2009 UAW Region 8 Leadership Conference Report
by UAW Region 8 Webmaster John Davis
The 2009 UAW Region 8 Leadership Conference was held June 8-9, 2009 in St. Petersburg, Florida. This annual meeting brings the elected leaderships of all local unions within the region for an update on the UAW and the industries they represent. The meeting featured reports from Region 8 Director Gary Casteel as well as representatives from each of the UAW International Departments as well as reports from Region 8 Departments. Assistant Director Donny Bevis welcomed the delegates and stressed the importance of education and communication to our membership in the current climate. “This union wasn’t built in good times it was built in hard times,” Assistant Director Bevis stated.  “The issues we face today are difficult but we have faced them before. Labor is the guardian of the middle class and our efforts are more important now than they have ever been.”
Director Casteel opened the meeting with an overview of Region 8. “Our region has lost 40,000 jobs in the past four years as a result of downsizing in the marketplace,” the Director reported. “At the same time we have organized more members than the rest of the UAW combined. However, the reductions in the Detroit 3s footprint have contributed to the losses in our region.
GM’s plan to go down to North American sales of 10 million sales has hit a number of our local unions. Then when the announcement came that GM planned on increasing imports, our membership responded by flooding our elected representatives with calls and this increased the pressure on GM to rethink that plan. Still we have been playing against a stacked deck through this entire ordeal. The Automotive Task Force has been dictating terms in the way of contract modifications, with most of that coming directly from the CEOs of these companies that we deal with.
At the same time we have been faced with many politicians who have asked for our support in the past turning a deaf ear to our concerns in Washington. There are those who counted on our help who have voted against us on almost every issue that has been debated during the current Congress. On the auto bridge loans, a number of representatives our members helped elected have turn against us. Plus, the Employee Free Choice Act is vital legislation to give hundreds of thousands of workers an opportunity to be represented by a union. Polls show that over 70% of workers would prefer to be represented by a union. But, many of these same elected officials who have received our support are wavering on supporting this bill are crumbling on the weight of a $200 million dollar ad campaign waged against the bill by the National Chamber of Commerce. I have a message for these politicians; if you can’t represent us in Washington don’t expect our support in two years. It is time these elected representatives begin earning our support as oppose to just assuming it will be there.”
Reports were also given from the Ford, Chrysler and GM Departments. Rick Issacson from the Ford Department and  Independent Parts Supplier Department reported that while things have been bad for Ford, the company has fared better than others during the current economic downturn. He also stated that “flipping contracts” has been a serious issue for the IPS plants. In “flipping” the company sources work to a different supplier at the end of a contract and then uses this volume shift to drive concessions out of the new supplier. Often times the change occurs between suppliers who are located close to each other and the displaced workers from the old facility are sometimes hired at the new and reduced wages and benefits. This “flipping” back and forth between suppliers is resulting in a lower wages for workers, less buying power and contributing to the economic crisis we now find ourselves in.
Jim Fisher of the Chrysler Department reported the Chrysler Bankruptcy is nearing the end. With all of the challenges in court having played out, Chrysler is scheduled to resume production on June 29, 2009. This should result in many of our members who have been on lay off as a result of the bankruptcy being recalled to work.
UAW International Union Vice-President Cal Rapson who is in charge of the GM Department gave that update himself. Vice-President Rapson has been involved in all the negotiations between the UAW, GM and the Automotive Task Force. “It is unbelievable what is going on in this country,” Vice-President Rapson reported. “Labor did not cause this issue. In 2007 we negotiated an agreement to help these companies out and we felt we would be in pretty good shape going forward. In 2008 gasoline hits $4.00 a gallon and then the mortgage crisis hits and everything goes to pot. The government handed over $700 billion to the banking industry – no questions asked and no one knew where that money went.
These hard times hit all the automotive manufacturers hard, especially the Detroit 3. When these companies requested the bridge loans, a group lead by Southern Republican Senators – namely Richard Shelby and Bob Corker – hit labor hard. These two attacked our contracts and laid the blame for the crisis at the feet of the workers when labor only makes up 12% of cost. On the way out of the door, someone convinced President Bush that he didn’t want the domestic auto industry to go down on his watch so he made the initial loans to the industry.
