A source inside General Motors said blue collar workers were paid today--a day early--without explanation from the company.
This caused suspicions that the payroll funds needed to be spent so that they would not be temporarily tied up by a bankruptcy filing.
The same employee said UAW workers are supposed to vote on the proposed contract concessions tomorrow, but that the UAW vote is not expected to change GM's decision about whether or not to file bankruptcy.
On the other hand, it is believed that GM might wait on filing its bankruptcy, until after employees vote on the concessions--because they would be less willing to make sacrifices to a company that is already in bankruptcy.
Employees have not received any word from management or the union indicating that there will be action this week.
OK, I have no idea what this actually means, and it's obviously WAY too early to be too encouraged, but this is certainly a long-overdue positive bit of news:
General Motors has just announced that they will no longer need the $2 billion in government funding that they had previously requested for March. The good news comes in tangent with the announcement that GM Canada has ratified a competitive agreement with the CAW.
GM states they no longer need the US funding due to an acceleration of company wide cost reductions and "pro-active deferrals of spending previously anticipated in January and February."
A strike at Alliance Interiors was announced at 9 pm on Tue. April 15, 2008. Workers at the plant voted the UAW as bargaining agent for them in April of last year. The profitable company has dragged its feet throughout negotiations. This strike is likely to stop work at the nearby Delta Township Assembly plant which is supplied by Alliance.
The name of the company may be familiar because less than 2 years ago the company was given $2,550,000 in bonds from the Michigan Strategic Fund. The Michigan Strategic Fund was designed to promote smart economic growth by developing strategies and providing services to create and retain good jobs and a high quality of life according to the article linked to above.
I wonder if the cuts to wages and benefits are a part of the "high quality of life" that were part of the program. Federal, state and local taxes were waived from the bond to help insure that "good jobs" would stay local. I don't believe that this was the vision of the program and it looks like John and Jane taxpayer are getting stuck with the tab on another corporate tax break!
At approximately noon on April 1, 2008 Lansing's Delta Township Assembly Plant management was tendered a 5-day letter. A 5-day letter is an official "warning" of a possible strike. The contract requires that the letters be given to management as a notification. A strike can begin after 5 business days. UAW local 602 is still negotiating a local contract with management.
This news comes at an ironic time as many workers are being called back from layoff. The Delta Township Assembly Plant has been running two out of every 3 Saturdays and overtime just about every day.
More information will follow as it becomes available.
I'm just taking a break to warm up a minute. I got a little chill out there. Not like the chill that this guy got though ... he's spending the day outside, making sure that people aren't duped into signing a petition for the right to work for less.
Thank you!
The post reminded me of an anonymous Usenet post I found a long time ago ... I published it on my blog back then, and I'm reposting it now, dedicated to the RTWFL resistance:
My impression of republicans has always been the same. Dont vote for them unless you want war and you want to see the corporations profits soar while the working man gets the shaft. I've been called every name in the book by republicans because I worked my a** off for 35 years in a union shop.
I've been called a communist, a socialist and marxist, and dirty low down Anti-American son-of-a -b**** because I worked for a living. People accused me of not having to work because I was in a union.
The previous 8 days held several moments of embarassment for General Motors. First, they lost control of their Fisher Body plants when the men noticed that the dies were being shipped to Grand Rapids and Pontiac. Then, Judge Black was shown to have been improperly involved in the injunction, and there were allegations that GM had undue influence over the police department that attempted to enforce the injunction. Finally, the Flint Alliance was exposed as a white-collar, GM controlled organization.
Now, GM was just plain mad. So on the 9th day, GM turned off the heat, water, and lights.
January 7, 1937 - Well, Diary. Fisher #2 gets pretty cold when the heat has been turned off. I'm glad we have those blankets from home - they sure come in handy. Play pedro, sure helps pass these long days by. Never played much pedro in my life - I'll bid seven - just another day. Eat? No thank you. I'm not hungry. You don't have much appetite when all you do is walk back and forth - one end of the shop and back again. Always thinking of what tonight will bring. Here it is, evening again - evils always come in the night - be on your guard at all times men. Are the guards at each door? Watch the back of the shop. They could come across the railroad bridge and sneak up on us from the rear - be on your guard at all times men. They shall not take us out - so through the night - daylight has it's silver streaks through the shadows and maybe we can sleep in peace. Now I lay me down .... - Diary of Francis O'Rourke, Fisher Body #2
In 1937, the US Government declared $1,600 per year to be the minimum amount on which a family of four could live decently. In that year, GM President Alfred P. Sloan Jr. made $375,000.
