June 2016 - Unifor Local 200

200 TALKS
VOLUME 71, No. 1
Official Publication of Unifor Local 200
WINDSOR, ONTARIO
President’s
Report
CHRIS TAYLOR
We are growing again! Local
200 has been given the privilege of
being awarded a new bargaining
Unit, Goodwill Industries Windsor
is now a part of Local 200 and on
behalf of our Local, we welcome
them with open arms.
We will begin bargaining a first
collective agreement in the coming
months. The Goodwill Store and
drop off on McDougall has approximately 60 members and when they
decided to join Unifor, the vote was
NEW MEMBERS
89% in favour of Unionizing!
Please join the executive in welcoming our newest members!
On behalf of the Bargaining
Committee, I want to thank those
members who submitted proposals
and those who showed up for the
amendment meeting to discuss and
debate those amendments.
The bargaining committees from
all Ford locations (Ford Council),
have met twice now, and we have a
FORD BARGAINING
Auto Council Chair Chris Taylor addresses the Council at a recent
meeting in London with the Big Three Bargaining Councils.
JULY 2016
completed list of demands that have
been discussed, debated and
approved by all locations. As the
Chair of the Ford Master
Bargaining Committee, I am
extremely proud of our Ford
Council for all the work that has
gone into the bargaining package
and I am confident in the ability of
o u r e n t i r e F o r d B a rg a i n i n g
Committee to deliver.
Over the last five rounds of bargaining the Ford Bargaining
Committees have strived to ensure
the future and viability of our
Canadian operations. In particular,
we knew that if Oakville did not
receive investment and product for
the future, the remainder of our
Canadian Operations would be
weakened and in jeopardy. We
watched with sadness as St. Thomas
was closed and a proud Local Union
(1520) was closed with it. But it is
rewarding to know that Oakville
was awarded 780 million in new
investment and with product that is
amongst the top sellers for Ford and
that the future for Oakville is stable
and bright.
During our recent Ford Council
meetings, the leadership and members in Oakville reflected on the
tough times that they encountered
with the loss of the truck plant and
the Windstar. They have committed, along with the other Ford
...continued on next page
President’s Report
. . . cont’d
Locals in Canada, that in this round
of bargaining, Windsor and our
future is the top priority!
From our National President to
our Ford Council Bargaining
Committees, we have made it clear
that in this round of bargaining,
Ford must provide a solution for
Windsor. At a recent Auto Industry
Council meeting in London, it was
agreed that the bargaining committees from Ford, Chrysler and GM
would all make investment and
product their number one priority.
This year in particular, the
Detroit Three Bargaining
Committees and the three Chairs of
the bargaining councils, have made
it a mandate to collaborate our
efforts and enter talks with a common front amongst all three bargaining committees. The Chairs of
the bargaining councils (Chris
Taylor/Ford, Dino Chiodo/Chrysler
and Greg Moffat/GM) all attended
each other's amendment meetings to
get a full understanding of the directions and the issues facing all three.
We are looking forward to working
together to ensure a successful
round of bargaining for all of us.
tal regulations such as the Cap and
Trade system that Ontario is looking
at putting in place in 2017, Trade
agreements that continue to weaken
our position both globally and in
our own country, Health Care cuts
that water down one of our most
sacred publicly funded social programs which will eventually lead to
privatization and the lack of vision
in providing a Pharma-Care
Program that would greatly reduce
the cost of prescription drugs.
These are some of the most
urgent matters that are facing us
both as a country and as a Union,
but there are countless others that
are either on the table or in the early
phases. These are factors that cannot be dealt with at the bargaining
table even though they may have
drastic effects on us in our individual workplaces.
Your local union, along with the
National and in conjunction with
others such as the Canadian Labour
Congress and Ontario Federation of
Labour, recognize the importance of
not only understanding these issues
and their effects on us, but more
importantly being active and vocal
with all levels of government in
either changing their direction or
ensuring that our concerns are made
clear and addressed.
By far, the two most pressing
issues are the Trans Pacific
Partnership and the Health Care
cuts that we have all seen in our
own communities. I ask that our
members make every effort to support the continuing and upcoming
initiatives that are in place by both
the Local and the National Union.
There is strength in numbers but
one voice cannot replace the voices
of all!
On behalf of myself and our
entire Executive Board, I want to
express our heartfelt thanks for your
ongoing support and we hope that
you all get to enjoy your negotiated
vacations and plant shut-downs
with friends and families.
SUMMER
Your Local 200 Bargaining
Committee will need the full support of our members to achieve our
collective goals and we look forward to seeing you for our Strike
Vote on August 28th.
There are many external factors
that face us outside of defending our
collective agreements. Governmen-
OUTSIDE FACTORS
PAGE 2
Unifor Local 200 leadership and activists attend the recent rally in
Windsor opposing the TPP.
Financial Secretary’s Report
DAN CASSADY, Financial Secretary
ummer is here once again
and it’s time to take some
bargained vacation time
away from the job. Spend some
time doing things you enjoy,
with the people you enjoy!
Please make sure you take all of
your allotted time off. In many
of our units it can bring a member back to work from layoff and
turn on their benefits, etc.
As you look through the
pages of this edition of the 200
Talks, it is clear to see how many
serious issues affect all of us in
our Local union. Bargaining,
Unfair Trade Deals, healthcare
issues, layoffs due to loss of
product, job reductions, staffing
level issues, etc. One crisis leads
to another and another and
another. It seems to be a never
ending cycle.
S
I find it very telling when I
look at editions of the Ford Facts
(as the local newspaper was
known back then) the same types
of issues we face today were
being written about 10, 15 and
20 years ago! Most of them were
due to either certain government
policies or lack of policies!
When will the madness stop?
The answer to that question is
simple, when we all get together,
decide to make a difference, and
get involved. When will that
happen? That is a question I
cannot answer. It is clear that
things are certainly not “better”
now than they were years ago it’s
up to all of us collectively to do
our part if we want change. Are
you doing yours?
I often write about the impor-
tance of keeping your personal
affairs in order and up to date.
Please take some time to review
your insurance policies, will,
bank info, etc., and make sure all
the information is accurate and
up to date to reflect any changes
in your life. The last thing any of
us would want to do is leave our
loved ones in disarray if something happens to us. Take care of
business now and avoid problems later.
On a closing note I would
like to welcome our newest Unit
into
the
fold,
Goodwill
Industries. We look forward to
successfully bargaining your
first collective agreement, and
thanks for the faith you have
placed in us.
Dan Cassady,
representing the Unifor
Guardian Board
presents a $20,000
cheque to the Easter
Seals Telethon held
in April.
PAGE 3
I thought this was a good section
for our members to view the Unifor
National website that provides communication on issues that our union
is involved in.
Our union takes every opportunity to advocate for the safety, economic well-being, dignity and
equality of all working women and
men.
Here you will find our submissions and briefs to government and
governmental committees on issues
relevant to working people. Here is
the link,
w w w. u n i f o r. o r g / e n / w h a t s new/briefs-statements/briefs-submissions
Also, we continue to update our
website www.uniforlocal200.org
with important issues that affect us.
