whatunion?

Okay let's get this straight. FIRST they always were, and still ARE Ford workers. When Visteon was spun off they became FORD workers loaned to Visteon. Then when Ford took back all the Visteon plants and created ACH, they became FORD workers loaned to ACH. What I am trying to say is, as far as the hourly workers, we have always been and always will be FORD workers. The only ones at Saline who are NOT Ford workers, are the temps who hired in AFTER ACH took over.

DTP does it the same way..........They issue the 1st pair of safety glasses and after that you must purchase them from the vending machine for $2/ a pair. Can't even trade-in a beat up pair for new ones.

Not sure if I agree with that. It seems to me, the orange ee's were all labeled as "temps". Therefore their positions there are just that....Temporary. They are not losing their jobs due to NAFTA, they are losing them because they were only temporary to begin with.

Was given official numbers for Local 600 Targeted Buyout Totals yesterday. The breakdown is as follows.... DDMP 39 total - 28 Non-skilled - 11 skilled 5 electrician, 1 machine rep, 1 machinist, 1MW, 2PPF, 1 T & Dmaker DEFTP 69 total - 60 Non-skilled -9 Skilled 1 Carpenter, 3 Electrician, 1 MW, 1PPF, 1 Repair Powertools, 1 welder, 1 Welder/Mach Repair DSP 32 Total - 12 Non-skilled - 20 Skilled 2 Electrician, 4 Mach repair, 3 MW, 2 PPF, 3 T&D, 1 TL?Coord, 4 Weld Mach/Fix Rep, 1 Welder DTDP 20 Total - 2 Non-skilled - 18 Skilled 1 MW, 17 Diemakers DTP 173 Total - 147 Nonskilled - 26 Skilled FRCSS (0248/2301) 21 Total - 3 Non-skilled - 18 Skilled *****The breakdown does not add up correctly******Not sure of the accuracy for DTP AND FRCSS 2 Electrician, 1 MW, 3 Stat Steam Engr, 2 Refirig & Air cond Maint & Inst, 1 Carpenter, 1 Checker Material Control, 2 Cleaners, 3 Comm, 2 Electricians, 4 MW, 2 PPF, 1 Powerhouse Mechanic, 3 Stat Steam Engr, 2 Welder WHQ (1165) 8 total - 0 non-skilled - 8 Skilled 5 Carpenter-All around, 1 Electrician, 2 Stat Steam Engr WHQ (5001) 3 Total - 0 nonskilled - 3 Skilled 3 Mechanic BPC 36 Total - 34 Non-skilled - 2 Skilled No breakdown Parts 31 Total - 26 Non-skilled - 5 Skilled 1 Painter, 1 Electrician, 3 Millrights 432 Total - 312 Non-skilled - 120 Skilled

Yesterday, a copy of the "Chairman's Report" was passed out at DTP. It states, "SALINE TRANSFERS (flowbacks) - On Saturday, November 1, 2008, I was informed by Ford Motor Company and NFD that no Saline employees will be allowed to go back to Saline."

This is a copy of the e-mail/newsletter that Mark sent out on Monday. That's the only thing I've heard, so far. At our Union meeting last weekend we had many past Local 892 members attend who have flowed back to other plants. UAW International representatives Frank DiGiorgio and Don Jividen were in attendance to field questions from the UAW members. Brothers and sisters from Locals 600, 900, and 931 came to voice their concerns. As always the visiting UAW brothers and sisters were welcomed with open arms. The issues are twofold, many Saline Ford workers volunteered to flow back to other Ford facilities based on Mark Fields' statement "Sold or Closed by the end of 2008". However, the current economic environment has changed the company's direction for now. Our Visteon employees also expressed concern with JCI backing out of the purchase of the Saline plant. The future of their wages and benefits hinged on the agreement with JCI. This was a very productive and orderly meeting, the Ford and Visteon workers were supportive of each other and hoped for a speedy resolution. Our members concerns are clear and we will continue to support the voice and needs of our members! As always we will inform everyone immediately when we receive official direction from our UAW International staff. Solidarity Forever, Mark Caruso, President UAW Local 892

"dealing with it" is what the company would tell us to do back BEFORE there was a union. NOW we pay union dues for people to fight for what is right. I don't pay them to tell me to "deal with it."