Right before the strike started, Sloan called his workers to be the most "pampered" in the industry. They made, on average, $900 per year.
Well well well.
Turns out that the Flint Alliance isn't a bunch of laid-off workers after all. Instead, the group was made up of "white-collar workers and their families and various beneficiaries of General Motors", and President George Boysen was a former Mayor of Flint, a former Buick paymaster, and then owner of a company manufacturing spark plugs. The "recruits" from the engine factories signed their cards under duress, and often used names such as "John Fink", "James Stoolpigeon", "Strikebreaker", and "Mr. Sloan".
Inside Fisher 1 & 2, "the boys" had organized daily activities. They exercised, cleaned their quarters, and stood guard, all according to a set schedule. The organizers also gave the men classes on union meetings, parliamentary procedure, and the history of the labor movement.
65 of the most trusted men in each plant had an additional activity. They made up the "Special Patrol" ...
Their job was to make a complete 35-minute round of the plant every hour, 24 hours a day, throughout the entire strike. They would check out all rumors and report any violations of rules or discipline. Violators were tried by the "court" and initially given minor punishments. After three convictions a striker was sent out.
Company spies were everywhere. No one knew who they could trust.
January 6, 1937 - Another day Diary, and a fair rest! Suspicion seems to have taken hold. Each of us watch the other. Is he one of us or is he one that is paid by our opponent? Watch him! Watch out for him, I hear all day and into the night. Daytime seems like eternity and nights seem like minutes. Sorry that Boysen took the stand he did. I always had respect for George, but I'm afraid it's gone now. Well shades of night have long since passed - let's try and rest tonight. Now I lay me down to sleep .... - Diary of Francis O'Rourke, Fisher Body #2
1937 Flint was important to the union and GM for one reason: it was home to the factories that made all of the Chevrolet engines, and almost all of all bodies for all GM vehicles.
On January 5, 1937, only Fisher Body plants were out on strike. Other GM plants were still working.
The Flint Alliance.
That's what they called it; a group of GM workers who had been laid off from other plants, due to the strikes in Fisher Body. The Flint Alliance set out to bring an end to "minority rule" ... they represented the majority of auto workers in Flint, who didn't want to strike. Workers from the other factories signed up by the hundreds.
The President of the Flint Alliance was George Boysen.
Meanwhile, so many men had been leaving the plants at will, that the "Strike Strategy Committee" inside the plants had decided that no more than 10% of the men would leave at one time. At one point during the first week, the number of men in Fisher 2 had fallen to below 60; not nearly enough to hold the plant, if the police and company decided to come in.
January 5, 1937 - The Flint Alliance and anti-strike organization has been organized. What a night of wild rumors - on your pins boys - here they come, up to the gate. They won't take us out, we're sincere. All through the night, no, no sleep, jittery nerves, strained morale. The time and the conditions are taking their toll. One brother is acting queer. Should we ask him to go home? Another is sick of body but his heart is all there. We'll have a car take him home over his own objections. Some of the weak are giving up. Wonder if we can rest today. We ex-servicemen don't mind it much. The breaking point seems between 6 o'clock and 8 o'clock in the evening. My company was over this evening. Sweet and the children sure are loyal. They haven't failed yet. It sure helps to know the good wives are with you in thought and spirit. Thank God for that. Wonder if we can sleep tonight. To bed .... Now I lay me down .... -Diary of Francis O'Rourke, Fisher Body #2
Photos: Upper right - George Boysen and the Flint Alliance. Bottom center - Flint Alliance mass meeting. Photos copyright Walter P Reuther Library, Wayne State University.
January 4, 1937 - In time I guess men grow used to anything. Let me see how many days we have been here. One, two, three, four, five long days. Gee I thought weeks had passed. The fellows are in a playful mood. Some have a ball made of rags and are playing basketball; using an old pail for a basket. We have a volunteer barber now, and boy is he busy! This has been a swell day. I hope the night passes the same. Now I lay me down to .... - Diary of Francis O'Rourke, Fisher Body #2
Meanwhile, the union attorneys were at work trying to figure out what to do about that injunction. As one person put it, the sit down strike tactic is "so new, that no existing law has any relevance in regard to it."
