Dadzee Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Ok this is the note recieved today (edited a bit) from one plant manager. Anyone hearing anything else ??? "The state of the company is in a word-"terrible". Our market share is declining, cash is depleting and the competition is relentless. The Way Forward plan is counting on a significant number of hourly and salary buyouts in the next few months to keep us going in the short-term and help our cost competitiveness in the long term. In conjunction with new products which will be coming out in about 3 years we expect to stabilize the company. As we reduce our salary and hourly ranks, we must still get the job done. This means that all the remaining people will be required to do more. If you are not up to this more rigorous working climate, please take the buyout. Make no mistake, we are in a war with the competition -- namely the Japanese and Korean transplants -- for survival. The war can only be won with the strongest and most dedicated in the fight. Reflect on your personal situation and fortitude and do the right thing. The buyout packages are quite generous. Everyone who is considering leaving the company needs to do the arithmetic and analyze their current take-home pay versus the amount you would get with the package. The packages for hourly and salaried will not get any better in the future. With cash at a premium the company will not be able to afford to offer better packages if any are offered at all. Furthermore, the cash drain of large numbers of people in GEN pools will not be sustainable and, certainly, changes in the job security provisions will be a major topic in 2007 national negotiations. Please take full advantage of the Opportunity Fair tomorrow. There will be representatives from prospective employers, educational institutions, and franchise businesses in the cafeteria from 1:00 to 5:00pm. I'd encourage anyone who is considering a buyout or retirement package to stop by. With the buyouts available, we also can reduce the number of involuntary permanent layoffs and terminations that will be necessary to reach our staffing requirement going forward. In all plants overtime opportunities will be limited. Effective this week, there will be no Sunday or holiday work unless there is a critical reason. Every effort is being made, and must be made, to reduce all overtime because of the cash drain it creates. With declining volume, I fully expect that, eventually, we will eliminate almost all overtime and we will be held accountable for every overtime hour that is worked. We must preserve cash to help the company pay the bills involved in launching the new products that are vital to survival.. Everyone is going to be required to do more, to adhere to all safety and quality processes, and to contribute toward productivity improvements. We must continue our progress in implementing our Competitive Operating / Future Viability Agreement and, through it, become more efficient in our operations. Progress to date is very encouraging and the work being done by the pilot zone people is the way of our future. As most people know by now, all the stamping plants are losing volume and are affected by vehicle market share declines and Assembly Plant closings… and Maumee Stamping also has been announced for closing. While we expect to get some of Maumee's work, we will be taking a significant work loss when plants close and assembly plant linespeed is reduced shortly thereafter. As these volumes decline, we will certainly be a much smaller Plant, both in operations and people …. Salaried, production, indirect, and skilled trades. Now is the time for all of us to work together to keep our safety and quality levels high and work on reducing costs any way we can. Everyone is being asked to put forth extra efforts and to cooperate in getting costs and waste out of the operation. It is vitally important that each of us holds ourselves and each other accountable for our contributions, and that we make safety, quality and productivity our top priorities. We are in troubling times. But if each of us makes a commitment to the future of our plant, Ford Motor Company and the UAW, we can come out of this a stronger plant in a stronger, although smaller, company. We can do this if we have the right mind-set and work hard. All I can say is our Union leaders better take their 3% f%^&*$g raise back considering the pathetic excuse for it was that they were doing SO much more work. We should also be sure to dump every consultant before looking around for cuts in house. Currently at my plant there are 6ish returned retirees feeding off the corp nipplex2. 350-600 dollars a day plus living expenses plus high end lease vehicles= mucho friggin dinero. Dump these usless asses first and foremost and the hourly workforce will begin to see you truly give a shit about something other than lining the pockets of your old buddies. And corporate. Take a scythe to the 3 levels of VP waste, kill FPS, sell friggin Jag and A. Martin and then get on with your second week. THAT is foreward thinking.