UNIFOR
Vice President’s Report
MARC RENAUD
Welcome Goodwill
Industries Unit
Members
Welcome to our new unit
Goodwill Industries and their 60
members at the McDougall Store in
Windsor. You will be a great addition to o u r m e m b e r s h i p . Their
Bargaining Committee is in process
of working on their first collective
agreement.
We continue to formulate our
bargaining demands at the National
Ford Council and local levels to
present to the company in August.
We must all remain focused on our
number one priority: new work for
Windsor Operations.
The date for the Strike Vote is
Sunday, August 28th, where we will
need a strong mandate from the
membership at Ford going into bargaining.
Watch for the Bargaining Update
Leaflets “Just the Facts Auto
Talks 2016”
FORD UNIT
April, with more events coming up
over the upcoming months as the
Federal Government holds public
consultations across the country on
the deal.
The TPP is a proposed new “free
trade” between 12 Pacific Rim
nations, Australia, Brunei, Canada,
Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico,
New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the
United States of America and
Vietnam.
It is projected that if this agreement is ratified it will cost our Auto
and Auto Parts industries an estimated 20,000 jobs because of the
quick reduction in tariffs on imported Vehicles and Parts with the
reduced content rules that go with
those tariff reductions.
I encourage all of you to visit
the following link and read for yourself what this Bad Deal means to us.
Here is the link,
http://www.unifor.org/…/takeaction/campaigns/trans-pacific…
SUMMERTIME AND
PLANT SHUT-DOWNS
With summertime and the plant
shut-downs almost here, I encourage you to get out and enjoy the
time with your families and friends.
Take your vacation time, you’ve
earned it.
TRANS-PACIFIC
PARTNERSHIP
Your hearing a lot in the media
about this trade deal. Unifor has
launched one of its largest national
campaigns with a simple message to
the federal government, “Trade the
TPP.”
The Trans-Pacific Partnership
isn’t really even a trade deal. It’s a
“corporate rights deal,” our
National President, Jerry Dias has
said. The Unifor TPP Campaign
was launched at Prairie Council in
PAGE 4
The 2016 Kelly England Education Bursary winners are Carly
Davison,Amy Ryan, Jenna Desmarais and Stacey Paquet.
Nemak/Windsor
Aluminum Unit
We currently have 275 members (full and part-time) on roll at
WAP. As of this writhing, we currently have no one on layoff but the company has issued layoff notices to 15
trades and 49 production due to the
HF 3.6 program coming to an end.
The layoff notices have been extended once already to the week of June
13, 2016. At this point CLD will need
to be shut-down properly which could
take another week or two.
PLANT POPULATION
With summer shut-down right
around the corner, we would like to
wish everyone a safe and enjoyable
vacation with their families and
friends. Shut-down is scheduled during the weeks of August 15, 2016 and
August 22, 2016. Have fun, keep safe
and we will see you when you get
back.
SUMMER SHUT-DOWN
With summer upon us our heat
stress program is being brought
online, but with the addition of a new
product (Sqwincher) which is
designed to restore important mineral
salts and fluids lost through dehydration, physical exertion and heat stress.
Sqwincher stations are currently
being made available throughout the
plant. It is very important to understand what the effects and warning
signs of heat stress are and how we
can avoid it.
HEAT STRESS
There has been a lot of indecision
from the Company on whether the
south core line will start up to support
ongoing LGE volumes. Due to the
poor customer demand for the LGE,
our 2016 volumes have decreased by
STATE OF THE PLANT
Kevin
Laframboise
around 25% and the company has
notified us that because of this, there
will be no need to start up the south
core line. There are a lot of concerns
about whether the volumes will continue to decrease with the LGE. This
is hard to predict as customer demand
will dictate whether LGE volumes are
to decrease or increase.
The HF 3.6 block has been good
for our members for many years and it
is sad to see it come to an end, but at
the same time we are very much looking forward to getting this line
retooled and having our members on
layoff return to work. Your continued
effort in maintaining the quality and
efficiency of our HF 3.6 blocks right
up to the end is a great testament to
our workforce here at WAP and I can
tell you it is recognized not only by
our customer but also by many of the
Nemak team who are responsible for
the allocation of new investment
throughout Nemak Global
Operations.
Congratulations to all of you for
keeping us at the forefront for future
investment opportunities. Let’s continue to efficiently produce the highest quality, lowest cost products at
Nemak and let’s do it in the safest
environment possible; It is what our
customers have come to appreciate
and expect from us.
As of this writing both the South
and North lines should be producing
our LGE blocks on a 3 shift operation.
This is good news as this is currently
the only product we are producing at
WAP.
GM LGE BLOCK
Governments throughout the world
are forcing automakers through legislation to produce more efficient
engines that leave less of a carbon
foot print on our environment. In
many jurisdictions these governments
are also offering consumers huge tax
incentives to purchase vehicles manufactured with engines that are smaller
and more efficient than even the LGE.
This coupled with an industry that
has historically been volatile can create a lot of uncertainty and leave our
members wondering what our future
looks like. Ultimately the customer
dictates through their purchasing
power what we will be required to
build and unfortunately this can
change on a week to week basis.
I’m not trying to paint a bleak picture, but rather a realistic one. I
believe that our LGE block is part of
a great engine program that powers a
line of highly popular GM vehicles,
but I also believe that we need to
actively seek out new products with
Nemak products that will not only
meet the environmental requirements
of a world moving forward, but products that will also continue to excite
our customers imagination motivating
them to purchase what we build.
Keep doing the great things you do at
work as that is the best thing we can
do to contribute to a successful future.
GOODWILL – NEW
LOCAL 200 UNIT
I would like to congratulate the
brothers and sisters at Goodwill who
have decided to organize their workplace and sign on as Unifor Local
200’s newest unit.
Welcome to the Local. I would
encourage any of our members who
are in the market of donating or purchasing something to stop by their
store and introduce yourself.
PAGE 5
WINDSOR
ENGINE PLANT
he plant continues to look at
ways to save money through
reductions or sending the
line home on short work day. The
Finance Department is running the
show and the department managers
don’t have a say. At one time decisions were made from the shop floor,
not by a monthly budget that has no
rhyme or reason. As members, we
know the company has a budget, but
what the company does not recognize is the age of the plant, how
many shifts we run, the age of the
machines (off standard jobs), the
tooling costs and the outside supplier
and companies that come in and
don’t have a clue, what creates
down-time or over-time to fix the
issues they created.
Continuing to cut the workforce
creates injuries and instability which
leads to an increase in their budget.
Enough is enough.
Vacations have all been approved,
those who put theirs in before April
1st. The shut-down at WEP is the
week of July 4th and July 11th. On
behalf of the entire Union Office, we
would like to wish you and your
families a safe and happy vacation.
T
BARGAINING
Bargaining is coming fast and I
feel confident working with the leadership of Chris Taylor, Tim Little,
Jeff Walsh and Ken Anderson. We
are a tight group and it’s so important to have that going into bargaining.
