OAC News

[bobsyouruncle]

I heard a rumour that the old guys are pissed that we only get 65% as of jan 1. So they want to go to one shift so they don't get screwed money wise. It doesn't make sense because they would have to train all the old guys to do the sh#ty jobs; and they would all end up on restrictions. Also by the time the get them trained it will be time to start with the flex plant. Has anyone else heard of this 1 shift rumour.

I also think it does not make much sense to go one shift for a few months. I think if we force 1 shift, they may close the doors for three months as rumours have suggested. Do we need the vans? Should senior members give up their right to work, I don't know, but if they exercise their right to work, there may be repercussions.

 

Trades have language to protect our jobs while contractors are on site, however this may be rough for production until flex is up and running.

Edited December 3, 2005 by bobsyouruncle

[charly]

You mean there will actually be a motion and vote on this single shift issue/rumor @ the Dec 18 meeting??

 

 

The vote will be on if we wish to carry on the same as we have been, only at 65% on the downweeks or alternatively they could just shut the doors for a few months.......

The issue must be voted on by the membership becase it entails a "change" in collective agreement.

The leadership is soundly behind endorsing the status quo....lets all just hang tough for a few more months (4-5) and we should be okay.

Don't let the vocal minority speak for you.

Come out and vote....IT'S YOUR FUTURE.

 

Carry on :-)

[bobsyouruncle]

The vote will be on if we wish to carry on the same as we have been, only at 65% on the downweeks or alternatively they could just shut the doors for a few months.......

The issue must be voted on by the membership becase it entails a "change" in collective agreement.

The leadership is soundly behind endorsing the status quo....lets all just hang tough for a few more months (4-5) and we should be okay.

Don't let the vocal minority speak for you.

Come out and vote....IT'S YOUR FUTURE.

 

Carry on :-)

 

If they do close the doors for 3 months we all get 65% all the time. 2 weeks of %100 and 2 at %65 sounds good to me, hope people show up to vote and vote smart. Don't think this is a bluf by Ford for 1 second. I know there are a few that will say that we shound not change the collective agreement, but I caution them to think this through. Force them to one shift and you all will be out!

[foxrun]

PM pushes NDP alliance

Martin-Hargrove appearance sends shock waves through campaign

Dec. 3, 2005. 02:14 AM

LES WHITTINGTON AND BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH

OTTAWA BUREAU

 

Prime Minister Paul Martin is openly encouraging the notion of a Liberal-New Democrat minority government on Jan. 23, recruiting the high-profile leader of the Canadian Auto Workers to back his plea.

 

CAW chief Buzz Hargrove, whose membership has a long-standing affiliation with the NDP, sent shock waves through the election campaign when he appeared at Martin's side yesterday and spoke in favour of a Liberal-NDP alliance.

 

"The overwhelming majority of our delegates endorsed what the Prime Minister stands for here today," CAW chief Buzz Hargrove told reporters after Martin laid out his election themes before 900 union members at a convention in Toronto.

 

In the event of a Liberal minority on Jan. 23, Hargrove would like to see a formal deal between Martin and the NDP to join forces to eliminate instability in Parliament. "It could be an accord on issues or it could be a coalition," he said.

 

Martin, essentially acknowledging that he can't win without strategic NDP voting and support, says the election is "a clash of values" over social, economic and environmental issues and he is telling voters to choose carefully.

 

"One of two people is going to become prime minister," said Martin, 67. "It's going to be (Conservative Leader) Stephen Harper or it's going to be myself."

 

"With Stephen Harper and the Tories in power, we would see a much different Canada, a much more divisive Canada. And also we would see him and (Bloc Québécois Leader) Gilles Duceppe, if they get enough seats, working together to dismantle this country that all of us are so proud of."

 

The Prime Minister has been careful during the first few days of this campaign not to slam the NDP as hard as his other opponents, but yesterday's developments took his courting of New Democrats to another level.

 

It comes as a new Toronto Star/La Presse/EKOS poll is released today, showing that Liberals and Conservatives are almost equally distrusted by Canadians — a distrust that is standing in the way of a majority for either of them.

 

For Conservatives, the main obstacle is their perceived party platform, which 54 per cent of respondents said was the reason they wouldn't vote for the Tories. Another 27 per cent said Harper was not trustworthy.

 

For the Liberals, it's ethics, with almost two-thirds of respondents saying corruption was the main reason they wouldn't vote to return Martin's government to power.

 

This double-barrelled antipathy of the two main parties makes the NDP vote critical and soft voters of that stripe could well help determine the fate of the election.

