July 9, 2014 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
• Local 2250 Legislative Committee is having a V-CAP fundraiser raffle. First prize is a Microsoft Surface RT (32GB, 10.6” screen), 2nd prize is a TDK bluetooth wireless sound cube and 3rd prize is a $50 QT gas card. Tickets are $5 apiece or 5 for $10 and can be purchased at the Union meeting or from Travis Brock (body, a-right) or Kelly Seddens-Poole (trim) on 1st shift or Rondo Turner (body, a-left) and Larry Mosby (chassis, frame line) on 2nd shift. Drawing will be held at the July 16 day shift Union meeting.
• From the Veteran’s Committee: There are sign-up sheets posted at all three entrances for those interested in helping out with the SOS Ride on September 27, 2014. We will need people to work at the Hall and at each check-point along the ride. Anyone interested in joining the UAW 2250 Motorcycle Riders Club see Steve Melson. Our next meeting is Thursday, July 10 at 4:45pm at the hall. Also, the Veterans Cards are in and Steve Melson will be in the cafeteria to hand them out this Friday, July 11 at lunch and 2nd break on both shifts.
• From Automotive News: General Motors' South Korean workers today voted to go on strike over salaries and production volume, signaling tough annual wage talks for automakers already grappling with falling earnings because of the stronger won. Strikes are an almost annual event in South Korea's $173 billion auto industry, but this year's unrest could be more prolonged than usual as workers are calling for the revamping of a 60-year-old wage structure among other demands. A union spokesman said 69 percent of GM Korea's 14,016 workers voted to walk out for a fourth consecutive year unless they reach a deal. A spokesman for GM Korea said the vote did not mean that there will be an actual strike and said it was one of the union's "ordinary actions" during annual negotiations. "Both sides remain committed to reaching a fair and reasonable labor agreement based on mutual trust and understanding," the spokesman said. Unions are demanding changes to the wage structure, which has been in place since 1953, because the country's Supreme Court ruled late last year that fixed bonuses should be counted as base wages. Workers want their new contract to comply with the ruling because it would increase various statutory benefits such as overtime allowances and severance pay, which are adjusted in proportion to base wages. GM Korea workers are also calling for management to boost production after the automaker announced plans to stop selling Chevrolet vehicles in Europe by the end of 2015. GM Korea CEO Sergio Rocha on Monday warned employees that a strike could jeopardize production and job security, and urged them to "stop this vicious cycle before it is too late".
Workers at Renault SA's South Korean unit last week voted in favor of a strike, although talks continue, while ongoing wage negotiations at Hyundai are expected to drag into next month.
• From USA Today: General Motor hints that its avalanche of older-car recalls is over. The automaker, still under a microscope on safety issues, will announce more recalls, but expects them from now on to be less numerous and more typical of the overall industry — smaller numbers of, mainly, newer vehicles recalled as problems are found. GM is under intense scrutiny from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over its recall process and decision-making, and meets monthly with the safety agency. That's part of the fallout from GM's delayed worldwide recall in February and March of 2.6 million 2003-2011 small cars for defective ignition switches that can disable airbags. GM links the faulty switches to 12 deaths in the U.S. and one in Canada. After that recall, the company began an intensive campaign to identify and expedite any pending safety issues. While declining to say directly that the cavalcade is over — for fear of raising false hopes that all recalls are ended, or sounding arrogant — GM said it wouldn't quibble with comments by JP Morgan auto industry analyst Ryan Brinkman. He told his clients in a note earlier this week that "GM concluded its enhanced product safety review that has led to a significantly elevated pace of vehicle recalls." And a statement from CEO Mary Barra accompanying the latest recalls — 7.55 million U.S. vehicles announced Monday for a variety of defects — GM acknowledges, intentionally used the past tense: "We undertook what I believe is the most comprehensive safety review in the history of our company." GM global development chief Mark Reuss previously told Brinkman that the extraordinary pace of recalls could wind down this summer. And GM's safety chief, Jeff Boyer, told USA TODAY in an interview earlier this year that it would be a sign of business as usual when GM recalls begin to be for fewer, newer models.
• A stolen Tesla involved in a fiery crash split into two following a pursuit that ended in West Hollywood early Friday, leaving seven people injured, police said. KTLA reported that the chase began after a Tesla dealership reported the car was being tampered with on its lot. Photographs of the scene appear to show the Tesla’s rear end wedged between a wall at a synagogue, several dozen feet from the front half, which came to rest next to two other wrecked cars in the middle of the street. From the photograph, it appears Tesla Model S split behind the front seats. The car’s batteries burst into flames as they laid strewn across the street.
Tom Brune
UAW Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
