Dayshift

Just a reminder dividends from a 401K are taxed at your full income tax rate not at the lower dividend tax rate of 15% (20% for higher wage earners. If you're still working where you have your 401(k) AND your plan allows what's called "in-service distributions," you could make withdrawals. But in addition to being taxable income, if you're under age 59.5 there'll also be a 10% federal penalty tax. You are much better off taking a tax free loan on your 401K and pay it back over time. Taking dividends in cash will cost you a bundle. Not sure about the ex-dividend date as I always reinvest the dividends. Sorry I was not more help

Gotta start somewhere. I bet everybody knows his name now.

How many of you have local elections going on and any interesting stories to tell. Does your local have a lot of younger employees running for office.

Have any of you submitted proposals for your local agreement? Do you have anything you would like to see added or removed from your local agreement.

March 9

Ford does not give in to negotiations or offer concessions because it's the right thing to do. Proof of that is they are paying new hires $15 when entry level jobs elsewhere are paying $18, $19 and even $21 an hr. It's a discrace and we are partly to blame because we refused to fight for what was right. WE SETTLED. They give in because the UAW demands it and because of the threat of strike. Going into all the contracts in the 2000's the Autos "KNEW" there would be no strike so all we did was give concessions. 4 contracts in a row we demanded little and just gave back. If retires get anything it's because we fight for it. If we get rid of two tier it's because we fight for it. If we get healthcare in retirement back, for the new hires, it's because we fight for it. It's time to make our stand. Tell your local president and your plant chairman we are not going to vote yes on anything less than what John Deere got, plus we want retirement healthcare for new hires. No more "It's the best we can do. We send them back until they get a good contract. OUR TIME IS NOW, no more payoffs, no more compromises. WE MUST DEMAND A GOOD CONTRACT FOR ALL.

House and Senate sign Biden's rail bill that forces rail unions to accept the contract. If trump had forced unions to accept a contract they did not like, the media would have gone nuts. All in all it seems like a good deal for workers. Workers get: 1. $11,000 signing bonus. 2. 24% pay raise over five years. 3. One extra paid day off per year. 4. One day a year paid sick leave (they asked for 5).

On Joe Biden's 1st day of office he canceled the 9 billion dollar Keystone XL pipeline which was was expected to carry 830,000 barrels of oil per day to refineries. This move cost 1000's of jobs for the members of the Laborers’ International Union of North America and the United Association of Plumbers & Pipefitters. Both unions were big supporters on Joe Biden and he showed his appreciation on day one. Reports vary from 11,000 new jobs to as few as 3900 jobs, but non the less it's billions of dollars of development that will not get done. The effect on gas prices is unknown, but not getting oil cheaply to where it is needed clearly adds to higher gas prices we face today..

I just got my UAW Election Ballot and SECRET BALLOT SLEEVE in the mail today! Do any of you have a horse in this race, anyone know any of the candidates personally. I am being told we should vote for the whole "Curry Solidarity team"? Any thoughts or comments?

For 2023 UAW contract #1 Protection of healthcare (Likely) #2 Return of cost of living. (Likely) #3 20% or greater raise over life of contract. (Likely) #4 Elimination of 2 tear wages. (Possible) #5 Large signing bonus (Likely) #6 Increase in pension for legacy workers / retirees (Unlikely) We have to be willing to strike if we are going to get what we deserve.

Considering the "healthy" contracts the UAW negotiated at John Deere and other Ag companies what should we expect from the 2023 contract negotiations with Ford, GM and Stellantis. Based on the John Deere contract, I am including some items we will likely ask for in our next contract. Please rank them in order of importance as you see it and if you think it likely, unlikely or impossible. Feel free to add additional items to the list. 20% or great raise over life of contract. Return of cost of living. Elimination of 2 tear wages. Large signing bonus Increase in pension for legacy workers / retirees Protection of healthcare I will go first.

Ford plans to layoff 8000 people from Ford Blue division to fund research, development and expansion of FORD Model E division. This is just the beginning! https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/07/20/ford-layoff-8000-ev-transition/10112304002/?gnt-cfr=1 https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/22/23274230/ford-blue-layoffs-model-e-ev https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-false-green-jobs-promise-ford-electric-vehicles-jim-farley-layoffs-11658429350

That's great news for OHIP.

Note: The email was not from an Applebee's Exec. The alleged e-mail was from an exec of American Franchise Capital, who owns some Applebees and Taco bell locations in Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Kentucky and Arkansas. There are unconfirmed reports that the exec has since been let go for cause by AFC.

"Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe." Steven Chu, President Obamas Energy Secretary in 12/12/08 interview. Gas was $8.00 a gallon in Europe at the time. If we plan to shift the American public from their love of ICE engines to EV's that are much cheaper to manufacture, then former Energy Secretary Chu may have been right. Gas prices are steadily on their way to the $8.oo per gallon average gas price in Europe today. Inflation is always a direct result of an over heated economy where demand is higher than supply or from printing too much money and dumping it into the economy or both. I'll let you decide which is the cause this time.

Maybe so on Irrational Exuberance but Tesla has been over $700 a share for over a year. Their P/E has been 75 or higher since the beginning. Amazon's P/E has been over 100 forever. Ford's P/E is under 10. If Ford had a P/E of just 23 (very low for a tech stock) then it's share price would be $4.43 X 23 = stock price of $101 per share.

I don't see Ford spinning off the EV division because the Ford Family would likely loose their "special" class of stock and their iron clad control of the new company. Also the legacy division would loose much of it's value over night. The plan is to get credit for being a modern tech company as fast as possible as they evolve into the new leaner tech company we will soon become. If I was working at an engine or transmission plant I would be looking for a life boat soon. Future does not look good for ICE. Tech companies get a much higher stock multiple than traditional auto companies. Ford just wants to get credit with Wall Street for the part of the company that has already transformed itself, as they quickly struggle to transform the rest. Tesla is worth around 886 billion on just $17.7 billion in sales and $2 billion in profit. (New tech company) Ford is worth around 65.9 billion on $136 billion in sales and $10 billion in profit. (Old industrial company)

Your all missing one critical fact about EV's. They take 30% to 40% less workers to manufacture. With no complicated Engines and Transmissions they require far less UAW employees to manufacture. The reason the auto companies are pushing for the switch to EV's is they are going to be so much more profitable and the projected warranty cost are far less as well. If projections are correct the UAW auto related membership will be cut in half. That's why the UAW are quickly trying to diversify their membership.

Looks like about $7377.00 for the average employee for 2021. About 56,000 Ford workers would be issued checks on March 10, 2022 GM is expecting about $10,000 per employee.

Detroit News reports: Ford UAW hourly workers earn average of $3,625 profit-sharing checks amid 2020 earnings dip. https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2021/02/04/ford-reported-2020-earnings-dipped-profit-sharing-checks/4385369001

The best new rumor is that Ford may start manufacturing the actual battery cells like Tesla and GM do. These are high tech jobs of the future. Same with the DC drive motors for the EV's. This would account for many more jobs and it would not just be assembly jobs, we would manufacture them from raw materials. This would be a win for the UAW. We "NEED" to start insisting Ford manufacture the components for the EV's. We will loose all the Engine and Transmission Plants when Ford goes 100% EV's in the distant future. That means we need to make up those jobs producing EV components or 30% to 40% of the UAW jobs will just go away. We did not fight this battle when the auto's started outsourcing parts last time and now we are half the size we were with even less bargaining power.

I've had to do this several times in the past 10 years. I have found it to be uneventful. Send in paperwork and you don't hear from them until the next time your name comes up. Ford spends millions on dependent benefits each year With all the fraud these days it would be accounting and financial malpractice to not verify info from time to time. .

Batteries for all electrics will be assembled on site at the assembly plants. They are too large for transport. Batteries for all the hybrids are currently being assembles in Ypsilanti, MI, if I recall. I believe this is the model we will be using well into the future.

Maybe when Trump or Biden (either way) gets elected and brings back all those manufacturing jobs that building will be needed...... Both are promising the same thing with regards to manufacturing jobs. Always remember Clinton pushed NAFTA and GATT through, Obama tried to push TTP through and the Senate Republicans have approved every trade deal since the 1980's Why did we give these guys (Clinton and Obama) our hard earned union dues if they are not going to represent us as workers. We know the Republicans are going to protect big business, but the Democrats we send our dues money and support to are no better. We need to force our bought and elected government representatives to stand up and fight for us the workers. Guess this goes for our international Union leaders as well. Sorry about the politics but I just got another dozen emails from my Senator and representative and from Joe Biden telling me how much they need my help and support. Reminds me of my elected union officials every election cycle. I also got another dozen flyers from the UAW telling me who to vote for and why the other side is so bad.

Wishing you all the best aibohphobia. Not sure I can be of much help but here goes. Like Decker said get all the information and sit down with your financial planner and maybe your accountant before pulling the trigger. Sometime a retirement advisor can help as well. Everytime we go through this we lose a lot of great workers, some go on to do much better at other companies and some struggle to find a new home. Good luck