canuck_871

What new engine is Windsor 'supposedly getting'?

I know what you are talking about. Here in Windsor we had an aluminum casting plant close last year and in my opinion, the leadership rolled over and played dead. During the 2008 contract and meeting ratification, our leadership steered well clear of talking about the plant. It was only brought up during the Q and A session, and there response was, well we have a new agreement but sorry EAP is still closing in another six months. From this I learned that if there is no chance of saving a plant then the leadership will be very quiet about it. If they feel they can get a new product, then they will spray it all over the media so they will come out looking golden.

I agree with what you are saying but Ford is not in as good of shape as people seem to think they are. The fact is that if the SAARS level for this year does not go above the ten million mark soon, then Ford will be out of money by years end and they too will be tapping into government funds. In fact, just recently Ford got a loan of 5.9 billion from the U.S. goverment to develop green technology. I dont think for a minute that the government is standing by the side and letting the company and the union hash this out. Remember when the CEO's went to Washington to ask for help, Mullaly was there as well. I am sure the CAW and UAW agreements will have to meet some level of government approval otherwise they will not cough up any money. Just look at how the government shredded up the first concession agreement between the CAW and GM.

The concessions voted on for GM and Chrysler were to keep a 20% footprint in Canada. Lewenza was quoted recently as saying that currently Ford has a 14% footprint in Canada. If St Thomas were to close, that footprint would be down to less than ten percent!!! WTF! I think Ford has shown some very significant signs that they do not want to do business in Canada. I feel the only reason to give concessions would be to maintain or increase that 14% footprint in Canada. The company cannot have their cake and eat it too.

Yes we do have a choice. And with half of local 200 on layoff or threat of layoff, you better believe there will be a lot of no votes unless Ford shows some more commitment to Windsor and Oakville. Do you remember when the COA was shoved down our throat? Were we not told that if you vote no you will no longer be a place of investment. If I recall correctly Chicago Assembly voted it down and guess what, they got the 2010 Taurus. I am not against concessions but it must come with investment to put members back to work and create openings for those at STAP who are not pension eligable.

I am from Windsor and have been laid off for quite some time now. Our truck engine plant as of yet has no product commitment past 2012. We have a Ford/Nemak casting plant that is just hanging on by a thread. I dont know if the fate of these two plants has been discussed along with Stap, but clearly a concession vote would not pass if the intent was to close all three plants. We have Essex Engine plant being partially retooled but it appears it will only employ a fraction of past engine plants. We will just have to wait and see how it all shakes out and hope for the best at all three sites.

I have seen a copy of the agreement. The SUB is safe. The only change is that there will be no SUB top up if you are only temporarily recalled for example, summer vacation replacement. Also the EI clawback reinbursement is gone.

Yes this is what I understood as well. Leave it to the media to distort the truth.

Not to be argumentative, but I rarely put any accuracy and value on most media reports. What I saw was on the CAW web site and it made no mention of the SUB being cut right out.

Where did you see anything about the SUB being cut? The only thing I saw was the elimination of the clawback reinbursement from the SUB fund. I believe this is when the company would pay your E.I. clawback that you had to pay back to the government.

You are pretty much right on with that. The CAW pretty much told us here in Windsor that Ford has a lot more to lose at this point. If Ford goes bankrupt, the company will be broken up by the creditors and will fail to exist. With the Government loans for GM and Chrysler, they could go into a controlled bankruptcy and still be able to operate. I seen a report on the news the other day that said Ford right now is losing about a billion a month. That doesn't sound too good to me.

Yes we did have an opportunity to go to STAP, but the future is pretty bleak there too. As for the "very nice buyout package", have you actually looked into it? Believe me it is not as good as it seems on the surface. Once the government takes their cut plus reduce any SUB or IMP benefits that you have received off the buyout amount and you are not left with as much as people think. Oh did I mention that you had better have a job to go to because the government screws you again by not letting you collect E.I. benefits for over a year and a half once you take the buyout. If you are O.K. with all of this then maybe the buyout will work for you, but for many in Windsor, SUB and IMP benefits(as long as they remain) are a better option.