July Editorial by Bruce Hodges

I’m pleased to see the return of so many of our fellow members in recent weeks. Many of these individuals have been out of work for well over a year. Just under 100 individuals have been recalled due to summer vacation schedules combined with a sharp and continuing increase in orders, which is good news for ALL our employees. Hopefully the business will continue to grow and those who have been recalled will continue working through the end of this year and beyond.

I’m sure most of you have heard we had problems getting permission to hold our Contract Proposal and Contract Ratification Meetings at Sidney High School. I’m pleased to report we have resolved these problems and at this time will be holding both meetings at that location. The reasons the school board initially cited for not allowing us to use their facilities was the evidence of alcohol consumption on school property, cigarette smoking on the property, and at least two locations where the lawns were torn up from vehicles. These incidents allegedly occurred the day of our October, 2007 ratification meeting. This whole situation put us in a very awkward position and had us scrambling to find a new location for these meetings. I’m glad we were able to work out a mutually agreeable arrangement with the Sidney School Board, but everyone MUST understand the following rules:

There is NO SMOKING allowed on school property. PERIOD! Not even in your cars in the parking lot. If you need to smoke YOU MUST DRIVE OFF SCHOOL PROPERTY! This is both a State and Federal Law and applies to everyone (including school staff) while on the property.
The consumption of alcohol on school IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
Park only in designated parking areas. DO NOT DRIVE ON LAWNS or park in unauthorized locations.
Anyone breaking any of the above rules will be subject to ticketing from the Sidney Police Department who will be present to ensure everyone’s compliance.

The bottom line is this - we are at the School as their guests and we should act in an appropriate and responsible manner. It’s their property and their rules. If there are any problems on August 1^st we will NOT be allowed to use the School’s facilities for the October 23^rd Ratification Meeting. EVERYONE’S COOPERATION ON THESE ISSUES IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY & EXPECTED!

Our Contract Proposal Meeting will be held in the Sidney High School Auditorium on Sunday, August 1^st at 1:00pm. The purpose of this meeting is to present and discuss contract proposals prepared by your Negotiating Committee. It’s your last “formal” chance to make suggestions to the Committee before they start meeting with the company on September 22^nd. Anyone who cannot attend that meeting can still discuss ideas with Committee members and Officers at any time leading up to the commencement of formal meetings with the company. Hopefully we will have a good turnout on the 1^st.

The company has instituted Work Flow Centers in Departments 49 and 47. These Centers have generated controversy on the floor mainly over concerns of job security. The company has stated their interest in these Centers is to reduce the time it takes to produce parts utilizing the same number of employees currently working. Whether or not that goal is achieved remains to be seen. We have filed several Grievances regarding the job description and pay for these WFC’s. One was settled in the first step to our advantage, and we are awaiting answers to the others. This situation is not unlike what everyone in Departments 48 & 36 went through in 1990 when the Cells were created. We unsuccessfully fought their creation. Back then there was no post and bid for the jobs, everyone was marched up to Human Resources and told to sign for the new jobs or else they would be moved elsewhere in the Plant. Numerous issues surrounding those Cells were grieved right up until 1995, five years after their inception, until the language they are currently administered under was achieved, which will probably be the same case with these WFC’s. They never quite achieved what they wanted from those Cells, mostly due to a lack of training. We will continue grieving aspects of these WFC’s, like we did with the Cells, to modify them in the best interest of our people.

With all the members that have been called back, it is important to remind individuals still on layoff to keep their Union Dues up to date. If you know someone who is still on layoff and interested in returning to work please make sure they keep their dues paid so they won’t be lapsed, because if that happens they will lose all return rights and would have to come back as a new employee.