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pant load Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 As we reduce our salary and hourly ranks, we must still get the job done. This means that all the remaining people will be required to do more. If you are not up to this more rigorous working climate, please take the buyout.... There is a question about "essential personnel", these are the people who want to leave but cannot because Ford decided it's easier to hold these people up instead of hiring contractors. If my plant was staying open and we voted in the COA like everyone else is, it would be JOB 1 to get contractors in here and get rid of as many people as possible. I do my job everyday and will continue to do so, but when I'm kept behind because its easier for Ford, it pisses me off. I feel sorry for the workers but not Ford Corporate, they spent money like drunk pirates in a whorehouse and they just recently woke up in a gutter, broke, with a hangover and concerns about the lasting health effects of their actions. As we reduce our salary and hourly ranks, we must still get the job done. This means that all the remaining people will be required to do more. If you are not up to this more rigorous working climate, please take the buyout. Ford Motor Company dont stand stand in my way!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayotte Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Ok this is the note recieved today (edited a bit) from one plant manager. Anyone hearing anything else ??? "The state of the company is in a word-"terrible". Our market share is declining, cash is depleting and the competition is relentless. The Way Forward plan is counting on a significant number of hourly and salary buyouts in the next few months to keep us going in the short-term and help our cost competitiveness in the long term. In conjunction with new products which will be coming out in about 3 years we expect to stabilize the company. As we reduce our salary and hourly ranks, we must still get the job done. This means that all the remaining people will be required to do more. If you are not up to this more rigorous working climate, please take the buyout. Make no mistake, we are in a war with the competition -- namely the Japanese and Korean transplants -- for survival. The war can only be won with the strongest and most dedicated in the fight. Reflect on your personal situation and fortitude and do the right thing. The buyout packages are quite generous. Everyone who is considering leaving the company needs to do the arithmetic and analyze their current take-home pay versus the amount you would get with the package. The packages for hourly and salaried will not get any better in the future. With cash at a premium the company will not be able to afford to offer better packages if any are offered at all. Furthermore, the cash drain of large numbers of people in GEN pools will not be sustainable and, certainly, changes in the job security provisions will be a major topic in 2007 national negotiations. Please take full advantage of the Opportunity Fair tomorrow. There will be representatives from prospective employers, educational institutions, and franchise businesses in the cafeteria from 1:00 to 5:00pm. I'd encourage anyone who is considering a buyout or retirement package to stop by. With the buyouts available, we also can reduce the number of involuntary permanent layoffs and terminations that will be necessary to reach our staffing requirement going forward. In all plants overtime opportunities will be limited. Effective this week, there will be no Sunday or holiday work unless there is a critical reason. Every effort is being made, and must be made, to reduce all overtime because of the cash drain it creates. With declining volume, I fully expect that, eventually, we will eliminate almost all overtime and we will be held accountable for every overtime hour that is worked. We must preserve cash to help the company pay the bills involved in launching the new products that are vital to survival.. Everyone is going to be required to do more, to adhere to all safety and quality processes, and to contribute toward productivity improvements. We must continue our progress in implementing our Competitive Operating / Future Viability Agreement and, through it, become more efficient in our operations. Progress to date is very encouraging and the work being done by the pilot zone people is the way of our future. As most people know by now, all the stamping plants are losing volume and are affected by vehicle market share declines and Assembly Plant closings… and Maumee Stamping also has been announced for closing. While we expect to get some of Maumee's work, we will be taking a significant work loss when plants close and assembly plant linespeed is reduced shortly thereafter. As these volumes decline, we will certainly be a much smaller Plant, both in operations and people …. Salaried, production, indirect, and skilled trades. Now is the time for all of us to work together to keep our safety and quality levels high and work on reducing costs any way we can. Everyone is being asked to put forth extra efforts and to cooperate in getting costs and waste out of the operation. It is vitally important that each of us holds ourselves and each other accountable for our contributions, and that we make safety, quality and productivity our top priorities. We are in troubling times. But if each of us makes a commitment to the future of our plant, Ford Motor Company and the UAW, we can come out of this a stronger plant in a stronger, although smaller, company. We can do this if we have the right mind-set and work hard. All I can say is our Union leaders better take their 3% f%^&*$g raise back considering the pathetic excuse for it was that they were doing SO much more work. We should also be sure to dump every consultant before looking around for cuts in house. Currently at my plant there are 6ish returned retirees feeding off the corp nipplex2. 350-600 dollars a day plus living expenses plus high end lease vehicles= mucho friggin dinero. Dump these usless asses first and foremost and the hourly workforce will begin to see you truly give a shit about something other than lining the pockets of your old buddies. And corporate. Take a scythe to the 3 levels of VP waste, kill FPS, sell friggin Jag and A. Martin and then get on with your second week. THAT is foreward thinking.... Which stamping plant is this letter from? :shrug: Thanks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sun3 Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Which stamping plant is this letter from? :shrug: Thanks... There are a lot of hourly consultants making big bucks at Rawsonville also! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manufmanager Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Which stamping plant is this letter from? :shrug: Thanks... Chicago Stamping. They have 6 retirees brought back as six figure consultants. So much for hiring younger people and training them to be "good" employees. I hear people at that plant raising hell about them. The union and other management wants them gone. They are all Fred Weber's (PM) cronies... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dukka Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Chicago Stamping. They have 6 retirees brought back as six figure consultants. So much for hiring younger people and training them to be "good" employees. I hear people at that plant raising hell about them. The union and other management wants them gone. They are all Fred Weber's (PM) cronies... Bring back John Stanko!!!! He'll save us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoMoVisteon Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 As we reduce our salary and hourly ranks, we must still get the job done. This means that all the remaining people will be required to do more. If you are not up to this more rigorous working climate, please take the buyout....There is a question about "essential personnel", these are the people who want to leave but cannot because Ford decided it's easier to hold these people up instead of hiring contractors. If my plant was staying open and we voted in the COA like everyone else is, it would be JOB 1 to get contractors in here and get rid of as many people as possible. I do my job everyday and will continue to do so, but when I'm kept behind because its easier for Ford, it pisses me off. I feel sorry for the workers but not Ford Corporate, they spent money like drunk pirates in a whorehouse and they just recently woke up in a gutter, broke, with a hangover and concerns about the lasting health effects of their actions. As we reduce our salary and hourly ranks, we must still get the job done. This means that all the remaining people will be required to do more. If you are not up to this more rigorous working climate, please take the buyout. Ford Motor Company dont stand stand in my way!!!!! It seems that our plant manager got this same message as well and edited it to fit his thoughts and what he thinks those in the plant should do. As for the buyout comments in this, it's like telling you that if you no longer feel like kissing their ass upon whatever demand they want, in my words, Time To Take "THE GET OUT OF JAIL CARD" and please......DO NOT STAND IN MY WAY!!!! :titanic: :bandance: :bandance: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegunslinger Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 It seems that our plant manager got this same message as well and edited it to fit his thoughts and what he thinks those in the plant should do. As for the buyout comments in this, it's like telling you that if you no longer feel like kissing their ass upon whatever demand they want, in my words, Time To Take "THE GET OUT OF JAIL CARD" and please......DO NOT STAND IN MY WAY!!!! :titanic: :bandance: :bandance: Right on NoMo! I have never been one to cut out, but I think now is a time that I personnally must look at this situation like the Union soldiers looked at that stone wall December 13,1862 in Fredericksburg, VA. Bad Deal !! Someone ring the bell, schools out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
{CARD-SHARK} Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Turn out the lights... THE PARTY'S OVER! As Don Meredith said back in the 1970's on Monday Night Football. Yep.. The severe storms are moving in and they are moving in slow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoMoVisteon Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 Right on NoMo! I have never been one to cut out, but I think now is a time that I personnally must look at this situation like the Union soldiers looked at that stone wall December 13,1862 in Fredericksburg, VA. Bad Deal !! Someone ring the bell, schools out! I'm not the type that goes the cut out route either, Gunslinger, but with all the signals that I have hearing and reading about what's up with Ford, i.e, future outlook, products coming into the marketplace, forecasts, it isn't hard to figure out that one must be realistic. At the plant level, chaos will soon start rearing it's ugly head once they try to implement the COA'S-MOA'S. Plant managers and other higher up numb nuts seem to think it's finger snap deals, WRONG!!! Guess again. Looks great on paper, but reality is another matter. It's like you said about the Union soldiers at Fredericksburg looking at the wall in Fredericksburg during the Civil War. Once they got a closer look, oh shit..................Too Late!!! It's the same mindset that upper management does for us, while they sit a safe distance away in comfort, they know the answers without having to go out and have a look themselves. As to what one must do on their own personal level, figure it this way, it's time to re-align and re-route, all the while staying in close contact with the situation. To me, that isn't cutting out, it's called smart strategy and at the same time keeping your fire power intact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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