pant load

I left TCAP as asoon as I could because I had a good job waiting for me, otherwise I wouldn't had left until they made me. It sounds like this was not a well-planned move but more of a knee jerk reaction for the Nov.27 quit, tough shit. We are lucky to get the buy-out and if it wasn't for the UAW this wouldn't be happening. At my new job there are some former management people from Ford I have met and I feel sorry for them because they didn't get even close to what we got, it was embarrasing when I was asked about the buy-out. On the last day before New Years some of my new co-workers took some time to go say goodby to some friends and relatives (including children) who were working their last day before a permanent lay off. There was no buyouts or anything like we got and yet they acted like adults. Just settle down, the checks will be there soon

I heard from a manager at rouge they are or will be hiring off the street for electricians

Sure I will but I won't buy them blindly just to buy a Ford, I wil compare them to a GM or Chrysler product and if the Ford is equal I will buy the Ford. When an employee buys a product from his employer that puts food on his table is one thing, when a former employee who was downsized buys a product from his former employer it means he is either insane or they have a good product and the public at large will be impressed. We are all still affected by Ford as either stock holders or in our pension plan. I would definitely buy a used Ford tomorrow.

I will be leaving next week from TCAP, 36 hours later I start a new job that will initially be close in pay and benefits and will soon pass up my pay at Ford, I have two interviews with two other companies this week just in case this job doesn't work out. I have more opportunities coming up in the future, one that has the potential to be very interesting. I owe a lot of it to ETAP If you haven't used ETAP before or just used it for making a fishing pole then you might as well be closing your eyes, holding your breath and hoping that Jap boogyman just leaves you alone this time and your plant won't be taken away from you. Getting an educationof any type is good for you, your family and its even good for Ford. The B.S. isn't over, it's just delayed for a while. Here is a good search engine for jobs. http://indeed.myway.com/index.php?pid=5713...art=10&al=0 Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are also closing at TCAP, and our union is night and day difference from what I read about here, we have some good people in office and that is helping a lot. Its too bad all about all of this shit I am reading about NAP, I always heard good things about the plant and the people. remember, it will be over soon, leave with dignity, don't let a few chunks of shit take that from you. Your kids and grandchildren will remember this plant closing for the rest of there lives , show them how adults should act. My Dad has not had an easy life, he is pushing seventy and working fulltime. When I told him about our plant closing I expected a little bit of sympathy, here is a qoute from him " It's just a job, it's not your health, it's not your families health, no one is dying, Its just a fucking job, and you better be able to handle that, what else you got for me" I guess I wasn't expecting that second kick in the nuts that day (the announcement being the first) but for me it really helped put things in perspective. I found a different job, I start as soon as Ford lets me go, I will miss my freinds at Ford.

Thinking about any cowboy movies??? :banmolest:

I didn't mean that Honda was ahead of Ford, I dont know that, I was just interested in how it's running at lower temperatures than before. It sounds like a good idea to get the energy from coal while burning it in a very clean way. If we could capitalize on this it would screw OPEC over more than any bomb we could drop on them. :hyper:

I hope Ford can pull this off from their end, here is a link to a supply of hydrogen. http://www.clean-energy.us/index.php Our main electrical supplier in the Twin Cities is gearing up to convert their pulverized coal plants to burn the gas from coal instead. Here is how it works http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powe...ationworks.html If the utilities are going to be doing this, isn't this a large step towards making fuel cells a reality or at least hydrogen powered internal combustion engines? Coal gassification isn't rocket science, South Africa has been using it for years, Germany used it during the war and we used it until natural gas came in in 1932, yes, Ford actually ran one of these here at TCAP from 1925 to 1932. the gas was used for the glass production here is a picture http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresource...earchType=Basic as for the low temperature problems check out this link. http://world.honda.com/news/2006/4060925FCXConcept/ It's looking better.

I'm at TCAP and I will soon be in the same shoes as you. It's not their fault either of our plants will soon just be a memory, give up on the honda B.S. As for the trades (which I am a member of) COA is coming. We could have done things different but we didn't. The one thing that amazes me about Ford trades was the lack of peer pressure like you see on the outside. How the majority of the trades who are productive, competent workers silently covered the bad apples while they played cards, drank or snuck out. The good tradesmen will do fine in what ever they do, the bad apples will discover that even if they perform trouser magic on management at their new job, their co-workers will let them know on a dailey basis that they are peices of shit and their day's are numbered. I wonder if the tool box lawyers wish that instead of studying the contract to get out of work and write b.s. grievences they would have been studying books to perform their jobs. From what I hear you guys did a good job at AAP just like we did at TCAP Good Luck

1100 at TCAP I bet we will hit 1200, I Have no clue how they are going to run after January 1st. I have multiple job offers and the money will be less for a short while but it will pass Ford within 2 years. Billy Ford, thanks for the hundred grand, I didn't expect it. Ford has been good to me and my family, I will miss the people

I hear ya, I decided that I would rather be 43, unemployed and in Minneapolis than 48 unemployed and in Michigan. Nothing against Michigan,I have cousins whose family worked in Flint for GM for generations but our economy is better and even if Ford survives I dont want that COA shoved up my ass. I feel this COA is just the start, where it ends I dont know but I don't want to be a part of it. On a different note we have someone restoring old photos of the plant and also making a DVD. It will be done and given to us before we all leave this Christmas. Is any other plant doing this?

Hey Steve Our new CEO says he wants to run Ford like Toyota, correct me if I am wrong but don't their executives get paid a lot less than their US counterparts? What would Toyota do if there stock was in the tank like Fords and their car line was ignored for the fast buck on suv's and trucks. If that is true than Mr. Mullally should either change his message to "run Ford kind of like Toyota in the certain areas we want to discuss". Or just REDUCE EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION TO BE COMPARIBLE TO TOYOTA. Hey Ford Exec's What Would Toyota Do?

Nope, we are working as of today.

[...... BUT....the others that don't apply themselves, or don't really try, and can't get washed out of the program because of "certain" criteria, well, it's really not that much different than working on the line where 10% of the people do 90% of the work. The old saying says "they will ride a good horse to death" def applies in the trades as well. I guess what I'm really trying to say, is that the moron you sit next to in class, is going to make the same money you are, and you are going to end up doing most of his work as well. We had an apprentice that flat out told his journeyman that he "wasn't going to climb ladders, go up in a scissor/boom lift, or carry tools". He made it through the program, and now everytime his machine breaks down (hold on a sec, I'm still acting like we still build cars down here, who's the moron now?), someone else ends up having to go bail his sorry ass out of the hole he dug for himself. Like I said, no flame intended, just a word of warning bro. You should see these morons freak out when they find out their plant is closing, you would swear that nobody is getting screwed but them. I'm sure the same thing will happen to those in all the other plants that are staying open, but have to swallow the coa. Hey Dark, be an asshole , tell those pieces of shit that they are a support staf that can and probabley will be replaced, do your job the best that you can and lead by example. It worked for me Hopefully 45 days left at Ford Pant Load