I get the opportunity to sit down
with the membership in Union
Awareness classes and discuss how
bargaining works, the challenges we
PAGE 6
John D’Agnolo
have (ie: Government/Trade issues),
and what’s happening in the plant
and Windsor Site.
A lot of the discussion is on bargaining and what our members are
looking for. Product is no doubt the
number one issue in Windsor. The
membership is tired of the doom and
gloom that’s been over the Windsor
Site for a decade. The workers that
make this company successful have
seen profits for the last six years and
record profits in the last five quarters.
The membership has broken
records when it comes to launches;
our trades have done whatever they
can to get the projects done before
the deadline and below budget. Our
workforce continues to do whatever
it can to get the product out the door
following the FPS process on time
and within budget. Our site has been
dealing with reductions year after
year watching our brothers and sisters lose their homes and cars.
Families have been broken up moving to other communities in Ontario
to find work; I hope the company
understands the importance of a
product or we will have a problem.
We had a taste of how important
the Government was, in getting
product into our community. Chris
Taylor, with the help of Jerry Dias
and the National, are doing what
they can to have the government sit
down with the company when it
comes to investment in our community. Our government plays a huge
role attracting business. All three
levels of government need to have an
open door policy. I hope the Liberals
don’t put Ford Motor Company
through a bureaucratic nightmare
like our previous government.
CAW founding leader Bob White
recognized the negative impact the
North American Free Trade
Agreement would have on industries
across the country. If you allow corporations to move to Mexico at a
tenth of the all in costs we have in
Canada with no barriers, they would
move to Mexico and destroy our
industry in Canada. Corporations
were not done; they lobbied governments to have an organization that
will make sure government policies
couldn’t supersede trade agreements
called the World Trade Organization
that called the auto pact an unfair
trade policy.
Liberals have to take a stance;
this is our country and we will not
sacrifice industries that will decimate communities like ours.
Government needs to challenge
trade agreements that put families on
the street. Come to Windsor and see
the increase in food banks and shelters. Justin Trudeau better have an
agenda to make sure these trade
agreements are fair, or our members
will be looking for a different
Government.
JDRF
I want to thank everyone who
helped out with the numerous
events, golf tournament, 50/50, hot
dog days, etc. It takes an enormous
effort to make this a success.
New Retirees
The following is a list of those members
who retired since the last issue of 200
Talks We know we speak for all in Local
200 and in Unifor in expressing sincere
wishes for a long and happy retirement to
each and everyone.
SANDRA McCLOSKEY
LOUIS CECCACCI
JOHN CHARBONNEAU
GARY CORRIGAN
TOM KERR
FORD SKILLED
TRADES
t the time of this article
we have 411 on Roll;
202 IMM, 140 Elect, 26
Stationary Engineers, 17 T/S,
14 Mechanics, 10 Welders, 2
Painters with 5 Electrical
Helpers, 2 Welder Helpers and
1 Painter Helper.
A
STRAIGHT TO THE
POINT
I would like to start this Local 200
Talks with just that, some Windsor
Site Talk. Across our site we have
1,045,884 sq. ft. of available product
investment space. EEP 577,580 sq.
ft., WEP-HVL 130,113 sq. ft., WEPLVL 208,049 sq. ft. and WEP-3V
130,142 sq. ft. Just saying!
By the way here’s another fact,
that we have 411 highly skilled dedicated tradespersons looking for
more work to take on. We tear out
equipment, fabricate, install, program and maintain anything you are
willing to bring into your facilities.
Warning - if the equipment comes in
your facilities, touches the floor and
plugs into your building we own the
work.
That being said we are heading
into, without a doubt, the most difficult set of negotiations our Local has
had to face. The fact is we are competing in a world that is driven by
ever changing technology. The one
thing that stays constant here is our
skilled workforce. There is no doubt
in my mind that we have the best
Tradespersons here at Ford and in
Windsor and Essex County.
Given the right resources and
training, we can stay ahead of and
lead any technology that comes our
way. Our Trades trump anything
that Mexico, India and China could
ever offer even with the wage differences. We have and will continue to
do all the right things to attract new
business. Remember, we are the
resource that makes this company
huge financial gains. All we are asking is for Ford to invest in our workplaces and in return we will make it
a financial success. Work with us,
not against us, and everyone as a
team will prosper especially the Ford
Windsor Site!
WINDSOR ENGINE
PLANT
ACROSS THE SITE
I have chosen to begin the plant
reports with WEP because everything that has been happening over
the last year with the 2018, model
year update has been about EEP or
ANNEX and there has been very little talk about the WEP.
It has in essence become the new
“Old Foundry”. The place continues
to make engines with beat up old
machinery that has long exceeded its
life expectancy date. WEP day in
and day out continues to make good
quality engines which accommodates the ever changing build schedule requirements and the endless
down days.
This is a direct reflection of the
caliber and experience of Trades
who work there. You start everyday
with old equipment, no spare parts
and no budget money. Just make it
run! To make my point, when you’re
in the spotlight everyday such as the
case at EEP and ANNEX because of
investment, it’s easy to look like a
ROCK STAR. The true craftsmanship comes with those who make it
Ken
Anderson
work starting out with nothing –
your efforts do not go unnoticed.
ANNEX
The CNC’S are now all on sight
and have been installed. Our Trades
have done an outstanding job keeping up with timelines and staying
within our budget. As we head into
the summer shut-down, we will be
concentrating on our regular plant
shut down maintenance jobs and will
require excessive amounts of
Electrical and Mechanical Trades to
do the 240 pack-out installs.
Vollmer will be in the plant during this time to do the 160 Kuka
automation and OP 80B install as the
time constraint and the availability
of our Trades do not allow us to take
on this endeavor. We are looking at
potentially starting the Tear-out of
the Annex LVL, Cranks and Blocks
around the beginning of September.
ESSEX ENGINE PLANT
Things are moving right along at
EEP; with the recent install of CHA
(Cylinder Head Assembly) our
Trades knocked it out of the park
between off-loading the equipment,
placing it and installing it to power
on all within a three week window of
opportunity. The Tear-out continues
behind the wall with one crew on
basket guarding and the others back
by the old drop near the train bays.
The MVL has extensive work to be
performed during shut-down and
will require all of the resources we
have available and will certainly
exhaust any remaining Trades we
have across the site.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
On March 1, 2016, we had
Painter, Gary Corrigan choose to
retire. We wish him all the best. Also
. . . cont’d on page 9
PAGE 7
ANNEX
s we approach shut-down,
I want to wish everyone an
enjoyable vacation. As I
have said in the past, “Family
First”. Again we have heard of or
read about someone that worked at
Ford who has passed away and I
always reflect on how important my
family is to me. Whatever your
plans are for your vacation, the
Annex Union Office wishes all of
you a happy and safe time off from
the daily grind.
Disclaimer: As I try to give everyone as much information as possible
in regards to the Annex, remember
that this is today’s information and
quite often changes hourly, daily
and weekly by the Company.
A lot of changes have taken place
since the last Local 200 Talks.
A
HEAD DEPARTMENT
MOD D
Presently has miscellaneous
gantrys and washers. All CNC’s are
gone and the assembly area sits collecting dust.