 

But Hargrove's foray didn't land well with the New Democrats yesterday. It unravels NDP Leader Jack Layton's carefully crafted push in the campaign's first week to persuade voters to abandon the strategic voting tactics that have cost his party in past elections.

 

At campaign stops in Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia all week, Layton has been urging NDP supporters to stick with the party and not be scared into voting Liberal to stop a Conservative victory.

 

Then yesterday, Hargrove stopped well short of offering his full endorsement of the NDP, traditionally the party with closest ties to labour. Instead, he advocated voting NDP only where they have the best chance of beating a Conservative.

 

Specifically, Hargrove recommended that the CAW endorse incumbent New Democrats (the party held 18 seats at dissolution of Parliament) as well as "NDP candidates in potentially winnable ridings.

 

"I recommend that in other ridings, the CAW not endorse any specific candidates; rather, individual voters will need to decide what best contributes to electing a Liberal minority with NDP balance of power, and stopping Conservatives."

 

Equally bad for Layton was the visual message — the sight of Hargrove and Martin sharing a stage, with Layton nowhere to be seen.

 

Layton, 55, told reporters yesterday, "Mr. Hargrove is well-known for having his opinions and expressing them. ... Our view is that the Liberals don't deserve people's support. We believe that having as many New Democrats as possible in this House produces the best results for working people. ... I think we've shown that in the minority Parliament."

 

Hargrove said he hasn't discussed his political stance with the NDP leader. "I haven't talked to Layton," he said. "I don't report to Jack."

 

The Liberals, with only 133 out of 308 seats in the last Parliament, relied on the NDP to keep them from being toppled on confidence votes. But Layton withdrew his support this fall, leading to the Liberals' defeat.

 

Martin also raised the ante in his bid to make the unity issue a key factor in the campaign. He said that, for Quebec, the vote on Jan. 23 will amount to a "referendum election."

 

Martin has been warning that the Bloc, which has joined forces with charismatic new Parti Québécois leader André Boisclair, is using the current election as a staging ground for another referendum on Quebec independence.

 

Martin is telling Quebecers that the best way to halt this sovereignist stratagem is to vote Liberal.

 

"I think it is certainly a referendum election according to the Boisclair-Duceppe duo," Martin said. "They said clearly they have made a pact."

 

Martin suggested only the Liberals could convince Quebec to stay in Canada and lead the federal cause in the next referendum campaign.

 

with files from Graham Fraser

 

 

 

 

 

I agree, strategic voting where necessary, and if bloc and conservatives win they WILL persue divisive agendas, ie good chance no more Canada. The problem is that the reactionary mind set will have a hard time wrapping this important idea around thier little heads.

[otp]

You mean there will actually be a motion and vote on this single shift issue/rumor @ the Dec 18 meeting??

 

There will be a meeting because the collective has to be opened up for this to go through even though our appointed union reps have agreed to continue with the 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. Ford has agreed to pay SUB for the 1st week of everyone's waiting period at 65% in 2006.Beck said the company told him that they sold 807 Freestars and Montereys of which 169 Freestars were sold in Canada during the month of November.Starting in approximately May/June we will then go to a 2 shift operation but will probably work 4 hours per shift for a few weeks until full production is reached.This is all tentative as we could face more blackout periods during this time as dictated by market conditions. Also we are now only going to get 1 new product (Edge & Aviator, shared platform) besides the Freestar, the one that we lost to Atlanta has disappeared as Ford announced that they will be closing the Atlanta plant.Come January Bill Ford is supposed to announce publicly the restructuring of Ford........which may or may not affect us. Beck and the super 7 say they see a light at the end of the tunnel after 6 months...........I hope they're right because Kenny Hogarth and some others disagree and voted against the recommendation to continue with the present working pattern in 2006. Beck's stance is that we should accept because going by Seniority would cause the company too many logistics headaches in training and would result in a total 3 month blackout for everyone since it would be cheaper to lay everyone off than to retrain.......since they're not selling anything anyway and now have a 250 day inventory. The meeting will be Dec 12th or the 18th, this hasn't been set yet and a flyer will go out to let people know when. The future looks a little cloudy to me since it was mentioned that these layoffs or blackouts might continue on and off until 2008 when we will be in full flex plant mode.

[OAC_Sparky]

As much as you (and I) would like to see everyone working, I think we are setting a bad precedence.

 

Not that it will likely affect trades guys, but that's what I think. We are becoming a workforce of casual labour.

 

And the Canadian taxpayers will only tolerate footing the bill for Ford's incompetence for so long.

