bustedknuckles
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Posts posted by bustedknuckles
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The company posted production job openings at Vandyke yesterday. They posted 250 at Chicago, 40 at Lima and , 47 at Romeo .date tbd . Many will just wait at bump to Sterling .Local 228 put out a letter at Sterling to inform low seniority members they can put in for the postings due to layoffs at Vandyke
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Lets say the supervisor hollers out "Fatso,you need to lose some weight,,,get your fat rear on the line"will I still be paid trades wages?
Not if you've been reduced from trades . I honestly don't know how it would work in a non permanent manner.
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I don't have any real issues with most of the contract. My only real bitch is why do they need to pick on trades again? We're not asking for a raise just to keep doing our jobs. But the company and the union want these mechanical teams so that they can cut 1/3 to 2/3 of us.How is that necessary when we're not costing anymore money than we already did? I understand the wage rate and staying competitive but honestly this is a joke. They think that we're stupid and believe that any savings do to efficiencys will not translate to immediate layoffs. The worst part is that we as trades don't even have a real vote . If every trades person company wide said no production can still pass it. I really wish we all had equal representation with the union . This all just gives me nausea .
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I understand times are tough, but the fact that they couldn't do more to guarantee skilled trades doing skilled work and not production is a total joke. We worked long and hard to learn our skills . To throw us in production jobs is an insult. I know many would say at least it's a job . Unfortunately I will probably be forced to adopt that attitude.I will do a job that I'm over qualified for just like so many others on the line already do. I will live with it till my responsibility to my children is done . Once I get to that point I will leave and if it means less money to do a job that uses my skills so be it. Get used to give backs its the way of the future for the union . What matters to them now is increasing memebership and nothing else.The new agreement is by far the best I have seen for jobs, our benefits and bonuses. The contract insures 6 billion dollars invested in our plants (6,000,000,000,000) and keeps our pension and benefits merely unchanged.
What many fail to understand is our labor rates are like a filled bucket. $58 per hour. To get back cola or Monday after Easter would be attainable but something else would have to come out of the bucket. Example; higher co pays and office visits or less vacation time. These labor rates are the very reason the UAW was able to gain all of this 6 Billion in investments for our job security.
So to satisfy every ones “need” to vote no to think the IUAW will get “something better” will not happen.
The bucket for labor rates is full at ($58) just like our plants will be….
Voting no will just take something else away that we now currently benefit from to get something back of the same value
The IUAW has the ultimate responsibility to protect all of us with Jobs………… For without jobs there is nothing to fight for…….
This agreement is a good agreement for our futures, The IUAW has upheld its responsibility
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We're screwed, skilled trades is the minority. Production controls the vote and most of them really don't care about us . What the company really wants is trades working the line, and repairing it as well. Now thats cost savings. I hope I have enough time to keep me in the mechanical teams but I'm not counting on it. What I do know is when my kids are done with school and on their own I will jump ship if I'm working production. Until then all I can do is hope for the best , I hope we're all wrong but I doubt it . I really would love to see all trades working in trades. It's not asking for that much is it ? Good luck to all my skilled brothers and sisters.
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I have to wonder why this grievance has taken so very long to get to this stage. I know that Arbitration can take time, but please...this is ridiculous.
I know the IUAW would like to "Negotiate" a settlement as part of the contract, as they say its the better option, and I can see how that would be a lot better for the IUAW....if it is settled as a grievance, YOU and I get paid as a correction, to our normal paychecks, have it taxed at the lower rate, AND...The IUAW doesn't get 1.15% of that money.,..
Add it to a "Signing Bonus" (which is just another way of adding to the coffers of the IUAW) and they receive a very large sum of money from you and I. Not to mention that we lose even more to higher "Bonus" taxes
If the settlement is 2000.00 (just using the number as an example) The IUAW will recieve 23.00 from each of us, multiplied by 40,000 workers = $920,000 No wonder they want the big signing bonuses...
If we were to receive the 10K number that I have heard so many times, the IUAW will receive $115.00 from each worker for a total of $4,600,000 It is little wonder what’s really seems to be happening here...The IUAW is planning on a HUGE windfall.
Edited to fix typos
I was curious if there has been any further news on the grievance? I'm hoping they have some resolution prior to presenting us with a contract offer.
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I have been reading Blue Oval for awhile and just joined. Your debates are fascinating. I am relatively new to the Company and was wondering where can I sign up? Is there a union for salaried employees?