MODS A and B
They are running 3 shifts, 5 or 6
days a week, depending on the
Essex Schedule.
2018 COYOTE HEAD STATUS
• New CNC machining cells, op
130A and op 130B, ready for
power on. Next step is CNC
small geometry, then perform
2018 capabilities.
• New op 170.5B, op 170.6B,
CNC’s to improve on removing
burrs and chips left behind. Main
oil gallery hole brushes are ready
for power on.
• We have achieved single path
PAGE 8
Jeff Walsh
2018 capability up to op 120.
The plan is to complete by the
end of June 2016.
• Op 80A seat and guide machines
retool, are complete and ready for
2018 heads.
• New Op 160A camcap assembly
machine is ready for 2018 heads.
• Op 190.2A washer is targeted and
ready for 2018 heads.
KEY MILESTONES FOR THE
2018 COYOTE HEAD
MACHINING TEAM:
(PRODUCTION TRIAL RUNS)
PTR 1: Late August 2016….Mod A
single path
PTR 2: Mid December 2016….Mod
A and B all paths
PTR 3: April 2017….Mod A and B
run at rate (Job 1)
NOTE
No first time visits so far this
year; excellent result considering all
the heavy lifting and working at
heights being performed by our
skilled trades people during this retool.
The team installed 2 new CNC
machining cells.
Op 130’s in Mod A and Mod B,
which were all reused machines and
components from the Mod D tear
out (summer 2015).
This includes the gantry system,
the Mayfran, pump back coolant
system, cell main air connections,
main bus duct connections, the
tower buffer relocation, a new
HMM loop system, CNC installs
and commissioning of the equipment.
A lot of work has been performed
during small windows of opportunity, as this is a re-tool of running
modules..ie: connecting to the main
coolant supply on an 8 hour Sunday,
(main coolant had to be shut-down).
All this while having the Mod’s
A and B run production of 2015
heads required and also having all
CNC’s capable to do 2011 service
heads.
Despite the fact that the Company
was reluctant to bring back all of
our Skilled Trades from layoff, Ken
Anderson’s adamance paid off and
there are no Ford Trades on layoff.
Our trade’s people are working well
with engineers, OEM’s and
Contractors. Once again proving
that when the company followed the
contract with regards to job ownership language, we come thru in
spades.
Good work to everyone involved
in the 2018 Program. We once
again are showing the Company
how we get the job done! Your
Bargaining Committee will promote
your achievements going forward.
Although, you the workers don’t get
the recognition from the decision
makers often enough, I can tell you
they tell your leadership often how
impressed they are with the
Windsor Site employees.
The LED Lighting Program came
and went ahead of schedule with
our own electricians doing the
installs. This is another excellent
job and saving the company money
in the process!
MOD C
We are running 6-7 days a week,
3 shifts. We are now making all 2.7
FWD and all 3.0 FWD heads. We
also make 2.7 RWD heads whenever the demand is there by the customer.
The Nanno volumes remain
strong including the 3.0 heads,
. . . cont’d on next page
ANNEX
. . . cont’d
which will be ramping up over the
next few months. This is stressing
the supply chain a bit, but our team
continues to do a great job processing the heads for us when they are
available. We continue to test brass
guides and moving toward brass
across all part types as a product
improvement action. LIMA is very
pleased with our product and they
share that with Pete Ferguson on his
visits to their plant.
MOD E
We are presently running 1 shift,
5 days per week despite WEP having down days.
RODS
We are running 3 shifts, 4-5 days
per week depending on EEP scheduled down days.
STOCK
We have 12 employees keeping
our Head Mods A&B&C and Rods
running.
TRANSPORTATION
We have 15 drivers servicing
WEP, EEP, ANNEX as well as our
customers in Michigan.
GARAGE
Our eight mechanics who are
working hard to keep up with the
workload continue to struggle to
keep up and going into vacation
time, it would be wise if the COMPANY would bring in the licenced
Mechanics who are working in the
plants as Mechanic Helpers to get
ahead of the backlog of work for
safety reasons.
JDRF
Mario Hindi and his team of:
Heather MacDonald-Ellis, Lori
Balkwill and Paula Corp have done
an excellent job this year in organizing all the activities. I would be
remiss if I didn’t also recognize
every volunteer they each recruited.
The list is long and I’d be afraid of
forgetting someone’s name if I tried
to name them all. Everyone knows
who those people are and going forward I ask that if there are others
who want to get involved with
future fundraisers like the United
Way or JDRF, talk to those ladies or
your reps and we will get you
involved.
At this time we continue to have
BBQ’s, 50/50 Draws and other
activities to generate money for this
important cause.
The golf tournament was a good
time had by all with excellent
weather. Thank you for your participation and a big thank you to all the
volunteers who made the day possible.
BARGAINING
As we prepare for bargaining, I
will say that this will be a difficult
round with the company, especially
with the way that the finance
department is involved in every
aspect of the day to day operations
now more than ever before. We, as
your Bargaining Committee, understand what everyone wants and will
work on getting improvements.
FORD SKILLED
TRADES
. . . cont’d from Page 7
Tom Kerr had made the decision to
retire and I would like to personally
thank him for all of his dedication to
our Trades, our membership and our
Union.
May you both have many happy
and healthy years.
SUMMER HOLIDAYS
On behalf of myself and all the
Skilled Trades offices, we would like
to wish everyone and their families a
very safe and enjoyable summer
vacation period. Time away is rejuvenating. For those choosing to
work shut-down, please do so safely.
I will close this edition of the
Local 200 Talks with a promise to all
the Skilled Trades that I represent;
the Bargaining Committee and I are
committed to hammer out a contract
that will have a balance between
NEW PRODUCT FOR WINDSOR
FIRST AND FOREMOST, AND
IMPROVEMENTS FOR ALL OUR
MEMBERS!
However, the #1 thing we must
go after is more product for us here
in Windsor.
The entire Ford Council understands this need and they all support
this going into negotiations. The
future of the Windsor workforce
depends on it. So going forward I
ask that everyone stands in solidarity with your Bargaining Committee
and you give us a 100% Strike Vote
when called upon.
Annex Chair Jeff Walsh presents Lori Balkwill with the
Dan Lasorda Community
Service Award for 2016.
PAGE 9
Recreation News
We have tickets for a Detroit Tiger
game VS Boston Red Sox scheduled for
Sunday, August 21st. Tickets are $50
Canadian each and they include Tunnel
Bus Passes to and from the game.
Cedar Point tickets are available in
the plants. They are $50 Canadian each
and are good for any day this season up
to October 31st.
We have coupons for Marineland in
Niagara Falls. They are good for the
PAGE 10
Darby
McCloskey
purchase of tickets at the gate. You will
get five dollars off of each ticket you
purchase up to six tickets per purchase.
Canada’s Wonderland tickets are
available through their web site where
you can get 35% off of your tickets.
Check the boards in your plants for
more information.
Moonlight Bowling was a great success again this year with the winners
being Diane Bashucki from Local 200
and John Batson from Local 195 with a
combined score of 1228.
