This is Issue #43 of The Barking Dog, dated Jan. 22, 2002. It is put out by Caroline Lund, a Trustee of UAW Local 2244, at the NUMMI plant in Fremont, CA

Contracting Out

Members in Passenger Conveyance are mad as hell. The Company has contracted out the pick-up of empty cardboard boxes. Conveyance will lose 2 jobs because of this. The jobs went to Toyota Tuschu, which is non-union and pays lower wages.
We protested, but were told that Art Torres had agreed to let management do this (without consulting or even informing the rest of the Bargaining Committee!).
It might seem like a small issue -- just 2 jobs. But the problem is, if we give an inch, they will take a mile! If we just let this happen, where will it end? The Company would sure love to outsource most of the plant to lower-wage parts suppliers.
We want to stop this outsourcing! We're trying to think of what we can do to stop it.

Sergio Santos, Alternate Committeeperson, District 1, and member of Local 2244 Executive Board

Unbelievable!

Plastics/Paint has been working mandatory 9.5 and 10-hour days, plus a lot of Saturdays, plus people are often asked to work through their lunch and break time. The Group Leader asked for volunteers to work a Saturday in early December (2 mandatory Saturdays were scheduled the following 2 weekends).
Robert is a good worker on second shift, who comes to work regularly and agrees to do a lot of voluntary O.T. on top of the 10-hour days. He agreed to work that Saturday.
But then the G/L said he would have to come in at 8 a.m. Saturday instead of his normal starting time of 4:30 p.m. Robert had worked 11.5 hours on his Friday shift, getting off work at 4 a.m. Saturday.
He told his G/L that he would work Saturday, but couldn't come in until 2 p.m. He lives in Pittsburg, more than an hour's drive. He said, "What am I supposed to do -- drive home, take a shower, have a cup of coffee, and drive right back to work to be here at 8 a.m.?" The G/L replied, "Well, you could sleep in your car." Robert said, "I'm no homeless person, sleeping in a car!"
When Robert came in at 2 p.m. Saturday, you'd think the G/L would thank him. Instead he gave Robert a write-up!
Robert refused to sign it. The G/L said, "Here, don't you want your copy?" Robert said, "Keep your damn copy, that's got nothing to do with me; it's invalid." Robert wants to file a grievance over the write-up, but it's been over a month now, and still no action by his committeeman.
Maybe the next thing we should expect is company-issue sleeping bags, so we can sleep right here in the plant and do more overtime???

PIPS Bonus Checks

Why do our bonus checks have union dues taken out of them? The union reps say it's because it was negotiated into the contract. That we as union members ratified it! ! !
Which I feel is not right. We pay our monthly union dues. We work hard to earn our bonus. Not the Union Local.

Solidarity, Team Leader, Body Shop

Comment: Actually, the 1998 Contract says ". . .the Company agrees to deduct Union membership dues levied by the International Union or Local Union in accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Union. . . ." There is nothing in the Contract on taking dues out of bonus checks. (We still don't have our new contract, but I assume there is no change on this point.)
It is the UAW Constitution that says dues are taken out of bonus checks (see page 180 of the Constitution). So we the membership never ratified it.
Caroline Lund

Transfer Conspiracy

I have unraveled an ugly operation taking place inside the transfer system. I'm sure that many have tried to transfer out and it seems to take forever to get out or even to get an invitation.
There are a lot of high seniority people on the assembly line who are waiting to transfer to a preferred area and who are blinded by not getting any status information on their transfer, while openings in the department they wanted to go to are being filled by new hires.
I can't understand why new hires are being sent to preferred areas, and the majority in the hard assembly-line areas are not being told or given the shot to go to an easier area, thereby awarding the team member what he/she deserves based on the idea of seniority (support of union policy.)
The delay in transfers is a violation that management knows about - in fact they actually have a list of who they have been holding beyond the 15 day transfer period.
It's so easy to fill open positions, even in preferred areas, with new hires, because they don't have the hassle of finding another replacement. Management doesn't want to take the time to do the right thing.