[charly]

There will be a meeting because the collective has to be opened up for this to go through even though our appointed union reps have agreed to continue with the 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. Ford has agreed to pay SUB for the 1st week of everyone's waiting period at 65% in 2006.Beck said the company told him that they sold 807 Freestars and Montereys of which 169 Freestars were sold in Canada during the month of November.Starting in approximately May/June we will then go to a 2 shift operation but will probably work 4 hours per shift for a few weeks until full production is reached.This is all tentative as we could face more blackout periods during this time as dictated by market conditions. Also we are now only going to get 1 new product (Edge & Aviator, shared platform) besides the Freestar, the one that we lost to Atlanta has disappeared as Ford announced that they will be closing the Atlanta plant.Come January Bill Ford is supposed to announce publicly the restructuring of Ford........which may or may not affect us. Beck and the super 7 say they see a light at the end of the tunnel after 6 months...........I hope they're right because Kenny Hogarth and some others disagree and voted against the recommendation to continue with the present working pattern in 2006. Beck's stance is that we should accept because going by Seniority would cause the company too many logistics headaches in training and would result in a total 3 month blackout for everyone since it would be cheaper to lay everyone off than to retrain.......since they're not selling anything anyway and now have a 250 day inventory. The meeting will be Dec 12th or the 18th, this hasn't been set yet and a flyer will go out to let people know when. The future looks a little cloudy to me since it was mentioned that these layoffs or blackouts might continue on and off until 2008 when we will be in full flex plant mode.

 

 

I support the leaderships motion....but I believe the number of units sold was more like 3000+...still not earth shattering.

 

As much as you (and I) would like to see everyone working, I think we are setting a bad precedence.

 

Not that it will likely affect trades guys, but that's what I think. We are becoming a workforce of casual labour.

 

And the Canadian taxpayers will only tolerate footing the bill for Ford's incompetence for so long.

 

 

Well Sparx, if Ford decides to collapse the whole Freestar program early then about 75-125 trades will be gone as well. We need to do what it takes to keep the Freestar production going as long as possible.

[bobsyouruncle]

I support the leaderships motion....but I believe the number of units sold was more like 3000+...still not earth shattering.

Well Sparx, if Ford decides to collapse the whole Freestar program early then about 75-125 trades will be gone as well. We need to do what it takes to keep the Freestar production going as long as possible.

 

 

Agreed!

[OAC_Sparky]

Well Sparx, if Ford decides to collapse the whole Freestar program early then about 75-125 trades will be gone as well. We need to do what it takes to keep the Freestar production going as long as possible.

I agree -- BUT -- is the short term gain worth long term suffering? I'm more or less playing Devil's Advocate here. Is it possible that were the Freestar line get canned early, that its replacement might come to Oakville sooner? Take a pic of a CD3 Aviator/Edge, stretch it taller, and whatcha got?

 

Aviator:

 

 

Minivan?

 

It's just a quick hack, but if you notice I did absolutely ZERO to the underbody/front structure -- meaning it should fit on all the Aviator/Edge dimensional carrier tooling.

 

Although in an ideal situation the Freestar would keep us working, the longer it suffers this slow lingering death the more it drags us down in terms on consumer and shareholder confidence.

 

Like I said....Devil's Advocate.

Edited December 3, 2005 by OAC_Sparky

[charly]

I agree -- BUT -- is the short term gain worth long term suffering? I'm more or less playing Devil's Advocate here. Is it possible that were the Freestar line get canned early, that its replacement might come to Oakville sooner? Take a pic of a CD3 Aviator/Edge, stretch it taller, and whatcha got?

 

Aviator:

Minivan?

 

It's just a quick hack, but if you notice I did absolutely ZERO to the underbody/front structure -- meaning it should fit on all the Aviator/Edge dimensional carrier tooling.

 

Although in an ideal situation the Freestar would keep us working, the longer it suffers this slow lingering death the more it drags us down in terms on consumer and shareholder confidence.

 

Like I said....Devil's Advocate.

 

 

 

LOL

Step away from the keyboard and photoshop and no one will get hurt............J/k

[OAC_Sparky]

LOL

Step away from the keyboard and photoshop and no one will get hurt............J/k

Meh, everyone's a critic.

 

But you're still #1 with me, Buddy.