The National 10 Pin Bowling
Tournament was held here in Windsor
this year with Ted St. Armour’s team
from Local 341-0 winning the Men’s
Division and Theresa Laliberty’s team
from Local 444 winning the Women’s
Division.
The Regional Golf Tournament was
held on Sunday, May 29th and the
National Golf Tournament is being held
at Roseland Golf Course on Sunday,
August 13th. Watch the boards for other
SWORC and local events.
UNION IN POLITICS
COMMITTEE
DARLENE COSTELLO
IF YOU haven’t heard of the
Trans-Pacific Partnership, the TPP
is a proposed new “free trade”
agreement involving 12 member
nations: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan,
Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand,
Peru, Singapore, the United States
of America and Vietnam.
The TPP is a bad deal for Canada
that was poorly negotiated by
Stephen Harper. Canada was late
joining the TPP negotiations, near
the end of its completion, which
meant negotiating with limited ability to shape the main features of the
deal. It is secretive, non-transparent
and isn’t a fair trade deal.
We hear the public say unions are
against trade. This is not true; we
just want FAIR TRADE not free
trade, which is good for Canadians.
The TPP is a corporate rights deal.
It will make it easy for corporations
to sue the Canadian government
(our money) for passing laws in the
public’s interest. It will also make it
easier for foreign takeovers. It will
allow the employer to import
employees to work with no limits to
the number of temporary foreign
workers they can use.
The TPP is not good for the Auto
industry; we will lose 20,000 good
Canadians jobs with some analysts
predicting the number is higher. As
outlined on the Unifor webpage,
auto provisions in the TPP are
expected to cause significant damage to Canada’s auto industry
through three distinct channels:
● Firstly, the TPP will facilitate
more auto imports into Canada,
especially from Japan, as
Canada’s existing 6.1% auto tariff is quickly eliminated (in just 5
years, whereas the U.S. will
phase-out its 2.5% passenger
vehicle tariff and 25% truck tariff
over 25 and 30 years, respectively);
● Secondly, drastic changes to vehicle content requirements (i.e.
Rules of Origin thresholds for
passenger vehicles that will drop
from 62.5% under the NAFTA to
45% under the TPP) will allow
vehicle imports from Japan and
elsewhere to embody a majority
of non-TPP content from China
or other low-wage countries;
● Thirdly, the TPP will encourage
the offshore relocation of much
of the North American auto supply chain, as the regional parts
content rule is cut to 35-45%
(depending on the part) from
60%. In fact, special TPP “flexibility” provisions could further
reduce these originating material
requirements by an additional
10%.
The deal will also raise the cost
of medications and will make it difficult to create a national pharma
care program. The TPP will expand
the 20 year patent on drugs making
Canadians wait longer for cheaper
generic drugs.
We need to tell our MPs and the
Liberal government that we will not
stand for more free trade deals that
are not good for Canadians. You can
go to www.letstalktpp.ca and voice
your opinion. Tracey Ramsey is the
Critic for International Trade and is
working very hard against the TPP
and I know she and the trade committee would love to hear your
thoughts. Also please go to Tracey’s
NDP website and sign the online
petition against the TPP.
On behalf of the UPC, I hope
everyone has a safe and fun summer.
GEORGE LABUTE
George faithfully served our
Local in various elected positions until his retirement in
1978. He was passionate about
his union and even more passionate about his political party;
never afraid to speak his mind.
He is surely now preaching the
virtues of the NDP in heaven.
200 TALKS
TALKS
200
Chris Taylor, Dan Cassady,
Marc Renaud
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
President
CHRIS TAYLOR
Financial Secretary
DAN CASSADY
Vice President
MARC RENAUD
Recording Secretary
JOHN D’AGNOLO
Trustees
TIM LITTLE
APRIL McLELLAN
JEFF WALSH
Sgt-At-Arms
KEN ANDERSON
Guide
KEVIN LAFRAMBOISE
Members-at-Large
DONNA SEARS-HOWARD
TOM BURKE
Retirees
JACK GIBBONS
Fine Touch Graphics
PAGE 11
By far the two most pressing issues are the Trans Pacific Partnership and the Health Care cuts
that we have all seen in our own communities. I ask that our members make every effort to support the continuing and upcoming initiatives that are in place by both the Local and the
National Union. There is strength in numbers but one voice cannot replace the voices of all!
President Chris Taylor
EMAIL ADDRESSES
Prime Minister- Right Hon. Justin Trudeau – [email protected]
Minister of Trade- Hon Chrystia Freeland – [email protected]
Committee: [email protected].
Chair- Hon. Mark Eyking – [email protected]
Vice Chair- Randy Hoback – [email protected]
Vice Chair, Trade critic and MP for Essex – Tracey Ramsey [email protected]
Sukh Dhaliwal – [email protected]
Peter Fonseca – [email protected]
Linda Lapointe – [email protected]
Karen Ludwig – [email protected]
Kyle Peterson – [email protected]
Hon. Gerry Ritz – [email protected]
Trade Committee:
MP Windsor West Brian Masse – [email protected]
MP Windsor Tecumseh Cheryl Hardcastle – [email protected]
MP for Essex- Tracey Ramsey – [email protected]
MP Chatham-Kent Dave Van Kesteren – [email protected]
Local MPs:
PAGE 12
PAGE 13
Education Committee
DARRYL CHARRON
KELLY ENGLAND BURSARY
One of our roles as the Education
Committee is to choose the winners of
the Kelly England Bursaries. Every
year we get many applications, this year
being no exception.
After much time and deliberation, we
have come up with our four winning
applicants.
We have Carly Davison, her mother
is Jane Davison-WEP; Amy Ryan, her
father is Rob Ryan-EEP; Jenna
Desmarais, her father is Luc DesmaraisEEP and Stacey Paquet, her mother is
Carol Paquet-WEP.
I would like to thank all the other
applicants; you truly made our job difficult in choosing the four winners as they
were all great applications. It made for
some great debate in choosing the winners. So on behalf of the Local 200
Executive and the Education Committee, we congratulate all the applicants
and wish them luck in their post-secondary education.
TPP
You are probably hearing a lot about
the Trans Pacific Partnership these days.
As social activists, we must educate our
families and friends on this issue as we
sit around our dinner tables and gatherings.
We also need to call our Federal
Government to ask them, no insist, that
they not sign this agreement without
further consultation with the people that
they represent. If this trade deal is ratified, as it stands in its current state, we
stand to lose half if not more of our
good paying manufacturing jobs that we
have left in this country.
VACATIONS
As summer is approaching I
would like to wish everyone and their
families a safe and happy vacation.
VOITH INDUSTRIAL
SERVICES UNIT
PRESENTLY we have 33 fulltime employees and 3 TPTs. As
previously announced, Voith
Industrial Services has been sold
to Triton, an equity firm with over
53,000 employees worldwide.
While it is still too early to get a
handle on the details, we have
been assured that it will be business as usual, with an eye towards
further expansion and investment
in North America.
I want to wish the best to all
the Ford Employees in our Local
PAGE 14
Jim Fyke
in the upcoming
contract negotiaI have
tions.
worked with most
of you on the Bargaining
Committee in one capacity or
another and I am sure your best
interests will be served. You can
count on our support.