Mission-Eye

Union Discussion

A recent leaflet from the new United Alliance caucus sparked a couple of replies, one by Faye Cole and others, and one by Pernell Bursey. The replies don't answer pertinent questions raised by the United Alliance. One question is: why did President Tito Sanchez send 35 union members to the Region 5 Leadership Conference in Palm Springs in December, when the Executive Board had only voted to send 5? What gives him the right to unilaterally decide to spend our dues money like that?
Another question is: why won't Art and Tito allow the entire Bargaining Committee to participate in negotiations with management, as we elected them to do? Is it because they don't want Victor Quesada, Leo Garcia, and George Nano to hear what they say behind closed doors?
The leaflets by Faye and others, and Pernell, make much of the fact that we still have jobs, that NUMMI is still hiring, and that we got wage increases in each of the next 4 years.
They conveniently don't mention the increase in medical co-payments in the new contract, the delay in medical benefits for new hires, or the responsibility of our International leadership for the new hire pay gap widening and widening.
To criticize our union leaders' policies is called "negativity" by Pernell.
Their message is that we should just go along with what the Company needs, and support union officials who get long well with management and with our International Union officials.
But when you look at the bigger picture, you can see what's wrong with this viewpoint.
Our union has lost half its membership over the past 20 years and is getting smaller every year. The image of our union (and other unions) in the popular mind is no longer one of a crusader for the welfare of the downtroden, but one of corruption and benefits for the few.
Instead of backing up locals on strike, such as the Accuride workers in Henderson, Ky. (see article below), the UAW is building golf courses and buying luxury resorts.
Meanwhile, the companies we are up against are ever more ruthless in their dog-eat-dog competition. Anyone who thinks NUMMI is an exception is really naïve, or on the take.
The Enron revelations have shown us what happens behind the closed doors of the corporate world: Collusion between CEOs, attorneys, auditors and politicians to enrich the rich and screw the average working person.

Toyota is building a new truck plant in Mexico. It will dump NUMMI in the blink of an eye if it thinks it can make more profits elsewhere.

We need union members and leaders who are clear-eyed about corporate ruthlessness. Who don't fall for intimidation or flattery by management. Who think for themselves and don't just go along with what the International Union tells them to do. Who value democratic involvement of the membership.
Who aren't lazy. Who care most about the welfare of the membership, not about their own career. Let's look around us, find people like that, and put them forward to help us fight for the soul of our union.

Caroline Lund

Union Members Picket UAW

"Angry union members are complaining that the United Auto Workers board's decision to cut off benefits for a hardy band of strikers in Henderson, Ky., violates the UAW's long-standing tradition and principles. The protests come on behalf of workers at steel wheel maker Accuride Co. - members of Local 2036, on strike since 1998.
"Billy Robinson, [former] president of UAW Local 2036 in Henderson, led a protest outside the UAW's Solidarity House headquarters by about 50 union members [really it was closer to 100 -- C.L.] from Kentucky, West Virginia, and communities in Michigan such as Pontiac, Kalamazoo and Lansing.
"'They're cutting off our benefits (today),' said Robinson, who has become a sharp critic of the UAW's leadership during the long fight at Accuride.

"'They're taking away our medical benefits, and we have people with cancer and heart problems who need treatment. . . .' "He said the local's members were being punished for refusing to accept the concession-laden contract negotiated on behalf of UAW Local 2036 by staff of UAW Region 3 in Indianapolis. Local 2036 members have voted on five separate occasions to reject Accuride's contract proposals. . . .
"The battle at Accuride has become a major cause for union dissidents who have used the Internet to help Robinson keep up the fight with Yokich, Ron Gettelfinger, Yokich's designated successor, and Terry Thurman, the direction of UAW Region 3. . . . "The board's decision to try to force a contract on Local 2036's members set a bad precedent that could be used in the future against other locals. .... ."

Joseph Szczesny, in the January 15, 2002 issue of the Oakland Press, a Detroit area newspaper

Comment: I was privileged to participate in the above-mentioned informational picket line at the UAW headquarters in Detroit. When you see me around the plant, ask to see my photos.
Caroline Lund

Something to Think About

"Aids: Another World War. "Whether measured by numbers killed or nations wounded, by economies upended or families crushed, the AIDS pandemic is a deadlier global threat than that posed by terrorist groups. But almost no one draws the logical conclusion: The war on AIDS is more important than the war on terrorism."

Salih Booker, writing in the January 7/14 issue of The Nation

Quote of the Month

"There are business scancals that are so vast and so penetrating that they profoundly shock our most deeply held beliefs about the honesty and integrity of our corporate culture. Enron Corp. is one of them. This financial disaster goes far beyond the failure of one big company. This is corruption on a massive scale."

BusinessWeek, Jan. 28, 2002

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