shamrock157

It is a bad deal no doubt , but anyone who voted yes for the contract has no ground to stand on . We had an opportunity to say no and didn't take it . If you aren't happy with the deal take it up with the 80% plus who voted it in . I would love to see a better deal , but don't count on it .

There never will an in stone closing date , my rep said that all Ford is required is the one year notice , which means as of now our only guarantee is till November 2010 . As far as this so called contract goes , if we purchased a product at a store and got it home and realized that it wasn't it was advertised , the store would be forced to accept a return . So why can the CAW get away with it ? If they know what they sold us , let's see it .

What we need now are the details to our contract . How come we were forced into a deal that the Union had no idea of what was included . I have been trying to get answers and have been told to wait until the Spring when the seminars will be set up . People need to know what the hell is going on in order to get on with their lives after Ford . Jobs are out there now that won't be around for long , with all the Sterling employees and such looking and applying now . If the Union knows what the details are , why are they hiding them from us ?

It was basically a scare tactic , people were voting before the question period was even started . The entire membership was still in a semi state of shock from the news and not one person at the vote was able to make an educated decision , myself included . The CAW absolutely needs to allow time for the membership to review the tentative offer like the UAW .

The big problem with the way this went down , is the fact that the CAW does not allow the members time to look over the offer and make an educated decision . The high pressure tactics they use at the ratification meetings is nothing short of despicable . If the CAW was a business or individual , they would not get away with it . The results may not have been much different , but people would feel more comfortable about having time to make a rational decision . There is a large group of individuals at STAP who did not make out all that good with this package . We at least owe it to them to make an educated decision , not one based on a doomsday scenario . http://www.gov.on.ca/mgs/en/ConsProt/STEL02_045917.html

So assuming that Chrysler members are scared enough to vote in this turd,what happens with pattern bargaining? Is it broke or does GM ask for a return visit? Does Ford demand parity with the GM or Chrysler agreement? Interesting times. From the Canadian Press Article The CAW will now negotiate similar deals with Ford and GM to maintain fairness and competitiveness among the Detroit Three automakers.

Ford is finally admitting that they are sacrificing the Crown Vic . http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article.../711010358/1014

There will be layoffs in the trades and was the choice of 16 Saturdays offered as rumoured ?

STAP St.Thomas Assembly Plant

Do any other plants have a shift rotation as ridiculous as the one we have starting in April ? We are expected to alternate between two weeks of days and two weeks of midnights . The time for nights will be 12:00-8:30 and days will be 8:30-5:00 . This is being thrust upon us by the company , and our Union seems think this is a great idea , with little or no regard to the well being of its members . I guess it is one way of making sure we won't be collecting pensions for long if at all .

There is no mention of a vote on the memo sent out , so there shouldn't be one , just a conversation as stated . I don't think they should be able to put it to a vote , but I have seen stranger things happen . It wouldn't be a bad idea to call the skilled trades rep and get this clarified before Saturday .

Crown Vic sales were up slightly over last year for the month and surpassed the 500 in sales which dropped substantially . As well the Grand Marquis also improved slightly for the month .

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y/Business/home

With the time frame the CV/GM has for life , my personal guess is that it will survive long enough for Bill Jrs replacement to actaually make the final decision on the fate of the car . A lot can change in 4 or 5 years .

Why doesn't Ford try to sell the CV GM more actively ? They haven't promoted a top selling car for years and are willing to let it die . No wonder their bottom line is down , all it would take is a fraction of the 500's advertising budget to double the Crown Vic sales . Obviously someone in management has an agenda to kill the CV GM in order to promote another vehicle in order to make themselves look good , but so far all it has accomplished is sending car buyers to the competitors . Why , when at a time when our competitors are going to rear wheel drive are we looking to get out of it ? Is our braintrust actually that out of touch with the public ?