with $$$$. $$$$$ talks loud and when it is given, it's called 'paid silence'. It's all about CONTROL. For years companies have been fighting Union's because it takes 90% control away from the company. Pay, benefits, work rules & safety are no longer dictated by a boss sitting behind a desk telling 2,500 workers what to do second by second. The Union doesnt let the same boss change the rules as he sees fit for the moment. It also doesnt let him have favorites to pit one employee against the other (divide and conquer). Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai all use temp employees. Why? Because of the low wages and no benefits which means higher profits. If you actually think KIA in Georgia is going to hire full time employees for their new plant, think again. Only Honda has all full time regular employees. I'm not a Honda lover, but at least they have full time employees with an actual pension and benefits. 30% of Toyota's employees work for Toyota. The other 70% = temps. Hyundai went one step further, they imported 60% of their workforce from Korea! Can you say a whole new "Little Seoul" will pop up in Georgia around the new KIA plant? Why does the UAW continue to send fat white guys down to the southern states, where the workers are primarily black and/or hispanic to organize? The first thing that pops into the workers mind is, "I'm not joining whitey's Union'. The UAW needs to send the same demographic of people that work in the plants. Also, they need to spell out about how 'right-to-work' is nothing but exploitation of the workers. EDUCATION folks. I understand that most of these workers have never had a decent paying job and now that they do, they dont want to rock the boat. $14.00hr looks really good when you are used to making only $6-$8.00 hr most of your working life. The company put the fear into you how you will loose your income due to strikes and "high Union dues". Again, EDUCATION! The UAW needs these workers to be Union for the sake of industry to be on a level playing field. Hyundai has already said they want to import trucks when the wonderful republican president signs the free trade agreement with Korea.

Hey JIMBO, wasnt it thouroughly explained to you that the FED IRS would get the $25,000 off the top? Also, wasnt it thouroughly explained to you about state and/or local taxes? I believe it was and why is it a shock to everyone who post on here? You will probably get a good portion of that $25,000 back in your 2007 tax return.

I was approached by a person who said that they had a 'friend' that was an SHV commiteeman who was going around saying that the BTV & SHV Chairmen where "hiding secret info about bringing closing plant commiteemen and their relatives to SHV and holding back bringing BTV workers into SHV so high seniority people from AAP could come in". I then asked the person who the commiteeman was, but they declined to name them. I then asked the person with the story to send the commiteeman to me for further questions, again, they declined to say which one it was. As he was rallying up the troops with his story, I then debunked it. I told him if he actually gone to any Local, SHV ot BTV Unit meetings, then he would know the truth. In truth, the BTV labor relation will not release anyone to goto SHV becasue they fear that they will not have the properly trained manpower to staff the plant. As the buyout language says, the company has the right to release you as per staffing needs. BTV is releasing people for the buyouts, but not to go to SHV. I explained this to the crowd this guy had gathered up and quickly, poof, his story died. If you cant put a name with the information, then 99.9% of the time, the story is garbage. Again in this case also. CD4EMAN is correct, BTV people have first dibs at the open jobs in SHV before anyone else does. This story come about on the floor at a time when all the regular commitee persons are in Detroit. Thats usually when the extreme rumors start, when they are all out of town.

The value of our jobs are already being reduced in pay and benefits. We gave up our 2006 pay raise to help pay for retirement healthcare (for which I still agree with). A portion of COLA is being placed into the Retiree healthcare (for which I still agree with). We have sacrificed building services jobs such as snow plowers, shit house cleaners, carpenters, in house construction only trades, painters, power house, waste treatment, oilers, pumpers and soon General Stores and cutter grinders. All schoolhouse, daycares and workout centers are gone in June of this year. So, in effect, we have taken a pay decrease in the value of our jobs already. ***** my prediction only ***** modest 3% pay gain throughout the life of the next contract, not each year. A 1 hour wage cost per employee to pay for healthcare, regardless of single or family. No increase in co-pays. A $1,000 signing bonus. A small incrase in ETAP, since 90% of the workforce doesnt use ETAP anyway. No rollover of ETAP funds from year to year. GEN, 6 months throughout the life of the agreement, then you must do volunteer work. SUB will be fully funded. All remaining employees will be GEN protected for LIFE! <---- this is a must! Again, my prediction only! BTV to SHV

"Little Stevie Vai will play a nice composition on the guitar. That Steve Vai, what a nice little boy!" "That sounds like noise MR. VAI!"