Ya know.......it seems to me........a couple years ago we had a bunch of Visteon workers laid off for nearly a year (some with just a couple months seniority). Saline's union along with international managed to get not only them, but all the laid off visteon workers from all the visteon plants called back to work in Saline, turned them into Ford workers, and in only about a month or so offered them $100,000 to take a buyout. That tells me that if they want to get us back, they could. The question is.......Do they want to? :shades:

I couldn't make it to the meeting, but wondered if anyone who did learned anything new?

Right now, I'd say moving is not even fathomable. With the housing market the way it is now, those of us who have a home to sell would lose our asses.

Yep, there's lot's of us with that commute. 57 miles for me. Believe it or not, Wildo, there is life west of Saline. But not another Ford plant.

SO, why wouldn't it make sense to allow us (people who flowed back) to go back to Saline and put the jsp into our openings at DTP and WAP and all the other plants that we went to? I'm sure there are a lot of people who got indefinately layed off at DTP who feel shafted by us who came over for 3 weeks and then knocked them out of their jobs. Ford would get the same result that way....less people in jsp.

I hate to disappoint you but many of these "myths" prove themsleves to be true, through your own arguements. I won't go over all them since I believe we all have a mind of our own, but a couple quick examples........... I won't spend the rest of my day on this, but I think I made my point.

You're right, everyone should do their own research, in order to understand what "union bosses" he was referring to, and why he was fighting them. Yes, he should have clarified it so there would be no question. My understanding is that he was fighting the union bosses of the teachers unions. Specifically, to get rid of the teachers who have tenure that are not performing to the standards that our childeren need them to be. He WAS standing up for our children and I expect him to continue to. Our children deserve the BEST teachers that are out there. Not the mediocre ones that just do what they have to in order to get by.

I understand being bound by law and not being able to speak about negotiations BUT........that would include saying, "It's a done deal" Correct? Not speaking means not speaking>

We were asked to make life altering decisions blindly. We were not given all the facts. I believe (and this is just my opinion) that our union leadership had more information on the JCI sale than they were willing to share with the membership. Omiting facts is the same thing as lying. Without ALL the facts we could not make an informed decision. Just as when Johnson COntrols "officially" backed out and I called the union office and was told, "I know more than I can talk about over the phone." I believe they knew the sale was slipping away but weren't willing to share that with the membership. I don't blame the union for the decision I made.........I blame them for not giving me ALL the information they had, so I could make an informed decision.

From what I got out of this clip.........At the time you could see his face, He IS chuckling as he says, "Plus the hurricane's gonna hit New Orleans about the time it starts". And then he adds, "That just demonstrates, God's on our side" I'm not an overly religious person, but I do take offense to anyone using a natural disaster such as this, to claim God is in some way punishing "bad" people or rewarding "good" people.

Speaking only for myself, I have nothing against Kathy. Yes, for the most part she was a good rep. Now, with that said, I'm glad to hear she was forced to flow. Irrevocable means irrevocable. I don't care who you are. If she had been able to stay, then the rest of us should have been able to return. It's that simple. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Anybody have any new news about Saline?

IF that is true, I would think, they would HAVE to allow those that left under the pretext that Saline was being sold, would have to be given the opportunity to return. That would be the "right" thing to do. We would have NEVER left, had we not been told that Saline was absolutely going to be sold or closed.

If you already had an open claim for this benefit year, you continue to get paper checks. But, as soon as our benefit year runs out and we have to open a new claim we will be switched over to the direct deposit/debit card thing.

I had no clue she was still there. We all were told, and it was written on our sign up sheet that was signed by us, a union rep, and a labor rep that ALL flowbacks were IRREVOCABLE. We were given a time that it had to be turned in by, and once that time passed, we could NOT change our minds. That's crap that she is still there. Nobody else was able to "hold" a spot until after we knew for sure what was going to happen.

Worker's Comp Laws vary from state to state. According to our flowback info, Kentucky is NOT a "right to work" state. There should be some recourse. I know Ford has been known to put people off on a "Class III" layoff. Don't know if they can still do that or not, but how it worked was, you would collect unemployment and subpay until unemployment ran out, then Comp would pick it up. At least that's how it worked in Michigan a few years ago. But, I heard they did away with that with the new contract. It was basically a "constructive firing". Anyway, If you are put off for a work related injury, in Michigan, Comp MUST cover it. There may be a waiting period of a week or so but after that you're covered.

I have October '98 seniority. But, I also know a '93 and '94 who are very interested in how this is going to play out.

So which "some" will be happy? and which "some" will not? I hate the word games and half stories. I want to know it all........good or bad. I think everyone in Saline has been hanging in limbo long enough. Just spit it out already.........