 

 

 

 

:lol:

[otp]

LOL

Step away from the keyboard and photoshop and no one will get hurt............J/k

That got a good belly laugh! In fact a new clam shell has to be used as it is slightly wider. They did try to send one through the system on Thursday and it jammed in chassis and had to be cut out. Just FYI, the new clam has an inner support on it and one of the launch co coordinators (salary) as well as one of the Union reps who had been in Detroit told me that it was there to handle the Lincoln Zephyr and Mercury Milan. Apparently Mexico can not keep up with demand and we were slated to handle the over flow.

[charly]

Meh, everyone's a critic.

 

But you're still #1 with me, Buddy.

 

:lol:

 

 

Well that's a pleasant change.....you usually have that finger hidden away in one of your body cavities :lol:

[OAC_Sparky]

Well that's a pleasant change.....you usually have that finger hidden away in one of your body cavities :lol:

That's only when you're around, and is only to keep you out. :blink:

[charly]

That's only when you're around, and is only to keep you out. :blink:

 

 

Awwwwwwwwwwwww feel the love :blink:

[tbill]

That's only when you're around, and is only to keep you out. :blink:

 

 

 

Hmmmmmm....sure hope somebody bought a 12 pack of Trojan's....Lol :lol: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[CanadaSVT]

If they do close the doors for 3 months we all get 65% all the time. 2 weeks of %100 and 2 at %65 sounds good to me, hope people show up to vote and vote smart. Don't think this is a bluf by Ford for 1 second. I know there are a few that will say that we shound not change the collective agreement, but I caution them to think this through. Force them to one shift and you all will be out!

65% and a life sounds better to me. I was off on parental leave for four months this year at 65%, not paying over $70/month union dues, not filling my gas tank every week, while everyone else was getting 85%. And guess what, I survived and I'll survive no matter what we vote.

Not paying union dues looks good to me, not that we actually have to pay dues if we don't want to anyway.

 

Here's a big shout out to Dale Morton! :P

Edited December 7, 2005 by CanadaSVT

[charly]

65% and a life sounds better to me. I was off on parental leave for four months this year at 65%, not paying over $70/month union dues, not filling my gas tank every week, while everyone else was getting 85%. And guess what, I survived and I'll survive no matter what we vote.

Not paying union dues looks good to me, not that we actually have to pay dues if we don't want to anyway.

 

Here's a big shout out to Dale Morton! :P

 

 

Good point...lets all not pay dues and then the CAW will just go away and we will still have our benefits and great wages....yeah right :wacko:

[CanadaSVT]

Good point...lets all not pay dues and then the CAW will just go away and we will still have our benefits and great wages....yeah right :wacko:

Another quick one sentence from 'chuck'! Where did I say "let's all not pay dues"? No, you don't need to answer that, as we all know the answer :rolleyes:

[CanadaSVT]

Beck and the super 7 say they see a light at the end of the tunnel after 6 months...........I hope they're right because Kenny Hogarth and some others disagree and voted against the recommendation to continue with the present working pattern in 2006

 

Okay, that settles it. I'm voting yes to continue with the two week on/off pattern. :mellow:

 

BTW it was Hogarth and two others that voted against.

Edited December 8, 2005 by CanadaSVT

[charly]

Another quick one sentence from 'chuck'! Where did I say "let's all not pay dues"? No, you don't need to answer that, as we all know the answer :rolleyes:

 

 

 

I quote """Not paying union dues looks good to me, not that we actually have to pay dues if we don't want to anyway"""

 

I can see where that statement may be misconstrued.

 

 

How's that?? 2 sentences

[CanadaSVT]

How's that?? 2 sentences

 

 

So maybe you know something about many skilled trades being 'let go' starting in January? Doesn't sound good to me :angry:

[foxrun]

Went into the "Aviator war room" today. It 's on the third floor of the front office (not the glass office), anyone can go and see it. Has detail drawings on the way things will operate, where each plant will be, body, paint etc... and the flow of the lines. Plus clear pictures of the edge and aviator front and back. Interesting, I suggest anyone interested in thier future at OAC should go see it. Go up the main stairs at the main entrance and second right you will see the sign.

Edited December 10, 2005 by foxrun

[avi8or63]

Hi y'all Chassis went 7.6 hrs today, anyone know why?

More rumours today of Ford dumping the Freestar and Monterey early! We built a bunch of 2006.5 's today. Nothing different. No V8, or diesel, or hybrid or any other reason that to pre-build tons of units.

:D I'm off for 2 days holidays now. See you Monday!

[charly]

 

So maybe you know something about many skilled trades being 'let go' starting in January? Doesn't sound good to me :angry:

 

 

Can't happen....we have protection from layoffs as long as contractors are working in OAC (not the truck plant)