By fascinating you must mean ridiculous , childish , and embarassing . Saddly many of the people on this site reflect very poorly on the majority of good hard working people on Ford's union work force .
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HAP charges a $17.00 dollar Co Pay for only 1 drug.
That explains why the bill would have been $157.00 for 6 tablets. Damn I thought migraine meds were bad. We're in the wrong business the pharmaceutical companies have it going on !
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I am getting somewhat fed up with what some people, including our own, are saying about us. I need to vent, so here goes...
To Gary Walkowicz, Mr. "I'll spew my trash in the press":
SHUT UP.
When you spew garbage in the media like what you have been saying lately, and what you are saying when you put these letters out to the DTP membership, you are likening us to greedy bastards who will stop at nothing to get our concessions back. We are hard-working men and women who simply want what is right, not money-hungry lazy idiots who will go to all ends to preserve an unsustainable business model.
Ford Motor Company was $34 BILLION in debt just 3 years ago. This amount is now down to just $14 billion. Thanks in part to us, the company saved itself from going broke. Yes, we gave up certain things to help the company out and preserve our way of life, but now, you are saying you want every penny of what we lost back. As nice as that would be, it is not economically feasible to give every person an average of $20,000 back. Please explain to me where the company is going to come up with $810 million to do this.
Everything we lost may be given to us in due time. But, TIME is the key. You cannot say that after only 2 years, the company is fully healthy again and we deserve everything back. At a labor rate of $78/hour, with 40,500 employees working 40 hours a week, you are looking at labor costs per year ALONE of over $6.5 BILLION. Add this to the Salaried personnel around the company, and other employees around the world, and you are going to near the $15 BILLION mark for labor costs. Do you really want the company to earmark 5-6% of the company's global revenue just to pay for OUR labor? It's not going to happen, and you should KNOW it won't.
Modest raises and a nice lump-sum bonus, plus an improved profit-share formula that is based in global profits, along with guaranteed performance bonuses is a much better way of going at giving us a better standard of living than reverting to the broken business model of 4-5 years ago.
Stop spewing garbage in the media about how we want this, we want that, want, want, want.... it only makes us look like assholes and you an even bigger one.
To all these "labor professors" who "claim" to know how we think:
YOU DON'T.
You have no idea what we go through on a daily basis to get our jobs done. You sit behind a desk and teach a class. We bust our ass on a fast-moving assembly line for vehicles that sell like hotcakes. You cannot possibly know what is going through our minds unless you have done the work we do. We are under constant stresses of ungrateful company managers, supervisors who stop at NOTHING to discipline us for the slightest mistake, and production standards which are damn near impossible to achieve.
If you think you know what is going through our heads, think again. We can very easily trade jobs for one day and you will see it is nothing like what you seem to think it is.
Stop professing to the media that "labor wants this, but needs to do that, etc, etc, etc..." You spew as much trash as Gary does sometimes.
To the company, who seems to think we are all happy, satisifed and content with what we have now:
WE'RE NOT.
We are overworked, underpaid and WAY under-appreciated for the jobs we do. The slightest mistake causes us to be disciplined and thrown out of work for 3 days, usually more. You give us personal time to use, then deny it when we want to use it, forcing us to AWOL and create a mess. You will not let us use our personal time for the reasons we want to use it for. You create conditions in the company even a 2 year old would consider deplorable.
Wise up to what you are doing. If one of your measures of performance is Morale, EVERY PLANT would fail. There is such low morale in these plants I don't even know how people continue to get up out of bed and continue to come to work (myself included). You pit people against the union in every situation you can to attempt to break us, and you are somewhat succeeding in that.
YOU NEED TO STOP.
Done venting.
Very well said !
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I was curious if anyone has heard about our co-pays increasing for any reason? My wife went to Walgreens yesterday to pick up a prescription for me and the co-pay was $17.00 . I have H.A.P. for my medical and my highest co-pay is supposed to be $11.00 . Also they said H.A.P. would only allow 6 doses in 21 days. I was a bit stunned when she told me " Walgreens just said "we charge what H.A.P. tells us " .
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pkay so here we are...let me see if i get this straight.
local 400 wants 228 and 2280 to join them in one local.
Supposedly, (no offense eagle) they have set aside money to help float this.
