Below is issue #50 of The Barking Dog. It is put out by Caroline Lund, a Trustee of UAW Local 2244 at the NUMMI plant in Fremont, CA.

Fired Up

   At the January 15 Executive Board meeting First Vice President Victor Quesada turned over 1,345 signatures of members who are fired up over the 3-in-180 attendance policy recently imposed by management.  This is more than one quarter of the plant!

   The petition calls on our union president and chairman to file a policy grievance against the Company, and also to file charges with the National Labor Relations Board.

   In response, President Tito Sanchez said that a grievance had been filed and is now at the level of the International Rep, Earlie Mays. The petitions were forwarded to Earlie Mays. Let's hope he makes good use of them.

Caroline Lund

Eye-Opener

   A coworker went to visit relatives in Dallas, Texas, over the holidays. A friend of his family works at the nearby GM plant in Arlington. This guy ( a production worker) makes $27.50 per hour -- $2/hr. more than we do! And that's with no shift differential. Plus, the cost of living there is about half of ours in the Bay Area.

Bonuses, and Bonuses

  We all know what we got for our PIPS bonus -- $1,475. An informant told the Barking Dog what kind of bonuses management got. Group Leaders: $8,500. Assistant Managers: $14,000. Managers: $18,000. It makes no sense, since we do all the work.

"Leader Boards"

   You see them at every door and many other places throughout the plant. A status report and communication letter from Steve St. Angelo, and other members of management. At first, this seemed like a great idea. It's nice to have communication with someone at the top to dispel rumors and get questions answered.

   Unfortunately, what should have been something positive has turned out to have a far more insidious purpose. Mr. St. Angelo has decided to post selected letters from the membership to justify the company's actions.

   Worst of all, these letters are posted anonymously. Anonymity is for cowards and criminals. If the writer is too ashamed to have their name put on it, they should ask that it not be posted. Mr. St. Angelo claims that team members and management should be working together, yet he uses these postings to create conflict and distrust amongst the membership. Mr. St. Angelo, you should be ashamed of your behavior!

Tom Burton, Coordinator DXB22T

NOTE: By the way, when you look at the attendance percentages on the "Leader Boards," they are misleading. The absence figures include vacation and PAA absences. We should not be counted as an absentee when we are taking time off that we are entitled to under the contract.

Method To the Madness?

   Let me present an alternate view of the method to the madness behind the new attendance policy.

1. The Company knows that they want to work three weekends in a row at least once, and possibly more than that.
2. They need a "bigger stick" to beat us with to keep people from staying away in droves.

Now the scary part.

3. After they're done with their "three weeks at a shot," program, they can drop back to the old attendance policy, thus allowing management-friendly union leadership to claim a large victory just in time for the union elections.
4. This is an hypothesis for which I admittedly have no factual support. It strictly stems from the question, "If I were unscrupulous management or union leadership, how could I get the most mileage out of the current situation?"

Stephen Keesee, Maintenance, Body-Weld

Taft-Hartley Against UAW?

   We all remember the lockout of the West Coast dockworkers last fall, especially because it affected our plant greatly. The government intervened, using the Taft-Hartley law, and forced an end to the lockout for 80 days. Even though technically the law was used against the shipping management and not the union, it was clear that the main concern of the government was the power of the union.

   At this printing time, dockworkers are voting on the contract and the result is not known.

   The Wall Street Journal is the most openly pro-big-business newspaper. It reported on Oct. 11 of last year that Bush's use of Taft-Hartley against the dockworkers "could be a harbinger of darker days to come for labor."

   The article continued: "By identifying the war on terrorism as one of its justifications for securing an injunction under Taft-Hartley against labor or management disruptions, the White House could be laying the groundwork for much broader interventions.

   "For instance, the United Auto Workers' contracts with the Big Three auto makers expire next fall, and both sides are gearing up for intense negotiations. Taft-Hartley has never been used against the auto unions, and most legal experts - and even the White House - say it would be difficult to make a case that shutting down General Motors Corp.'s assembly line threatens the nation's 'health and safety,' since there are so many alternative sources for the same materials.

   "But Mr. Rehmus [former Dean of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations], using history and the behavior of former White Houses as his guide, predicts that 'if we do get into a war in Iraq and companies like General Motors are supplying, directly or indirectly, essential war commodities, they would not hesitate to act.'"

   Richard Trumka, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, told the Journal, "If all employers know the administration will rush in with Taft-Hartley to give them what they want, they'll plot and scheme together, they'll figure out what to do, and then the [collective bargaining] process will be gutted."

Response From Trainer

   In response to your comment in the latest Barking Dog about new hires being told "not to go to medical" if and when you're hurt, that is not a true statement. I am one of the trainers in the F.I.T. program, and none of the three trainers have ever told a new hire that "if you're hurt, don't go to Medical."

   What we share with them is that in doing work such as assembly-type work, your body is going to go through some soreness that you have probably never experienced. At times you will think you're hurt but you may be just sore. But in case you are hurt, you should inform your group leader.

   The problem I have with your printing comments like these is that you are only talking to one T/M, and not the hundreds that have been hired within the last year or so.

   I would also like to comment about the "No to 3-in-180" article. Some of us are going around acting as if the attendance has been at an all-time high and Management is doing this for no reason at all. Caroline, everyone knows that one of the biggest problems in our plant is attendance.

   I think it is embarrassing to the membership that comes to work when that bell rings and the line can't move because someone did not show up to work. The bottom line is: Attendance is affecting our chances of survival in the near future.

n Charlie Williams

PS: I don't want you to think that I am mad. I just want to see us succeed.

A Member's Response

   The attendance policy that NUMMI has adopted is far above the national average and, at the minimum, unjust to its employees. Firstly, because it includes medical leave (doctor's note) as points against its workers, and secondly, because its balance of off-time is below the national average.

n Trucks Line Worker

And Then There's Canada

   From the Detroit Free Press, 9/13/02: "A 15-year veteran of the Canadian Auto Workers union who works for a major automaker gets 9 1/2 weeks of paid time off each year, counting holidays and plant shutdowns.

   "that's more than two weeks longer than a similar U.s. autoworker gets as a member of the United Auto Workers."

Discrimination?

   A salaried employee wrote to the Barking Dog about an article in issue #48. In it a member complained about not being able to enter the plant at the main lobby.

   The salaried employee said she had been told the lobby entrance was only for visitors, and that neither salaried nor hourly employees could use it.

   I called the receptionist in the lobby, and she said the lobby entrance is used by visitors and top management only. So there is truly some discrimination going on here.

Caroline Lund

Sick Priorities

   "Sacramento - While it contemplates cutting free lunches for the elderly and slashing services for the blind and disabled, the Legislature has recommended boosting its own budget by $8 million to pay for its cars, salaries and catered meals."

-- S.F. Chronicle, January 17, 2003

Quote of the Month

   "Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece?

   "Naturally the common people don't want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood.

   "But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.

   "Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriorism and exposing the country to danger.

   "It works the same in any country."

-- Hitler's right-hand man Hermann Goering