4R/5R Master

Sharonville is not slated for closure. Plant voted to go to 3 on 4 off schedule, but have to go to 2on 2 off schedule because TWOS only supports that we are being told. Once that is fixed they are supposed to go to 4 crew 2 shift schedule. Part of plant will be on AWS and part will be on traditional schedule. Some skilled and production will be on AWS schedule.

At Sharonville we have hired some LTS employees and we will be starting AWS schedule. Right now they have us going to the 2 days on 2 off. I was wondering how many other plants have similar schedule and what feeling is towards it. We have been tol by our Union that other plants love this schedule but I find that hard to believe.

The bottom line is Ford is trying to make as much money as they can. When they say low cost facilty they mean no current Ford workers with good wages and benefits. They are looking for a plant where they can pay little wage and no or very little healthcare/retirement. Ford closing plants nationwide is nothing but a tax writeoff at the end of the year. Ford could care less about the workers they put to the street, just concerned with profits and losses of each plant. Batavia in particular was just a ticking timebomb with the CVT and the performance they were getting out of their investment. You cant work 12 hours and only produce 150-200 transmissions and not expect something negative to happen. All workers were eating up the overtime thinking how great the money was, but I dont think they expected it would result in losing a job this soon.

But if it were not for bombs, the person in that picture would not have the right to be holding that sign to express herself. The Germans and Japanese would be running our show here, do you think that they would mind you holding that sign?

We are losing the 4R75 transmission line. We build basically the extra units that Livonia could not produce. Livonia will take up the slack. Demand dropped so we ran out of work. I keep hearing about the midrange transmission, I dont know if that is part of the reason of moving out old line so they will have room for new one, we can only hope. We are supposed to get offical word 1st week of April. I guess its between us and Livonia. I dont think they will bring any Batavia work to Sharonville because we will not have the room right now for any of those operations, but things could change.

The buyouts if they do come would most likely be offered when the group of people being laidoff will be permanent. As far as a transfer goes, people at batavia would be able to move against employees at sharonville as long as their seniority allows them to. They would be able to move after the 90 of being laid off, not right away. I would say it would be next to impossible to transfer to another plant because so many people will be laid off when these changes take place.