Now part of 228 doesn't want it and part does (Jeff Terry???) and the rumor is that he's going down town for making it happen....(rumor, conjecture...etc)
2280 doesn't want it (rumor only to save leadership jobs)
Atleast one 400 person thinks its a bad deal here
here's the part i know....Very few people in VD want this; for many different reasons including having been fucked over before while amalgamated with 228, and that they see the writing on the wall with sterling people moving them out and sterling then hiring all 2nd tier wage guys (possibly them)
Romeo people are getting told a bunch of BS concerning VD especially about our finances. Some also insinuate that this is being pushed on them by other locals including ours
so this sounds like a few people in power positions will try to make this happen get alot of clout and if one local or other loses well its for the benefit of the common good? (and those that go somewhere or get all the pull)
I am back to opposing it on these reasons. Numerically we can't compete with Sterling and i know many of the leadership and do not trust them, especially the ones close to my family. Then here is just too much bullshit floating around and backdoor dealing for me to greenlight anything.
My other question is that the constitution says this in article 35
Section 4. Additional organized units may be added to Amalgamated Local Unions only upon approval of the International Executive Board and subject to the majority vote of the membership of the unit and the Joint Council or membership of the Amalgamated Local Union. Unorganized units may be added to an Amalgamated Local Union upon the approval of the Regional Director.
so do we get a vote?
The issue is dead with 2280 memo on the floor as of today says "no deal" It is not in Vandykes best interest so that should end some speculation!
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I have a friend there that tells me february, alot of equipment still being installed
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Hey Ted,
Maybe you should start an advice column, or maybe even become an investment advisor yourself. But in your statement above "you will always be middle class" assumes that you do not consider yourself such - and above them. I think using his savings to buy down his monthly payment price just might be the right thing in this economy. We all can't afford to have a session with a financial guru.
I think the guy will be lucky to "always be middle class" since the middle class might not always be around! Lighten up on your "better than thou" down the nose view through those black frames.
:shades: Thank you, My whole point of this thread is we as Americans need to demand some accountability we are losing our way of life . No matter what the goverment says we can not move on to a service based economy it just isnt feasable .They have given away the farm but still want the produce . I just feel so frustrated by the whole situation . I do not know what it will take to turn the tide but I only can hope it will
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Busted knuckles you make way to much money doing something some flunky with no education can do .8hrs of training someone could be doing your job just fine.auto workers are over paid and under educated.
I make a wage comparable to what my "education level "and experience would bring me in any non union company 20 years of continuing education and experience The only thing that drew me to Ford in the first place was the pension and benefits not to mention no longer traveling all over for service calls. M :reading: y home was a wise choice as for my tesphe it was none the worse I assure you as I have made several very wise investments over the years . I have nearly enough college credits now to qualify for my engineering degree to go along with my associates degree in liberal arts . Also just a little reminder this is an employee forum is it not?
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I agree that this country is being soldout and I fear for my kids future as well. However I think there are plenty of good paying jobs out there my guys make 18hr and no benefits and they say that is awesome money! come to work every day. they dont even get paid if were on a outside job if it rains no work no pay.Ask yourself this when your worried about loosing the american dream . Do you need them 2 new cars? do you need the tv in every room? to you need that 300 grand house ? Its all about choices and how you spend your money .look how people lived 50 years ago lucky to have 1 car and a 1200sqft house.FYI my employees bring more home than I do My take home pay is now only 500 a week compared to when I was at Ford raking in a grand a week.Through setting myself up by paying stuff off before I left .I'm making less money and still living like a king 4 vehicles nice house wife and kid.The thing to think about is are you gonna be just part of the system that america has become ?or are you gonna be part of what it used to be?If you dont like corp america than stand up get some balls and quit making them rich off of you paying interest back to them and stop buying so much crap you dont need! the rich have got the middle class sucked into having to have Everything like their neighbor Flat screen everyroom ,new cars ,stop consuming.save more .Pay Yourself First. ok anything else I will have to start charging .
I love it when some un-knowing pompous self serving ass makes grand assumptions about someones way of life without even asking. I can not say what my brothers and sisters do with their money but I for one do not live a lavish life of luxury. My home cost $163,000 I used a good deal of my tesphe to put down on it . I do not own a new vehicle my wife drives a 94 , and my work vehicle is a used 05. I do not own a flat screen T.V. nor do I have a T.V. in every room. I make every effort to save as much money as I can every week and put as much as possible away each year toward college for my 3 kids . I do not nor does my wife dress fancy I personally wont pay more then $20.00 dollars for a pair of shoes . So in closing instead of making yourself look like an ass maybe next time you might consider asking someone how they live rather then ass- U-Me-Ing. Jerk
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Ford EE's working at ACH? Or are you talking about ACH employees?