In closing, I would just like to
wish all our members at Voith a
safe and enjoyable summer.
OBITUARIES
The following is a list of those members
who have passed away since the last issue
of 200 Talks
Active:
ROBERT GOODWIN
PATRICK STEVENS
BRUCE DEBONO
JIM ROBINET
CHRISTOPHER LACROIX
Retired:
MAROUF ALI
PETER HAYFIELD
KEVIN BONDY
WAYNE LUCIER
RENE VACHON
JOHN ZIRIADA
WILFRED “WILF” MENEAR
RICHARD WACHTER
DAVE ORLANDO
JAMES MCDERMOTT
GUSTAV HERBST
LAWRENCE “BUSSY” BRUNETT
IGNAZIO MILANA
RAFAEL GARCIA
WILLIAM PARCHOMA
WILLIAM BEACH
PIETRO “PETER” DESTEFANO
DONALD REGNIER
FERNANDO ZANON
GORDON EYRAUD
ARCHIE LESPERANCE
GERARD TREPANIER
LARRY PRINGLE
ROSS BARTON
BORIS CAR
RAYMOND MELVILLE
FRANK RENAUD
GARY KAWALA
ERNEST “ERNIE” FOX
RONALD HAAS
MAURO BOME
ANDREJ KANTOR
JOSEPH DUPUIS
EDWARD CUSCHIERI
FRANCIS RENAUD
THOMAS BELLMORE
GAETAN LECUYER
RICHARD TRUDELL
ROBERT GRAHAM
MARCEL SLEIMAN
SLAVKO NASTOVSKI
BERNIE GARROD
THOM SIMKINS
GREG LAMONT
KONSTANDINOS MARGARITIS
ALPHONSE PINSONNEAULT
ARMAND GUIDOLIN
CLEMENT “CLEM” EDEN
GERALD LARSH
MATTHEW “MAX” KRUTSCH
VINCENZO SAVONI
EDWIN SIDEBOTTOM
ART RINGWOOD
MAURICE LAVERGNE
SANTIAGO GAITAN
RONALD SPIDY
SANDOR OROSZ
DIXON IRWIN
GEORGE LABUTE
BRUNO SOLLAZZO
GOJCO TODOROVIC
They will be missed by the
membership of Unifor Local 200
Employment Equity
Kathy Lucas
Pay Equity is a fundamental
human right. It is also known as
equal pay for work of equal value.
It’s goal is to stop discrimination
related to the undervaluation of
work traditionally performed by
women.
Pay Equity is different from
Employment Equity.
Pay Equity is a human right
found in Section 11 of the
“Canadian Human Rights Act”.
This term refers to the concept of
“Equal pay for work of equal
value”, in addition it allows for different jobs within an establishment.
Pay Equity is not the same thing
as “Equal Pay”, which refers to the
simpler concept of “Equal pay for
equal work.” Equal pay only permits similar jobs to be compared
within an establishment and does
not address every aspect of genderbased wage discrimination.
Pay Equity addresses genderbased wage discrimination; employment equity is aimed at removing
employment barriers for members
of 4 designated groups: women,
aboriginal people, members of visible minorities and people with disabilities.
It has been recommended that
March 18th be declared as “Equal
Pay Day” to raise awareness on the
issue of Equal Pay in Canada. This
date has been calculated to accurately mark the additional number
of working days that women must
work in comparison to the 365 days
that men work in the same job to
earn the same wage.
Unions are required to negotiate
pay equity plans. In workplaces
where we’ve already completed pay
equity agreements, we’re still
required to maintain these in bargaining to ensure that new gaps
haven’t developed.
Due to recent activity on
Facebook, I thought I would remind
SOCIAL MEDIA
everyone of our contract language
as seen in Appendix “O” of the collective agreement.
“The use of social media communication such as email, texting,
web-based discussion forums both
within and outside of the workplace
to convey vexatious or discriminatory comments about another worker to diminish his/her potential for
respectful workplace for those
workers can be applied as sufficient
grounds for investigation of complaint.”
Have a fun and relaxing summer.
The 2015-16 United Way Training Day for Canvassers and Leadership.
Unifor Local 200 team participates in the United Way Truck Pull.
PAGE 15
Women ,s Committee
DONNA SEARS-HOWARD
I’D LIKE to introduce myself.
I am the new Chairperson of the
Women’s Committee and Kathy
Lucas is the Vice-Chair.
Did you know that the population in Canada is comprised of over
52% percent women and yet:
• There is still no quality affordable
daycare for our children
• Still cuts to our women’s heath
care
• Still fighting for pay equity
• Still thousands of missing and
murdered Aboriginal women
continue to go unsolved
The year is 2016 and with the
last government that was in office.
Women’s Issues were constantly
being slashed, unfunded and pushed
to the back burner and still with the
thousands of missing and murdered
women, sisters, mothers and daughters, we need to hold our new government to task to address these
many issues.
This past December we held a
Coats for Kids Campaign with
Madeleine Levasseur, Local 240 at
our union hall and with the kindness
of our retirees, plants and community donated coats and a cheque for
$2,000 was presented to the
Unemployed Help Centre.
Our International Women’s Day
Dinner in March co-ordinated with
Locals 444 and 195 was a success
with nearly all 150 tickets sold with
guest speakers including our own
sister MP, Tracey Ramsey and MP
Cheryl Hardcastle. March also held
a tour of the Unemployed Help
Centre which in itself is its own little city with many initiatives to
offer, day classes, night classes,
culinary preparations, job search
and many more opportunities.
PAGE 16
In April we had the opportunity
to attend the House of Sophrosyne
Pajama Party and again it was a success. A lot of planning and hard
work goes into this event every
year.
We started a purse campaign in
February to April, whereas we col-
lected purses and daily supplies
from our workplace and community. With your help the Women’s
Committee members filled and
delivered 31 purses to the House of
Sophrosyne, 35 filled and 50 plus
empty to the Welcome Centre and
14 filled to Street Help.
So in saying, so much community/volunteer involvement in these
trying times is needed and we truly
THANK YOU for all your generosity.
Health & Safety
JIM BECHARD
FORD WINDSOR
ENGINE PLANT
AT THE TIME of this article,
the plant has been cleaning up
debris and buttoning up the holes in
the plant in order to do away with
our little friends (the rats). Our
members are doing a great job placing their garbage in the appropriate
containers. Even with all these preventative measures there have still
been some rat sightings. If you see
one, please call me at 2413 with the
column number and I will have
more traps put in place.
The docks have had trailers unzip
or failures, so hats off to all our
members for inspecting trailers
before you enter them. IF YOU
F I N D A T R A I L E R T H AT
LOOKS SUSPICIOUS REJECT
IT, DO NOT UNLOAD.
WEP/POWER HOUSE has just
completed its WHMIS Audit and
the reports were great. Again thanks
to our members for using the
approved products for the plants.