No swing shift. I dont know where you got that info. Cutter Grind & General Stores will bid their jobs against an outside contractor. Center shop isnt going anywhere. Sweeper cleaners and restroom cleaners will be bid to an outside company. A total of 40 jobs were given up for 600 jobs.

And what part of the Farm did we give up? Most of what was in the new COA was already in current local and national agreements. Most machine & bore operators do the minor maintenance already. Show me a bore operator that doesnt change his own tools or a machine operator that doesnt get out jammed parts or put oil/lube into his machine. FN has been doing that for years. We did give up the toilet cleaning jobs. We are outsourcing the powerhouse work to Duke Energy but not the workers. The powerhouse workers just wont be replaced with Ford workers, Duke will bring in their own as the Ford workers retire or take a buyout. Gage-Layout and Cutter-Grind workers will get a chance to bid their work in-house and show the company why its better to have them in-house. We didnt give up the farm, we did have to give a few pigs though!

First off, what the hell does Black Lake or the fitness centers have to do with MI being a right-to-work state? NOTHING! Believe me, you dont want MI becoming a right-to-work state. By chance, do you even know what a right to work state is and how it was formed? Right to work states are primarily in the south because of the high southern republican thought process. And yes, there was a racial motivation behind right-to-work. Minorities are more likely to join a Union than taditional whites, so, the primarily white republicans made their states right-to-work so the white workers wouldnt have to join a Union with a black person. Now, this isnt the reason they tell you why right-to-work was legislated, they official reason was to have a person choose to join or not to join a Union and not loose their job or have to pay Union dues for things other than bargaining, like political stuff. I am in no way a thinker of the black man is always being kept down by whitey, but right-to-work legislation is primarily 90% racially motivated. All you have to do is look at NAP or AAP. They were both is right-to-work states and I would bet that 99% of the black workers were in the Union and 90% of the whites. Most who opt out of the Union in a right-to-work state know that they really have no say in their pay and benefits. The Union still has the say so because they represent the majority of the workers, therefore you cant go represent yourself and negotiate for yourself. The Union still has to defend you or file a grievance but they do have to arbitrate for you.

First of all, your Union building Chairman and all Committeman are paid on the drot just like you are. Your Union dues does not pay for their services. You are correct, 99% of most places where a Union is representing the labor doesnt have a committee much less a Chairperson. They usually just have a shop Steward that works out on the floor just like Joe Average. The Steward is the liason between the Union and the company on all aspects of their labor agreement. I personally prefer the Chairperson and Committee people. The give you instant representation (I know what your thinking!). A shop Steward has to get their Union's business Rep at the plant to solve any issues and that could take weeks if not months! If the company and Union business Rep cant seem to get along, they can kick the Rep off the property. Then the Union will file an NLRB charge and the hurry up and wait cycle continues! At NuTone in Cincinnati, Ohio, paid representation was the only thing that made the company lock-out the Union. They agreed to pay-benefits-work rules. NuTone kicked the Union in the nut-sack with the paid representation aspect. The Union agreed to work under the old contract, but NuTone locked them out. NuTone didnt even try to run the plant with temps or scabs. NuTone was going to move all plant production to Texas, China & Mexico. They couldnt do it if they had a labor agreement, so they locked the UAW out and in came the non-union rigging company. The Union stayed strong for around 1 year, then after the final machine was moved, NuTone gave the 60 day WARN notice and poof, they were gone! So, will Ford, GM & Chrysler do the same? NO! They are hurting too much for any strike or lock-out. Paid Reps are our best bet, plus they are at the plant 24/7 ready to tackle just about any issue.