The media coverage of the bridge loans resulted in 75% of the country being against loaning money to the automotive  sector. I have to tell you, President Obama is our friend. The public sentiment against the industry has made it hard for him to do much. The Automotive Task Force came in and tore up our contracts. While this group is made up of smart people, they know nothing of the automotive industry. As a matter of fact, the bulk of them even drove foreign cars. We didn’t want bankruptcy but the more we got into it, the more it seemed to be the only way out of the issue we were in.
Meeting with the Treasury Department was not easy. After all, they are handing our tax payers money so there isn’t much room to negotiate. Immediately they went after retirees benefits. When the VEBA was originally negotiated, it was designed to last for many years. The only way to get an agreement the Treasury Department would live with was to make changes to the way the VEBA is funded. We didn’t like it, but we had no choice. As a result we are being forced to suspend vision and dental plans for retirees as well as raise co pays on prescription drugs. But let me make this clear, we are suspending these plans not cancelling them. It is our position that once GM returns to profitability these plans will be restored. Everyone in the government feels that once these plans are implemented and GM exits bankruptcy they can be a profitable company. We feel strongly that GM will exit this ordeal a sound and profitable company. I can tell you without question the UAW saved both GM and Chrysler.
We don’t like these plant closing at all and the UAW fought against these. The Automotive Task Force required GM to bring capacity in line with the projections for 10 million annual sales. GM made the decisions on which plants to close, to keep and to idle. The Automotive Task Force had no input on those decisions. The sale of both the Saturn and Hummer brands adds some hope. The UAW and GM are in agreement that we can contract the production of the vehicles for the new owners. Discussions are currently on going around this issue and hope this could give some hope to some of the plants caught up in these closings.
As far as the vision and dental plans, we are currently looking at options for our members. Hopefully we can negotiate a Cobra type plan that would be offered to our members losing those benefits at a nominal fee. This could preserve  their right to this important coverage until which time these plans can be restored.
The Automotive Task Force is made up of these financial whiz kids who made a fortune and retired. Most came out of retirement to be part of history. While we don’t always agree on the method, they are focused on saving the domestic auto industry. One of the taskforce members asked me if he could tour one of the plants and observe the processes first hand to get a better feel for what is involved in automotive production. When I went to GM with the request, they insisted we tour the Delta Township Plant. While this is a great facility, it is also GM’s newest plant full of the latest technology. I really preferred touring an older plant so the taskforce could get a better idea of what it is like to work in an automotive plant. But, GM pushed and we went to Delta Township. We spent the morning looking over the plant and trying to avoid presentations because that was what the taskforce wanted. About lunch, one of them asked me if all GM plants looked like that one. I made a call and we loaded up and went unannounced to Flint and a much older plant where they make trucks. After walking around for a while, the taskforce guy told me that plant wasn’t as clean, but it appeared to have the same type of processes. We stopped to talk to one of the workers. The taskforce member introduced himself and said he was from the government and wanted to know what he could do to help. The worker told him “we know how to build vehicles, we just the economy to improve so we can sell them. Fixing the economy is the best thing you can do for us.” You know I couldn’t have said it better myself. For 100 years GM’s workers have built the products that outsold everyone else’s. All we need is for the economy to improve and I think the President is doing everything he can to help with that.”
Jim Pederson of the CAP Department gave a report on current issues facing working families such as the Employee Free Choice Act, an energy bill, the “cash for clunkers bill”, and the changes at the National Labor Relations Department. “President Obama made an immediate impact on the direction of the NLRB,” Pederson reported. “From the beginning he began reassigning workers at the NLRB from spending their time investigating local unions to working on claims against employers. The previous administration had also had noticed placed at all government work places informing workers on how to get out of the union at their workplace. President Obama replaced these postings with new ones telling how to join the union.”
Lauren Farrell of the Organizing Department gave a report, along with Region 8 representatives Don Cordell on the Skilled Trades Department, Roy Thomas on Region 8 CAP activities and Region 8 Retiree Representative Tom Savage on retiree issues.
The leadership meeting ended with Region 8 Educational Coordinator Joe Rypkowski encouraging the leadership of each local union to go back and engage and activate their membership. It is through our solidarity this union gets it power and it will be that solidarity that sees us forward through the current economic situation. |
