June 2010 President’s Message

I want to thank everyone who participated in the Membership Surveys which were passed out last month. Of the roughly 850 surveys handed out, 673 (79.1%) were returned, a very good showing.  Some individuals expressed concerns over whether these surveys are even read.  I have been a member of Negotiating Committees since 1998 and I can assure you, each and every survey is read by the Committee, including all the hand written comments on the last page, and they most certainly are used to help create proposals for contract negotiations. This year we are doing something new by having these survey results read and discussed at a special half day meeting of all department and chief stewards to be held on Tuesday, June 15th.  This will give the folks who represent you an opportunity to read first hand what's on the minds of their fellow members.

Some interesting facts generated by those who responded to these surveys were:

73% were male
62% were 46-60 years old
58% were members with twenty or more years of service
62% were First Shift employees
54% were production employees
56% of respondents feel their jobs are not secure
77% of respondents indicated medical costs containment is their major contract concern

I want to thank Research Associate Teresa Canning and her fellow staff members in the Grand Lodge's Strategic Resources Department for their usual excellent job analyzing the data from our surveys, and doing so in about a week, so that we can better identify the issues that are most important to our members. 

Our first meeting with the company on the contract negotiations has been scheduled for Wednesday, September 22. Negotiations will be held at the State University College Campus in Oneonta.  There are fifteen meeting days with the company scheduled between the 22nd and the termination of the contract at midnight on October 22nd, which is about average.  That time is split somewhat in half, with contract language proposals being discussed first and financial issues second.  Based on comments we have heard from several management sources I suspect discussions on contract language will take a far greater role this year than in recent contract negotiations.

I'm pleased to see the company finally recalling some of our fellow members back to work. Twelve Plating employees and five Burr Hands were recalled last month, and more call backs are in the works for the middle of June.  Fortunately business has picked up at a pace even greater than the company anticipated, and couple that with the summer vacation season being almost upon us, the company had little choice but to bring some of our members back to work.  I hope this trend continues and more of our members get back to work where they belong.

The New York State Council of Machinists Convention was held in Niagara Falls on May 22-25th. 2010.  Business Rep Tim Perry, Carol Treiber,  and myself represented our Local at this annual event.  It was a good series of meetings and seminars with a lot of informative speakers discussing subjects such as workers compensation, health insurance, and labor related political issues.  IAM President Tom Buffenbarger was also in attendance as a guest speaker.

Amphenol Chief Executive Officer Adam Norwood visited our Plant on Tuesday, May 25th.  During his visit I had an opportunity to talk with him, and he expressed his admiration for all the improvements that have taken place in the facility since his last visit, and stated he was pleased with the attitudes of the employees he talked to. When he asked “what are the feelings on the floor”, I told him everyone is apprehensive and concerned about changes being instituted in the plant, and about the upcoming negotiations.  He stated he understood those concerns, but also felt both parties could come to mutually acceptable and beneficial resolutions to those concerns. Time will tell. I did remind him we have the best connector manufacturers in the business, something we could both agree on.