While they were digging up the law, the union attorneys found something else: Judge Edward S Black, who issued the injunction, owned 3,665 shares of GM stock worth $219,000.38.
Tsk Tsk. Michigan law stated, "No judge of any court shall sit as such in any case or proceeding in which he is a party or, in which he is interested..."
The company was embarrassed, and immediately changed tactics.
In the factories, the men were still coming and going as they pleased. In some cases, this left too few men inside to defend the plants.
The heat and water is still on in the plants. Men are still allowed to enter and exit the factories at will.
January 3, 1937: Well, the Sheriff never returned. Our prayers were answered, Thank God. Now we can have peace and rest. We need it. The boys are pleased that there was no trouble - the spirit is at the highest it's been since we sat down. Everyone is cheerful and all smiles. There is talk that we can return home without the danger of them scabbing our jobs. Home, Sweet Home .... I think I'll buy a couple dozen of those cards and hang two in each room of the house. I wonder if Patsy can ride the tricycle Santa Clause brought her, and Jerry the bike. I have some Christmas shirts I'd like to try on. Sweet probably wants the basement cleaned. Well, to bed for me. Now I lay me down .... - Diary of Francis O'Rourke, Fisher Body #2
Genesee County Circuit Court Judge Edward S. Black issues an injunction restraining the workers from remaining in the plant, picketing the plant, and interfering with men who wish to enter the plant to work.
Workers in Fisher Body guard a window Photo by Sheldon Dick, from the Library of Congress
January 2, 1937 - Won't we ever have any rest? Sheriff Wolcott was here with an injunction. Did you know we were breaking a law? Did the fellows at Kelsey-Hays in Detroit break the law in their sit-down strike? If so, why didn't the Wayne County Sheriff serve an injunction on them? Are the laws of Genesee so different than those of Wayne County? I never expected Sheriff Wolcott and his law enforcement. We have done no harm. We're just honest working men that have been pushed so far and so hard that we can't keep it up any longer. They say we're lazy workers. Is a man lazy if he has not missed a day's work in two years, has not been late and kept up with a line manufacturing forty-five bodies an hour all that time? Most of these men have done just that and our employment records prove it. I'm glad the Sheriff is gone. Wonder if he will return? On guard against violence - watch, watch, watching all the time. No rest tonight. We don't want violence and yet we hear peace preached all the time by our strike leaders. Now I lay me down ....- Diary of Francis O'Rourke, Fisher Body #2
Workers at Kelsey-Hayes Wheel Co., in Detroit, won their first contract on December 24, 1936. This was the result of a sit-down strike let by Walter and Roy Reuther. Kelsey-Hayes was the 2nd sit-down strike organized by the UAW, and the resulting contract included equal pay for women.
Christine's series on The Great Flint Sit Down Strike is more than a stroll down memory lane, it's a history lesson about the birth of unionization. For instance, what was the auto industry like prior to the Great Depression? Historian Stephen Sears describes it as follows:
Before the Great Depression, unionism was in truth not much of an issue in Detroit. The vast labor army recruited during the auto boom of the twenties - white dirt farmers, poor city dwellers, southern blacks, recent immigrants - was docile and innocent of trade-union experience. Any labor grievances were defused by pay scales higher than those in most other industries and by a system of "welfare capitalism" (group insurance, savings programs, housing subsidies, recreational facilities, and the like) in which General Motors was a pioneer. Openshop Detroit had little to fear from the nation's largest union, the American Federation of Labor. The craft-minded AFL devoted itself to horizontal unionism-organizing all the machinists, for example, regardless of industry. It studiously ignored industrial unionism, the vertical organization of the unskilled or semiskilled workers within a particular industry such as autos, steel, or rubber.
Then the Depression hit and everything changed.
[...] In the early 1930's Detroit auto workers found themselves powerless as the industry collapsed like a punctured balloon. Welfare capitalism was silent on job security. Wages and work time were slashed. As layoffs mounted, workers with ten or twenty years' experience discovered that their seniority counted for nothing; it counted for nothing, either, in the call-backs that marked an upturn in auto sales beginning in 1933. Assembly lines were speeded up mercilessly to raise productivity and restore profit levels. Bitter men protested. "You might call yourself a man if you was on the street," a Fisher Body worker recalled, "but as soon as you went through the door and punched your card, you was nothing more or less than a robot. " "It takes your guts out, that line. The speed-up, that's the trouble," another said. "You should see him come home at night, him and the rest of the men ... ," a Flint auto worker's wife testified. "So tired like they was dead.... And then at night in bed, he shakes, his whole body, he shakes. ..."