First of all, Ford CAN NOT have an arbitrator or the government decide the contract. I believe you are refereing to a Federal mediator from the Federal Mediation Conciliation Service, which is a branch of the U.S. Department of Labor. All the mediator from the FMCS does is play referee and has no voice. Only the companies covered under the Railway Act (U.S. Postal Service, Air Traffic Controllers, ALL Railroads, UPS, FedEx and the Longshormen) can the government intervene (1982 - Good Ole' Ronald Reagan firing all the PATCO Air Traffic Controllers - 1996 Teamsters Strike UPS but Pres. Bill Clinton didnt enforce the Railway Act provison to do so). As defined in the National Labor Relations Act and the Taft-Hartley Act, both the Union and company must bargain in good faith with each other. If one side decides that the other isnt willing to bargain in good faith, then they can request a mediator from the FMCS. If the mediator then believes that one side isnt bargaining in good faith, then they will have a NLRB charge against the offending party. If and 99% of the time, a NLRB charge is for 'bad faith bargaining', usually the NLRB charge will result in either a 'lockout' by the company or a 'Strike' by the Union until the NLRB charge is cleared up. Now there is your civics lesson for today! NO Ford cant have the government force us into a contract. BTW- Chrysler got guaranteed loans from the U.S. Government, not a 100% cash bailout!

Why are there foks running around the Sharonville plant with copies of the Yahoo internet report (or whatever site has it posted) about Ford workers maybe taking 20% cut in pay and benefits as the basis for the 2007 contract? They act like the contract has already been negotiated and is a done deal. The 'Industry Anylist" is just that, he is paid the anylise the industry for banks and investment firms. And it is just his opinion what the UAW should do. We all have an opinion about the next contract, this was just his. But people on the floor at SHV taking this report as the basis for the next contract. I guess those who are running and telling evryone the 'Scoop' are wanting the shit to flow. When the anylist says "20% cut in pay and benefits' he means wage freeze and contribution to the active & retiree health care plans. You can have a wage freeze and be a cut at the same time. If you didnt get a pay increase then the value of your job was just cut! When we voted for the 2006 wage increase to be placed into the cost of retiree health care, that was a wage cut! I see a wage feeze and at least an hours wage each week for health insurance. Again, that just my opinion, dont go running 'round the plant saying that this is in the next contract. BTV to SHV

Is Ford Burying the EDGE just like they did the 500/Montego/Freestyle? In the Saturday newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio, which usually has all local dealership ads, only 3 Ford and Allied dealers advertised. 2 were Ford dealerships with only 1 mentioning the EDGE (that they had them in stock) and the other was a Mercury/Lincoln ad that canvased all local Mercury/Lincoln dealerships in the area. Not one mention of the MKX. 'Toy'motor on the other hand had 9 ads with 7 mentioning the new 'Junk'tra. Ford, you gotta tell the people what you have, they will look and they just might buy. I guess that the EDGE will be a flop just like the 500/Montego/Freestyle. How about in your area?

Supposedly, 90 or so salaried are taking retirement or a salried buyout next friday.

I wasnt commenting directly at you Hendew, but you have been putting your 2 cents worth into the question, so if you want to take it as directed at you, then so be it. Those who were hired in at SHV in 2000 and were on layoff, then were given out-of-zone oppotunities, accepted them and moved, got the chance to come back to their RTBU, but their Base Unit didnt have openings. The Batavia people voted to become Ford employees and BTV was ready to hire more, but the Union said 'No Way' when we have people with RTBU to SHV that can Transfer into BTV through SHV. They did indeed sign paperwork with full knowledge that they cant come back to SHV until at least Sept 2007. For them to transfer back, there has to be 1 SHV worker and 1 BTV worker willing to trade places, with full knowledge that their home plant will change also. With BTV closing, they now have to wait in line like everyone else with BTV home plant to get into SHV through IZP. They knew it then ,they know it now, they just wont admit it to anyone else. They cry cry cry how they got screwed. These same people cant get over the fact that ZF was not a Ford facility and thats why they couldnt come to BTV in 2000 when they were on layoff. They cry cry cry every day. Boo Hoo! Here's some tissues.

I'm not going to pick a fight, but those that were out of town, flowed through SHV to BTV using the Transfer Agreement 1 for 1, gave up their SHV home plant rights. That is the point of the Transfer Agreement. Those that did that know what they did, but they wont admit to it. Its the same bunch that wants the former ZF employees that voted to become Ford employees in Sept 2004 to loose all their seniority and start their Ford seniority over at Jan 1, 2005. Sorry folks, that isnt going to happen. They even tried to get the Intl to go along with them and say the vote from the former ZF employees was illegal. That has bombed in their face also. These same people are even saying they are going to sue over the whole ZF vote. Good luck. First of all, go to the NLRB and I'll bet the farm they will tell you the vote was legal. If you do get a lawyer to take your case, they will tell you what eveer the NLRB decides will decide their case. But I bet that they wont give the lawyer all the facts up front. Go ahead and waste your money.

