Rick Tincher knew there was a problem when the AFL-CIO's main food pantry at 184 Salem Ave. ran out of food.

"It was chaotic," recalled Tincher, AFL-CIO labor liaison to the United Way of the Greater Dayton Area. "It was a fire sale. It was the alarm bell going off."

Food pantry empty.

empty.

And still, no agreement. No contract, no work.

More from the Dayton Daily News:

To gauge the local impact the United Auto Workers strike against American Axle & Manufacturing, simply visit one of the satellite food pantries the AFL-CIO opened in the strike's wake. There's one at 313 S. Jefferson St. in downtown Dayton and another at 1543 Alwildy Ave., opened with the help of the local United Way.

At either location, hundreds of families weathering temporary lay-offs as a result of the strike get help stretching their food dollars. Volunteers load cardboard boxes with jars of peanut butter, sacks of potatoes, cans of soup, stew or pork and beans.

Tincher points to the numbers: In February, the AFL-CIO pantry served 252 family members, packing up 3,780 meals.

The UAW strike against American Axle began Feb. 26 and radiated outward. The General Motors SUV plant in Moraine halted production March 3.

So the March numbers jumped, with the union pantry serving 687 families 10,305 meals.

From April 1-25, 2,686 families drew from the pantry, taking 40,290 meals.

Compared to March and April 2007, the numbers of meals served has jumped 2,389 percent.

Tincher — who emphasizes that he supports the UAW's strike — estimates the pantries have six more weeks of food.

"I've got to prepare for the worst and hope for the best," Tincher said.

When, Dick, when will you do the right thing for your company and the workers who made it profitable in the first place?

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I know she's the spokesperson, but OMG, I'm so sick of seeing Renee Roger's name in all of these freaking articles. From BizJournal:

"There is no timetable for a presentation to the union membership at this time," company spokeswoman Renee Rogers said.

She was referring to what last week she called speculation that negotiations included closing Tonawanda and Detroit forge plants. She said that "at this point, all of what you have been reading is rumor and speculation. There has been nothing presented to membership so we are not going to comment on any of that stuff that at this point is just speculation."

So, Renee wants to make sure that everyone knows that the previous reports were wrong and they're no closer to an agreement. Yippee, isn't that great? But wait, there's more, the business article broke down some numbers for us...

But little else was being reported as the future of the company's two Buffalo-area facilities and about 600 hourly and salaried jobs could hang on the outcome.

- snip -

The Tonawanda plant employs about 400 hourly workers. A machining facility in Cheektowaga, which has 110 hourly employees, has not been mentioned as a target for closure, but because it services the Tonawanda plant, its future would be uncertain if the forge plant closed.

I don't know about you, but I so needed to be reminded what's at stake here in terms of numbers. Actually, wait, I didn't!!

And, Renee, it's not just Freep reporting on this, other news outlets are as well...

Worker Ken Krzycki said a local union official told picketers some details of the possible settlement. It would include negotiating the closure of American Axle's Detroit and Tonawanda, N.Y., forge operations. The possible settlement would also include wage cuts for production workers to $17 an hour from about $28.

Local 235 President Adrian King confirmed the numbers and said the union was evaluating the proposal.

Again, bad proposal. Doesn't matter if it's coming out of BizJournal, Freep or Washington Post, a local agreement is just like breaking up the union. When strikers worry about their individual jobs, it pits worker against worker at plants from Tonawanda to Three Rivers. And this also means way more work at the local level because Local agreements mean that each individual plant must hold the company accountable, instead of getting the help from the national (or international) on issues like Pay, classification and many other issues.

And what makes this important is that in local agreements, many don't vote on the contracts. Look at UAW local 1005 in Parma Ohio

...and at the end, they mention that the UAW Parma local REJECTED their contract:

Workers in Parma rejected a new local contract earlier this month. UAW Local 1005 President Tito Boneta, in a letter to his members, said voter turnout was less than 50 percent for that rejection, so the union's leadership is putting the tentative pact up for a new vote Wednesday.

And at the Re-Vote, they barely approved their contract with a TOTAL VOTE FOR: 550 and AGAINST: 537. That means that 51% approved it. And I wish I could figure out how many showed up for this vote, or rather, how much more than 50% of the membership for this vote.