The auto workers saw unionism and the strike as their only hope of redressing the balance. What courage those workers showed. As wizardkitten pointed out, "the fact that they did this in the middle of the Depression is astounding."
Sears described the worker's hard fought gains like this:
Victory in the Flint sit-down by no means ended the discontents of the auto worker. Yet now, for the first time, he could envision himself as something more than simply an insignificant part of a great impersonal machine; as "Solidarity" phrased it, the union had made him strong. "Even if we got not one damn thing out of it other than that," a Fisher Body worker said, "we at least had a right to open our mouths without fear."
Unions are more than just bargaining units for better wages and benefits. They give workers a voice. That's something you can't put a dollar sign on.
Here comes another series where I get all self-righteous and hammer you with something that I think is important. This time, it's The Great Flint Sit Down.
I mentioned in this diary that the Flint Sit Down was the most important strike in the history of America. What makes it so important is that it is the strike that resulted in General Motors' recognition of the UAW as a bargaining agent.
The UAW existed prior to the Sit Down, and had been trying to organize the Flint auto workers for most of 1936. Flint was ripe for organizing; as one man put it,
"This strike has been coming for years. Speed-up system, Seniority, over-bearing foremen. You can go just so far you know, even with working men."
In December of 1936, the United Auto Workers of America requested a meeting with General Motors Corporation, to engage in collective bargaining for all GM employees. GM refused to meet with them. On December 29, 1936, the UAW presented a proposed contract to one of the Flint plant managers, and requested that an answer be given in one week.
I've written about the Sit Down many times, and I don't have that much more to say. All I'm going to do tonight is ask you to remember that 71 years ago, your parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, banded together to fight a battle that changed the nation. They were supported by local businesses, who were afraid of retribution but secretly supplied food to the strikers, and allowed meetings to take place in their shops. They were supported by the steelworkers who sent money to Flint, to support the families of the strikers while they weren't being paid.
If you've ever wondered what Solidarity is, you can look to the Flint Sit Down.
The Sit Down Stike was a long time ago, and you might think that it has very little to do with you. But if you work under the protection of OSHA and MIOSHA, and if you're a member of the middle class, you can thank the Flint Sit Downers. There isn't a single labor law that hasn't been written on the backs of the men and women who stood up and demanded their rights and their dignity, as workers. And in this case, they stood up for those rights by sitting down, in the freezing cold factories of Flint, Michigan.
If you will, tonight, join me in a moment of silence to remember the Sit-Downers. In particular, I'd like to recognize Al Bodette, who passed away a few months ago. I had the good fortune of meeting Al at the 2006 Shiawassee County Dems Pasta & Politics fundraiser. Al and a few other veterans of the Sit Down were our special guests.
My prayers have been with Al's family this month, as they faced this holiday season without him. It is their first Christmas, their first New Year, and their first anniversary of the strike, without him at their side. If they are anything like my family, they lost more than a loved one; they lost their hero.
I don't have any wise words when it comes to loss, but I take comfort in knowing that Al and the others are with all of us, each day. They forged the path for us to follow. The Sit Down is one of the most important, yet least appreciated events in American history. It is up to us to make sure that America never forgets what that fight was for.
The torch has been passed to us. It is up to us to carry on their work.
Detroit - The UAW International Executive Board has taken a position of "no endorsement" at this time in the upcoming presidential primaries.
"UAW members are vitally concerned about the future direction of our country," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said. "We encourage our active and retired members to participate as individuals in caucuses and primaries."
"We'll have a number of candidates to choose from -- especially on the Democratic side -- who are listening and responding to the concerns of working Americans. We've heard a number of thoughtful and important proposals which would advance workers' rights, address America's health care crisis, promote U.S. manufacturing jobs and reverse our failed trade policies," said Gettelfinger.