Tech's, you must either be from mila or Monroe?
Actually I work at a Ford plant what I was trying to say was, are they going to tell people from ach plant, that they will only get the lower tier wage at a ford plant when the ach plant closes or is sold or will they be pushing company wide seniority. It just seems we will be having alot of extra emplyees very soon.
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I was wondering are they going to ask ach employees to take the new lower wage in exchange for a job? what about how they want skilled trades to take over machining departments?, how many pissed off techs will there be then? What about the so called trades umbrellas? It's no secret that management hates skilled trades and that they would love to have all trades doing production and maintenanace. And last of all why in the hell do they need 120 days to determine who is core and who isn't the way it reads they can call any job that isnt actually assembling the car as non core . tell us the truth up front no B.S. please we are all adults we can take the truth for god sake. I'm just physically ill from all this crap
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What special skills or training qualifies autoworkers for their wages? (crickets chirping)......
The wages are based on labor getting together and refusing to work if their demands were not met. Times are different now. If you want to be the last autoworker in the U.S., fine. I personally would like to see a wage correction and have jobs in the future.
I believe in one tier! Drop everyone's wages to a reasonable level. If you don't like it, strike. There will be a line around the block of replacement workers.
Spoken like a true blue company man. I for one as well as many of my union brothers actually have a rather extensive resume . I worked my way up in job shops on the outside ,working in unsafe conditions.I continuously had to take classes in robotics ,resistance welding, metallurgy etc in order to gain in value as an employee . I always had an objective that was to gain enough skill and time to be hired in as a U.A.W. Journeyman at a major manufacturer. I paid my dues in low wages lousy or no benefits and constant belittling from company lackeys. I will admit with my resume and education I can go else where and easily find a job that pays close to what I make at Ford. But I like my job and I make every effort to do it to the best of my ability everyday. I believe Ford is a great company one that has been left in some very in-capable hands over the years.This company has turned profits in the recent past under our current wage and benefit structure and can again. The only true problems that Ford has is public perception and a lack of desirable models. I ask this should the company lower the bar and shoot for 3rd or 4th
best just because they do not want to be true innovators anymore? Or will they finally run out of excuses when they get the concessions they are seeking from hourly? I think not, they are rapidly running out of excuses and the markets will be their undertaker -
I have been giving a great deal of consideration to the 2 tier wage structure and the future ramifications that it will bring. When you pick up the paper or turn on the news all they say is what about the company. My question is there anyone left in this country that cares about the average working men and women anymore? Do they realize we have family's and bills and hopes and dreams ? They only say we are over paid and we need to take pay and benefit cuts . Why should it be that the working people who only do whats asked of them have to pay for the mistakes made by those in positions of authority?I love my country and the ideals it was founded on but I am sick to death of the way it is being run into the ground. This was a great nation of innovative leaders in Manufacturing and technology,but our leaders and the greedy heads of corporations have sold our American dream to any third world nation that they can exploit and profit from. When will the average majority in this country stand up and say enough is enough? when will we take back what is ours? I have 3 children and I sincerely fear for what their future will be in this country. I understand some of the changes are necessary but what they are offering in the latest contracts to G.M. and Chrysler will only hasten the end of middle class America . This can only widen the gap between the haves and the have not's with nobody left in the middle.I cannot in good conscience vote yes for any contract that will further degrade my union and my country. thanks for taking the time to read my rantings
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Why would they ever be straight with us ? They enjoy mind f@#$%^& us all to much
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I have a 2005 fx4 great truck but recently the paint on the radio buttons is peeling off . Doe's anyone else have this problem? my radio is the 6 cd in dash model. I was really surprised that the buttons would be painted and not molded it looks really bad.
What would you like to see in a new contract that isnt a pie in the sky idea
in Ford Employee Forum
Posted
One thing I would like to see changed is vacations . We should be able to use all of our time when we want. If the company chooses to shut down it should be considered no work available and give everyone unemployment. Everyone I talk to agrees . It's their time to use when they want.