But wait, don't worry, The Toledo Blade has more, this time they make a note about the Delta Township plant, out on strike since April 17th...

GM spokesman Dan Flores said Friday the automaker is pleased the agreement was ratified and hopes to reach other local agreements.

A local at a plant in Delta Township near Lansing went on strike April 17.

Locals at a Warren transmission factory, a Grand Rapids metal fabricating plant, a metal parts stamping factory in Mansfield, Ohio, and a factory in Kansas City, Kan., all have threatened walkouts.

Local plants negotiate their own operating agreements.

And as for Kansas City's plant, well, the Washington Post (actually it's from AP) has the scoop and it means, STRIKE...

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Members of a United Auto Workers union local went on strike Monday at General Motors' Fairfax facility _ hitting the plant that makes GM's popular Malibu sedan.

During talks over the weekend, UAW Local 31 set a Monday morning strike deadline because union negotiators believed the two sides remained far from an agreement. The Fairfax plant employs more than 2,500 UAW members.

The plant makes the Chevrolet Malibu, a medium-sized sedan that was named "Car of the Year" at this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

For GM and the UAW, it still feels like death from a million papercuts. From Renee's mouth to everyone out there, all of these local agreements for American Axle (if they are a part of the agreement even if Renee says there's no agreement, ugh, my head hurts), we're still talking a death by a million paper cuts. And I think it's cuts to AAM, GM and yep, the UAW.

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Found this on Unbossed and Shirah agreed to let me cross post it!!

Monday, April 28, 2008
The New Risky Pension Investment Strategy
For workers lucky enough to still have defined benefit pensions, PBGC, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, is their protection from destitution in old age. Take the 1600 former employees of the now bankrupt Austin Co. in Cleveland, Ohio. Because the PBGC stepped in, those employees will get pensions.

But the PBGC can't do this forever, and it is especially challenged in this financial climate. So you can imagine that it might be tempted to make high-return, high-risk investments. And you'd be right.

That is exactly the message in an opinion letter from Peter R. Orszag, Director, Congressional Budget Office to Congressman George Miller, Chairman, Committee on Education and Labor, last Thursday, April 24, 2008. link

According to the CBO, at the end of 2007, PBGC reported that its current liabilities for distressed pensions exceeded the value of its current assets by an estimated $14 billion. The PBGC's solution is to change the mix of its portfolio to include riskier investments.

Prior to February of this year, PBGC’s investment strategy was to hold about 75 percent of its portfolio in bonds, with the duration of those assets matched to the corporation’s obligations. The remainder of the portfolio was invested in equities. PBGC’s new strategy reduces to 45 percent its allocation to fixed-income assets, in order to increase the proportion devoted to equities (45 percent) and to further diversify into alternative asset classes (10 percent).

The change in investment strategy represents an effort on the part of PBGC to increase the expected returns on its assets and to diminish the likelihood that taxpayers will be called on to cover some of its liabilities. The new strategy is likely to produce higher returns, on average, over the long run. But the new strategy also increases the risk that PBGC will not have sufficient assets to cover retirees’ benefit payments when the economy and financial markets are weak. By investing a greater share of its assets in risky securities, PBGC is more likely to experience a decline in the value of its portfolio during an economic downturn—the point at which it is most
likely to have to assume responsibility for a larger number of underfunded pension plans. If interest rates fall at the same time that the overall economy and financial markets decline, the present value of benefit obligations will increase, and the pension plans likely to be assumed by PBGC will be even more underfunded as a result.
. . .
Although increased investment in risky securities will likely raise the expected rate of return, it also entails a greater downside risk. That risk is the probability that the value of PBGC’s assets will be below the amount necessary to meet benefit obligations as they come due, imposing on taxpayers a potential burden that increases as the shortfall grows larger.

Well, as the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition say:

Rule 62 The risker the road, the greater the profit.

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Thanks go to Billy Bragg for trying to help all of us remember what Labor history is.

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And one more reminder,

SPACE IS LIMITED!!!