Sometime in the near future,
WEP will be experiencing a rebalance due to a loss in our engine volumes. There is a process that must
be followed throughout the changes,
as your Health & Safety Rep I will
be sure it is done correctly so that
you continue to work in a safe environment. If you have any safety
concerns surrounding your work
station, please be sure to notify your
process coach immediately.
Soon it will be contract time and
we will be asked to vote on strike
action if needed. As members of
Local 200 we need to vote 100% in
favor of strike action! This will
send a strong message to Ford
Motor Company that we will stand
behind our bargaining unit and we
deserve a new product here in
Windsor.
The long waiting of summer is
here. So enjoy all your vacation
entitlement, be safe, with your family and friends. Remember safety
never ends at work or at play.
HAVE A GREAT VACATION.
ESSEX ENGINE PLANT
very month or two, we all
find ourselves wondering if
and where the company
will be takaing some more jobs
out. In most cases, it is to balance
their budget and again in most
cases, the budget is out to no fault
of the very people they take it out
on.
Supplier problems are at the
top of the list. Then there are
those days when the line breaks
down and out of the blue the company decides that we have to pay
our bills in four days instead of
five due to a push for more V6
engines.
At the same time they ask us to
work together, to be a team, to be
more efficient and to find better
processes. Yet the minute we do
and we are very good at it, we fall
into the crosshairs of the next cut
to come. The task they come and
take undermine the effectiveness
of the teams in the plant; what
teams will work to improve their
area when they know the end
result.
I put the budget problem back
on the people who are paid for by
the company to manage it, not on
the workforce that builds everything that is put in front them.
Perhaps when they have to look
over their shoulder things will
begin to improve.
The jobs on our line were set
up with a cycle time together with
an ergonomics study, so the work
could be done without anyone getting injured as well as we could
make the count at the end of the
day. The company will be the first
E
to inform you if you are over
cycling and let me be the first to
inform you there is no reason to
under cycle. We will make our
count each day if everyone follows their OIS sheets and lets the
line flow to cycle time as it was
intended to operate and as you
were intended to operate it.
Making the build count on the
engine line at the end of every
shift pays the bills, as well as us,
at the end of the day. The union
office has worked with the company to come up with different ways
to get engines through the line in
any of the areas that may have
been the constraint that day. Not
only does this help us make our
count but it has also kept many
people at work.
The practice of running
through breaks and lunch has been
used in machining areas to keep
the equipment up and running and
has brought extra manpower to
those areas as well. With the
engine line being more labor
intense, it is harder to achieve and
we must be more creative; but if
jobs are involved and people are
kept at work, it will always be the
direction that the union office follows and its priority.
This round of bargaining that
we are heading into will decide
the future of our Local and all of
us. The opportunities that I am
afforded as a member of the
Master Bargaining Committee in
meetings with the company, our
national union has proven that
BARGAINING
Tim Little
there is no doubt that this is the
most important round of bargaining we will ever be involved in.
There must be a solution in this
round for the Windsor Operations
or we fear this will be the end of
the road for the Windsor Site.
I hear and understand all the
wants and wishes that come from
the membership but everyone
must understand that none of them
mean a damn thing to any of us if
we do not get product. This is the
reality of what is coming at us in
2016.
Of the 35 billion dollars
invested in North America by auto
companies only 1.5 billion came
to Canada and Oakville was part
of that. We have a government
that is out of touch and has failed
to entice any auto investment to
this country, in particular this
province. Most of the corporations consider our government terrible to deal with and out of touch
compared to what other countries
are doing to bring investment.
Countries like Mexico and United
States and a new player Turkey
have an auto strategy where they
seek out and solicit auto investment because they realize all that
comes with it, the jobs, the suppliers, the spin off jobs, the small
businesses, etc. We have already
seen an opportunity for us slip
away once because our government was not organized in
approaching an investor for product and their bumbling between
the two levels cost us in the end.
We can only hope our new governments are better prepared.
. . . cont’d on page 19
PAGE 17
Monday, Sept.
Sept. 5th,
5th, 2016
2016
Monday,
W.D.L.C.
LABOUR
DAY
PARADE
N
N
at the
Fogolar Furlan Club
Parade will start at 10 a.m. with marshalling beginning at
9 a.m. from UNIFOR LOCAL 200/444 UNION HALL. The parade
route will have us walking along Walker Rd. and turn on E.C.
Row Service Road to the Fogolar Furlan Club.
For Your Entertainment JO
FU IN
WH N W IN T
“Beebo”Children’s
OL ITH HE
N
Air
E F TH
Entertainer
AM E
Bounce
ILY
Special Guests
N Mini Olympics for the Kids - Win Great Prizes
CRAZY OLYMPICS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!
WANTED
CANNED GOODS OR
FRESH PRODUCE
CAN BE DROPPED OFF AT
UNIFOR LOCAL 200/444
HALL OR AT
FOGOLAR FURLAN, OR
PICKED UP BY THE UHC VAN
ALONG THE PARADE ROUTE
PAGE 18
JH
RESTORATIONS
Classic Car
Show
FREE Hot Dogs, Pop
and Water will be
available while
supplies last
Ford Benefits
CHARLIE YOTT & DARBY McCLOSKEY
Essex Engine Plant
519-944-9277
his being a bargaining year,
we have had our benefit
meetings with the other Ford
Units and have put forward our
Benefit Package.
The priority for this year’s contract is still job security. We need
new product going forward if we
are to survive long term. So when
your leadership calls for the strike
vote, it is imperative that we support
our Bargaining Team 100%.
With the possibility of a down
week in July, it is very important
that you file for E.I. within three
weeks of your last day worked.
Once you have applied, you will
receive an access code in the mail.
You must do your weekly report in
a timely manner answering all the
questions properly so that it doesn’t
delay your claim.
It is best to report when you have
gone back to work full-time and
stop your reports. It is very easy to
restart a claim if you have another
down week. If you have any ques-
T
WEP & Annex
519-257-2412
tions or need help with
applying/reporting, please call your
Benefit Rep, he will be more than
happy to help.
If you are returning from S & A,
you can use that time as waiting
time for E.I. See your Benefit Rep
to apply for E.I. within 3 weeks of
returning to work.
Did you know you can access
your Green Shield benefits on-line
or on your phone by registering at
w w w. greenshield.ca Go to
Register/login plan members, click
go, then register. You will be able to
search benefits to see if you are covered.
Summertime is coming hopefully we will all take all our entitled
vacation time and enjoy quality
time with our families. This will
help to bring some of our laid-off
people back to work.
On behalf of Benefit Reps, we
wish you all a safe and happy summer.
Darby McCloskey and Pam Strong present the 2016 Chili Cook Off
winner Donna Sears-Howard with the Golden Fire Extinguisher
Award.
ESSEX ENGINE
PLANT
. . . cont’d from page 17
We are also dealing with a
province that has two and half
times the power cost than that of
Mexico and southern states and
now our new premier of Ontario is
bringing in a carbon tax that
directly adds cost to the manufacturers and O n t a r i o i s a m a n u f a c t u r i n g province. It is very
important that our entire membership start to prepare for this round
of bargaining, we need everyone’s
support for a unanimous strike
vote and all your support for the
bargaining ahead.
