tcap for now

i would love to get a buyout and work till the end. but my guess is all buyout takers out the door by march at tcap and temps starting around the same time.

i have 5 years and im 31. i would stay if tcap was not closing. all most evryone i know who doesnt qualify for the 140k or early retirement would stay. a lot of us actually like our jobs and wish they werent going away. but since tcap has no future what would you do? there are a lot of PEOPLE with different things going on in their lives to say why they are staying or going. people are not leftovers except in cases of cannibals and plane crash survivors.

does our a-plan terminate the same day we do with the cash buy out? or does it continue for a while after?

id rather give the irs an interest free loan than come up short and have to pay. plus its like having money in reserve at tax time. a nice tax return always feels good even if it already was my money.

tcap, 5 years, and 31. if the plant weren't closing i would stay, if i didn't like my family i could transfer. so it will be a buyout for me. i need to find out more about the education buyouts before i decide which one. stuff like how and when are paid. or ill take the 100k.

since it only a dream anyway ill buy ford motor comapny

i heard 16hr but we wont be there to see it unless you transfer

i was thinking today that it doesnt matter what i do. cash buyout will pay me about a year and 4 months wages after taxes with 6 months medical. no dental or vision. and cobra for 6 months. which i could use to pay off my truck and other bills allowing me to make less money and still get by. and letting me pay my bills while i look for a new job. tuition buyout, i can learn a new career that might pay the same but im in school full time for 4 years with half pay. half pay wont cover my bills for at least 2 years when my truck and stuff are paid off. so id have to work at night to make my bills. but have benefits for 4 years. (probably the best option i have still) dont take a buy out, and as far as i know get paid till at least sept 2007 even if tcap closes by contract. --IF the plant stays open till sept 2008 and i keep working i will make more than 100k between now and then and have 2 years benefits, 2 years tuition assistance, and maybe even some overtime. id have no problem working for the money but we have no guarantee of the plant being open that long. i will be amazed if we are around come contract time. they all come out about the same and no matter what before 2009 i will be at a new job. at least at tcap we had enough notice to start reducing bills.

and what happens if you don't maintain a "c" average?

so having less than 10 years seniority and with tcap having less than 2 years left, its not worth staying, cant transfer because of family. so its only 100k or the tuition plan. lets see, cut my salary in more than half, add daycare because ill be in school in the day. it doesnt leave much for bills. but id have benefits. or take the 100k and hope for a new job with money to cover bills while i look with no guarantee of decent money. for plants that are closing there is no good deal. but i agree its better than the nothing we would get anywhere else

i love my job too. but that doesnt make any difference. the plant is closing so if i can get a decent buyout i can get another year seniority at a new job. (i will try like hell for a union job). it would be about the same for me to be in gen with benefits till contract as it would to take a 100k buyout. plus i would prefer to work till the place closes. now if they raise the offer to say 150k then it would be worth taking since im sure if gen is even arount after contract it wont be the same. now if tcap wasnt closing i wouldnt even consider taking a buyout.

he seems to be acurate. but just like in the plant if you hear 1+1=2 dont believe it till you can proove it.

with all the money and hype put into the rouge plant its hard to believe they would idle let alone close the place. from what i understand they asked us for concessions too. but had nothing to offer in return since we are already closing. how brave was that on their behalf?

one question id have to ask is what about someone who got in at say age 35 or even higher and gave up another career or was starting over for some reason. and has less than 5 years seniority. i know a few at our plant in those positions. they gave up their jobs for the promise of good benefits and job security. the pay helps too but its not number one. while i agree in some respects it can seem unfair, i have been on both sides before, but i feel its more compicated than how it sounds. i hope everyone would agree that a few coming out ahead is better than a few getting the shaft. if they offered me only 70k id take my chances staying till the end. gen till contract will be worth that with the benefits. even 100k might not be enough to get me out the door. ill need a decent bribe to get me out the door. at least we have the contract to make sure we all can provide for our families. at least till next contract anyway.

i have had 2006 taurus for a loaner from my local dealer while my f-150 was in the shop. i really liked it. i comented to the dealer how nice the car was and he said they are fleet only. he said he could sell me the loaner i had with 100 miles on it as a used demo. he has about 50 of them. if i could afford it i would have bought it on the spot.

if you ask nice you can get more than 2. the second has to be atleast 6mos from the first and the third has to be more than a year from the second. same with the fourth. but be aware of the interest.

i only got one too. thats not fair im calling the union. j/k i would have settled for extra break time. i suppose it looks bad to ford for us to earn a jd power award while we are on the list to close. kind of makes it look like ford doesnt care about quality.

its equal work for equal pay. if you have been there longer it doesnt mean you work harder or do a better job. as far as buy outs go, we are all equal under the contract so we deserve an equal buyout. if divisions in buyouts happen then its only a matter of time before benefits and pay will be adjusted by how much time you have. besides, is my future less important because i have less time? is my work less important? im not the one causing the plants to close. i did what it took to get a good union job. why? because i wanted the job security and benefits the uaw could offer. i could have made more per hour at another job but no benefits. and i know they wouldnt pay squat if it werent for the unions. they even told me so when i was leaving to work at ford. in my opinion the contract basically says that for our hard work and time we will be guaranteed benefits and pay for the term of the contract. a buyout is more or less offering you part of that promise to leave early. you dont have to take it. its only an offer. but for those of us whose plants are closing anyway, and its not looking good for gen in the next contract, its looking like a good option. if i could move my family to a plant with a future that would be my first choice hands down.

we have had the 4-10s for years and look at us.

well i took it to another dealer today. they confirmed the alignment was good. they feel the tires should be replaced but they couldn't get approval because the edges are at 6/32. they need to be at 5/32 to be replaced under warranty. the advisor was on the phone saying they will be at 5/32 in less than 5k why not just do it now but they didnt go for it. so he said come back at about 34-35k before the warranty is up and they should qualify then.

they have been rotated and balanced every 5k. by the dealer. they are wearing on the outside edge. feathering and cupping. after about 1k they feel out of balance. and the dimples in the sidewall are growing.

how about building automation to build 4dr ext cab ranger cabs with 2 people instead of 3. at a speed of 23 per hour. then running a mix of 30 per hour and putting 3 people on manual build to assist the 2 running the automation? then 2 days later dropping the mix to 10 and putting extra manpower into the reg and super cab jobs. or putting a million into automating flare side boxes and cancelling flare sides 9 months later? having a 20 min importance of quality meeting for a plant thats closing and just earned a J.D. power award. or screwing up payroll and accidentaly over paying 1300+ people 40hrs worth of pay. paying to implement fps then stopping meetings. how about a slap in the face by posting on the door: ford ranger number one in quality for compact trucks just days after the closing announcement.

i heard that one too. but the way i heard it was that if they offer company wide buyouts they would need tpt'ers to run the line because no one would be left lol. how would they run the rest of the week. wait if they had tpt'ers that the union couldn't fight for management could run the rest of the week without getting hit with supervisor working lol.

well i took it to a local shop today and got a free alignment check. they said the alignment was flawless. he even stated he has rarely seen camber that was dead on center. so needless to say that dealer was full of it.

i see the poor part quality every day. if our vendors would improve their quality ours would be amazing. we have to put a lot of effort into repairing parts that come into the plant. but i think styling and features are a big part of sales. while ford is making everything cheaper to build everyone else is adding comfort features.