President's Report: Summer 2013

President’s Report 

Brothers and Sisters,

With the war in Iraq over, and the war in Afghanistan getting ready to wind down, we have seen a significant change in defense spending. This has adversely affected our workload here in Lima and cut our membership to less than half. There are other factors at work here also. Sequestration is the buzzword of the year this year and it has the entire military not wanting to sign defense contracts in the usual manor or hesitating to spend the funds they are left with.

 

I went to Washington D.C. with a contingent from Taskforce Lima on May 9th. We went to the Pentagon first and met with two generals and several people that are in the arena of procurement of military vehicles and equipment. The story they told was mostly about the effects of sequestration on their budgets. There is a great deal of uncertainty in that building right now. They are not sure of their path forward, and are not done with the entire military plan of what to buy. What can they afford. What must be cut. All that said, everyone of them added to their conversation that they know we are unique, and they want us open and producing the fine vehicles that we make here in Lima. I took that as good news.

 

The second stop on this visit was to Capitol Hill. We met with a variety of Congressmen and Senators and some of their staff. Mostly Ohio people, but not all. They were well versed on our situation and were behind us 100%. I felt this to be a productive and positive trip as it keeps JSMC in line for funding and work in the future and in the forefront of the decision makers mind.

 

The plant is a tour stop for many executives, politicians and military personnel. As there are temporarily fewer of us working at the present time it would be easy to let the looks of the place slip. We need to remember that some of the people in these tours are in a position to affect our employment level. We want to put our best foot forward to look as good as possible at all times. Everyone’s help is always appreciated in this area.

 

Have a safe summer!

 

Fraternally,

Carl Swartz

President U.A.W. 2075

 

Vice President’s report

Brothers and Sisters,

There have been many changes since our last M-1 Review but the one thing that hasn’t changed is the continuous ever growing uncertainty about the ongoing layoffs, effects of the sequestration and whether or not we are going to get any future work any time soon. Unfortunately, there is no crystal ball to give us those answers and they will continue to be a source of frustration for some time. However, I recently attended the WSA Offsite in Plymouth, MI, where there was a presentation given by members of the corporate finance department in that they demonstrated where the sequestration puts us in terms of financial budgets in the upcoming few years as the sequestration hits. In that presentation they showed that where our budget was 5 years ago and how it has gradually grown then to where we are today. It then showed where the company had been planning for the budget to continue to climb to over the next few years in comparison to where the sequestration puts the budget during the same period and although the sequestration puts the budget several millions of dollars below where everyone had planned it to be it is STILL millions of dollars higher than where it began 5 years ago. My point is this, over the next year and a half or so we are going to experience some very lean, very stressful and very turbulent times as the Government, the Company and the membership learns to adjust to and work with less funding than what they had been planning on. Most of you have just recently attended the all hands meeting and seen the so called “Bath tub chart” and for the first time in quite a while it actually resembled a bath tub. Our manpower looks to be bottoming out over the remainder of this year and should level off for the several months following until our numbers begin to increase again in late 2014. In closing, I want to express my gratitude for all of the continued support over the years and let you all know that it is because of that, and a deep desire to see our membership return to the number we have seen in the past that keeps me fighting to find ways to get there. With your continued support and trust I know we will make it.

In Solidarity,

Andy Bertog

UAW Local 2075

Vice President

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