DC DEMS GATHER SATURDAY: More than 500 District activists are expected to turn out Saturday for the DC Democratic State Committee Convention, the first held in many years. The day long event features nearly two dozen workshops on topics including DC Voting Rights, Getting Politically Active Online, 411 on Blogging (with a focus on union blogging), Party Building, Politics & Religion, Trade & Politics and Political Fundraising. There will also be programs by nearly a dozen Constituency Caucuses, including labor, where Metro Washington Council President Jos Williams will facilitate a discussion from 11:30A to 12:30P on the “Role of Labor in Expanding Political Participation,” assessing the importance and role of organized labor in the political process and “exploring ways in which organized labor can expand political participation and accountability at ward, city and national levels.” Panelists include Cynthia Kane (SEIU), Earl O'Neal (AFSCME Council 20) and Nathan Saunders (Washington Teachers Union). Click here for more details and to register.

See you all tomorrow!!

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There's movement at AAM, but it doesn't really seem that good. There appears to be a framework to create local agreements:

from Freep:

More than two months into the UAW's strike at American Axle & Manufacturing, it appears that the two sides have pulled together a potential framework for a settlement, which likely will include buyouts, buy-downs in exchange for lower wages and the closure of at least two plants.

A settlement potentially would shed American Axle's national UAW contract, replacing it with individual agreements for the surviving plants, said people briefed on the talks.

Local agreements are the equivalent of a million paper cuts to the overall health of a union

Due to the local contracts that discuss the specifics of jobs and skills, we now have the potential of bigger issues to resolve. The new GM contract from the summer seems to have created greater issues for the locals in that they must now bargain on their own with GM in relation to what is considered "skilled" More from the Plain Dealer:

The bigger issue in November was skilled trades. At the time, Boneta said the company wanted to consolidate several job titles, eliminating positions for some of the plant's highest-paid workers.

Instead of having machine repair, millwright, tinsmith, pipe fitter and maintenance welder positions, GM asked for one position called maintenance, Boneta said in November.

Today, he declined to say what issues remained between the union and the company.

The loss of multiple skilled trades categories could mean demoting skilled tradesmen to the production line or cutting jobs.

And there's still more from Freep:

A settlement could include buy-downs -- which are lump sums of money offered in exchange for lower wages -- of $90,000 over three years and buyouts of $140,000 over two years. Wages at the company's U.S. axle operations are shaping up to be $17 an hour for production workers, $14 an hour for nonproduction workers and $25.50 for skilled trades workers...

>snip<

Before the strike, workers at American Axle were making about $28 an hour, and skilled workers were making more than $30 an hour.

There also is the potential for an 8% match on 401(k) contributions.

Forging plants in Detroit and Tonawanda, N.Y., near Buffalo are negotiating deals that would close those factories, according to people familiar with the talks. It is unclear what would be offered to those workers in the event of a closure.

AH- more stupid local agreements. Wonder if AAM strikers will like this agreement or maybe they'll look at it the same way Parma GM workers did...they rejected it

UAW Parma local REJECTED their contract

Workers in Parma rejected a new local contract earlier this month. UAW Local 1005 President Tito Boneta, in a letter to his members, said voter turnout was less than 50 percent for that rejection, so the union's leadership is putting the tentative pact up for a new vote Wednesday.

Okay, so for me, this is the money quote:

That the four plants involved in the strike would have their own deals is a move that makes American Axle's labor contract more like those at other suppliers, which negotiate their terms on a plant-by-plant basis.

Dick Dauch's been pushing for "more like Delphi" and other similar screw the worker agreements forged between Bankrupt corporations and their workers. This of course is where trade kills the American worker.

It's not worker against worker as some on this site have claimed, it's really corporations against countries. Trade has everything to do with Environmental standards, labor laws, labor costs, benefits, safety rules, even the tax rate of these countries.

Trade isn't as simple as labor costs, it's much bigger and much worse than that.

We have an inability to force other countries to bring up their standards and when we can get them to raise their standards, we forge ahead and lower ours. Weeklytoll provides a toll that this has on work place safety

So, theUAW is going to bend over backwards and tell Dick to take whatever he really wants. So, how has this served the membership? I'm not feeling like this has served the membership, especially today of all days, May Day.

What the Fuck is the UAW thinking? In fact, I'm wondering if they're thinking at all, and I don't just mean the national here, I mean the freaking locals, too. WTF?

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