"There's a healthy diversity of opinion among UAW members as to which candidate can most effectively challenge the special interests who want to capture our government on behalf of the wealthy and the privileged," said Gettelfinger. "UAW members will be actively involved in efforts to elect a president and members of Congress who will address the critical needs of working people."
Gee, I was hoping they would have endorsed "uncommitted."
A proposal brought forth by the state employee unions would allow state workers the option of using the voluntary method of contributing [to their union] just like all workers at private companies are allowed to use.
To absolutely no ones surprise, the right wing is up in arms over this issue. Extreme right-wing think tank the Mackinac Center for Public Policy has come out against the proposal, which follows their long tradition of anti-union rhetoric. The Michigan chamber of commerce was also in lock step with the right wing talking points.
Why is the right wing so afraid of Michigan workers engaging in political activity?
The UAW announced an ad campaign today that will showcase the union's members:
UAW members are featured in a new, interactive advertising campaign that debuts today in five Midwest and southeast media markets.
The ads will also appear on a new, interactive Web site, IAmtheUAW.org, which invites UAW members, family members, friends and supporters to submit their own stories, photos, podcasts and videos.
"This is a great opportunity to showcase our members and the contribution our union makes to our communities and workplaces," said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. "Nobody represents our organization better than our own members." The ads feature UAW members including Daphne Rice talking about the union's efforts to support charitable causes; Andrew Linko discussing workplace safety; Yolanda Crosby addressing toy safety and fair trade standards; and UAW retiree James Fairchild talking about the need for higher workplace standards in the global economy.
"I'm thrilled to help our union communicate with our friends and neighbors," said Rice, a member of UAW Local 898 in Rawsonville, Mich. "My UAW family is so important to me. And the contributions we are able to make, as a union, to our community, are a great source of pride for all of us."
The Web site, IAmtheUAW.org, which will accompany a broadcast and cable TV advertising campaign, will feature audio, photo and video-sharing technology.
"Communication today is a two-way street," said Gettelfinger. "With an interactive Web site, we can help our members share real stories about who we are and what we have accomplished-with each other, with friends and neighbors and with the broader public."
The broadcast and cable television campaign will begin airing this week in Detroit, Indianapolis, Jackson, Miss., Louisville, Ky., and Nashville, Tenn.
(Word needs to get out about this. - promoted by djtyg)
The news of the Delta Township Plant’s elimination of a shift has made the news rounds locally in Lansing and throughout Michigan. It never ceases to amaze me how the corporate media cannot do their job. Effectively reporting on a local issue would have been to interview someone who actually works at the plant not some malcontent from another plant, as the LSJ did on Oct. 23, or a temporary employee like the LSJ did on Oct. 24(I am still not linking to the LSJ).
What could the LSJ have done to better report on this news story? How about call a local dealership and ask if there is a waiting period for the vehicles that the Delta Plant builds. I made the call, it took about 45 seconds and I was given an “over 2 months” waiting period for the Buick Enclave. I did not call the GMC dealership or the Saturn Dealership to check on the waiting time for the GMC Acadia or the Saturn Outlook which are both also built at the Delta plant. One can only assume that with the news that Consumer Reports has added both the Acadia and the Outlook to its “newly recommended” list that sales would increase. Car and Driver gave the Enclave rave reviews, which also helped spark heavy orders for the vehicle.
(Good news on the contract. Welcome farleftfield! - promoted by Z)
Certain details of the tentative agreement between the UAW and GM are starting to come out and it appears that the corporate media butchered the job yet again!
The Detroit News printed that workers would “give up” cost of living adjustments; WRONG. The formula for cost of living will remain UNCHANGED.
The Detroit News also printed that 4,100 temporary workers would be made permanent at a lower rate of pay; WRONG. Besides the fact that the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press couldn’t decide whether the number of temp’s was 4,100 (News) or 4,000 (Free Press) the real number is 3,000 and they will not be made permanent employees at the lower rate of pay. According to the UAW highlighter “temporary workers who were on the rolls prior to the effective date, and are subsequently converted to permanent status, are not considered entry-level employees and will receive traditional wages.”
In 1937, the US Government declared $1,600 per year to be the minimum amount on which a family of four could live decently. In that year, GM President Alfred P. Sloan Jr. made $375,000.
1937 Flint was important to the union and GM for one reason: it was home to the factories that made all of the Chevrolet engines, and almost all of all bodies for all GM vehicles.