To all Sharonville employees taking the buyouts, maybe you should use the 1 for 1 transfer agreement to transfer to BTV and when your release date comes up, you will avoid paying the Sharonville city tax of $1700 on the $100,000 buyout. You would also save the SHV city tax on the education and Early Retirment programs also. Batavia township doesnt have this tax, so it would benefit 2 people in the process. The one with the buyout and the one that wants to get to SHV sooner rather than later. Just a thought! BTV to SHV

For what ever reason, when the sign out front was changed and painted over, people in the building made a big deal about it. Then it turned into a game about who the new owners were. What elese was the sign going to say other than Batavia Transmissions LLC? There was a banner covering the ZF logo, and BTV Trans was in violation of zoning laws for banners. They were in violation for over a year. The county said remove the banner and paint the sign or remove the sign altogether. Drive past the Wyler or Holman dealerships on SR 32 and see how long their banners stay up. They have to get 30 day permits for each one!

Not worried abouy you taking my job, there will probably be an opening for you here!

When those people returned from AAP to BTV, they flowed through SHV to BTV using the Transfer Agreement, they signed documentation to get them there, knowing full well that they now have BTV home plant rights, giving up their SHV rights , they can not try to transfer back untill Sept 14, 2007 If they tell you different, they are lying to you! That is what the Transfer Agreement is for 1 for 1. Mark my words, they have BTV home plant, that is where they will stay untill an opening at SHV is there for them either through the Job Security Agreement or In Zone Placement!

First of all, there is no one at BTV from SHV. They were all recalled to SHV the week of Jan 1, 2007 for fill in openings for the people who have taken the buyouts. Second, those who were recalled from BTV to SHV with a Feb 1, 2007 release date came to SHV through IN-ZONE PLACEMENT (IZP) and bitched about being recalled. So they were given a chance to stay until yesterday or they could have left on Jan 22, 2007, get short work week for that week and ride the next week out on unemployment and SUB. All 30 or so who was asked, left that day. Some were surveyed from BTV to come to SHV, but they all had a FEB 1, 2007 release date. SHV didnt want the sme thing to happen again, so they were not recalled to SHV. Now with 50 or so more released Feb 1, 2007 from SHV, that leave about 80 or so jobs open. How are they to be filled? IZP ? JSA? No one knows right now. Next item, read the Local Agreement. The Transfer Agreement is a 1 for 1. No one from SHV will sign up for the 1 for 1, so the agreement is kinda dead. The Job Security Agreement would allow people from BTV to fill openings in SHV, but only for a maximum of 48 weeks, then they have to return to BTV. SHV will have to probably fill the openings through a IZP bid process sign up from BTV. Seniority will rule. Example: 80 jobs are open, sign up sheet in BTV, 80 highest seniority people sign up, the 80 get the jobs. Temp help wanted sign goes up for BTV, or consolidation of jobs. I'm sure they will consolidate jobs at BTV before they hire TFT's Just my theory on how this will play out, No Facts os of yet. As for a petition to keep the BTV out of SHV, that rumor has been going around for years! SHV people can ask for it to be dropped through their local agreement, but that has to be negotiated!

Gee, what took them so damn long? The mondeo should have been brought here 5 years ago. So should the Focus C-Max. The Focus C-Max has a Batavia built CVT transmission that gets 55 miles to the gallon. Talk about waiting to jump out of the plane after it has crashed!

Wasnt Lyndon LaRouche, you know, the guy who always ran for President from prison, always bought 30 minutes of network airtime for his campaign jargin, in prison for the same thing, tax evasion? Didnt he always tell everyone to 'opt out' of the tax system? Look what it got him, life in prison, where he died. Go ahead, 'opted out'. See where it gets you. No one likes to pay taxes, but next time you need Fire-EMS-Police services, schools, mail, road work, water & sewage treatment and on and on....... If you needed one of those tax provided services and you choose to 'opt-out' and were on the list of those who did 'opted-out', then I guess if your house was on fire, who would you call for help?? Thats right, you 'Opted-Out"!