We are and
always have been a great work
force for our company and we
deserve the work that we are looking for. Perhaps it is time that we
use collective bargaining like
across the river to get the job done
because if we can’t get a product
in good times there will not be a
chance in bad times.
Facebook and social media
technology is a two edged sword.
It has a great potential with many
uses but always has the potential
for great abuses. A reminder to all
that many employees don’t understand how far your employer’s
authority extends over social
media attached to the workplace.
Be sure that your opinions and
remarks fall within the guidelines
before you hit the send key. There
is no getting it back and no saying
it wasn’t me.
Thanks to all that helped out
to make the JDRF Campaign a
successful one and I wish everyone along with the union office a
great summer shut-down and to
once more remind you to be prepared for this year’s round of bargaining.
PAGE 19
Health & Safety
GARY BOISSONEAULT
FORD ESSEX
ENGINE PLANT
THERE IS A LOT of activity in
the plant right now, which includes
the installation of the new Block
Line, the Cylinder Head Assembly
Line and the 2018 upgrades in the
MVL. Also, let’s not forget the
Decommissioning Crew, who continues to do a tremendous job of
tearing out the old, to make room
for any new work that could come
our way. As a workforce, we have
done everything asked of us and
more, to ensure we are positioned
for additional product for the Plant
and the Windsor Site.
We have been through some
very lean times and now is the
time for every one of us to stand
with our Bargaining Committee in
one voice insisting on a NEW
PRODUCT for Windsor.
The plant a n d t h e Tr a i n i n g
department have done a very good
job of getting ahead on the 2016
Health & Safety Update Training.
We’re anxious to get this completed so we can start the new Training
curriculum for the Leaders &
Process Coaches. When Leaders
first came on in Windsor, the original Leaders & Process Coaches
were given Basic Certification
Safety Training. This new material will include content from the
Ontario H & S Act and the
Industrial Regulations, as well as
many Ford Processes and
Procedures that are relevant to our
PAGE 20
day to day operations.
The new Block Line install is
moving ahead quickly. In many
cases some of the equipment is
under power and going through
the de-bugging stage. More of the
wall will be coming down or has
come down and you will start to
notice some obvious differences
from the existing block line.
The overhead bridge cranes are
an example.
They are floor
mounted rather than mounted on
overhead structure.
This is
because new programs have to
meet Global Standards. Many
newer buildings do not have the
building structure to support overhead installations. Another example is that there are NO Eco
Trenches.
The new Cylinder Head
Assembly Line is also now in the
building and is being installed.
This install has gone very quick
due to its design. It was delivered
in sections, laid-out, levelled,
lagged and plugged together; Plug
and Play. It could be taken out just
as quickly and shipped across the
globe for quick re-installation
elsewhere. Under these new standards nothing is integral to the
building structure.
There have been two incidents
in the last month regarding lifts for
new equipment installs. The first
one involved outside trades on the
new Argon Tank install where
Moir Crane Services were brought
in to do the lifts. While doing the
50,000 lb. argon tank lift, the main
cable snapped, dropping the tank
approximately six feet. The tank
remained vertical, resulting in
damage to the tank itself.
Fortunately, nobody was injured.
The second incident involved
our Ford Trades on a new equipment install. In this circumstance
as the 2,500 lb. lift was being lowered into its final resting place, it
suddenly dropped four to six inches. Again, fortunately nobody was
injured.
Thorough investigations were
conducted after each event and as
a result, procedural changes have
been made to prevent any reoccurrence.
These are two examples that
should illustrate to everyone the
importance of understanding and
following each step of the procedures.
We continue to struggle on the
wire harness jobs with repetitive
strains/sprains. There was a
Radiant Heater installed above the
dunnage pack at EO62; this would
pre-heat the top layer of wire harness assemblies. This helped make
the wire harness more flexible and
easier to install, but unfortunately
created a safety & quality issue
due to the melting of the harness
casing. They need to develop a
better and safer system to pre-heat
the harness.
If you are taking vacation during the shutdown, enjoy your time
away and please be safe. If you are
working the shut-down, please
keep focused on the task at hand
and keep safety first, and let’s all
continue to watch out for each
other.
DIAGEO
H
ere at the Diageo facility,
we continue to be faced
with many challenges
derived by management’s interpretation of the collective agreement.
Currently one manager remains that
was present at the last round of bargaining and the rest of the managers
have since moved on to other
Diageo facilities. This is very challenging to the union representatives
that were present at the last round of
negotiations and causes many disagreements.
Frustrations also continue with
our union representatives in regards
to lack of responses to the issues
raised with management, but more
so the attempted disregard of our
collective agreement. Our members
and the union have always been
committed to jointly working with
management, however, jointly is
often forgotten when new ways of
working is being brought forward
for implementation with our members with no prior consultation or
discussion with the Union
Leadership.
Our members are tired of the
lack of communication by management, and when information is presented to our members, often times
the information is inaccurate. Work
schedules have been, and continue
to be a serious issue affecting our
membership; all of us have lives
outside of the workplace and when
given the opportunity, we want to
spend that much needed time with
our loved ones.
Scheduled Saturdays and shift
schedules are often miscommuni-
D. J. LACEY
cated by management and makes it
almost impossible for our members
to schedule their day-to-day activities outside of work. The Plant
Committee has been trying to get
the day-to-day issues resolved but
as mentioned above, this is very difficult to say the least.
The Plant Committee has also
gone through the entire Grievance
Log and have met with management
once and are waiting on responses.
We also have a second grievance
meeting scheduled.
On to a good note for our members, we recently had a recall that
exhausted the remaining members
who were on layoff. We are being
told that because of the high
demand of volume and a few new
flavour innovations, that warranted
the recall. I want to take this opportunity to welcome back those members.
This will be the last issue before
summer; so with scheduled vacations and shut-down just around the
corner, be safe and spend the much
needed time off with loved ones. It
is well deserved to say the least.
ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
DEBBY GRANT
GET A NEW PERSPECTIVE
ON YOUR COMMUTE!
Whether you ride your bike to
save money or time; pump those
pedals to preserve your health or the
environment; or simply to explore
your community, National Bike
Month is an opportunity to celebrate
the unique power of the bicycle and
the many reasons we ride.
A recent survey confirmed what
we suspected- out of all commute
choices, cyclists reported the highest satisfaction. That alone is a
great reason to hop on your bike!
Statistics show that almost half
of all trips made by city dwellers are
less than 5 km and of these short
trips, 65% were made by private
automobile. This distance could be
covered in 20 minutes by bike!
Many of our daily trips are well
within cycling distance (0-5 km).
Trips taken by bike save you the
cost of transit, gas, parking, have
zero impact on air quality and burn
calories with every pedal forward.
Can’t cycle the whole trip? Try
a mix-and-match approach, combining bikes and transit. City of
Windsor buses are equipped with
handy bike racks on the front.
So celebrate this sustainable and
healthy option for commuting during National Bike Month this June
and maybe you’ll want to keep peddling well into the fall!
PAGE 21
HUMAN RIGHTS
ANDY SQUIRE
IMPORTANCE OF MENTAL HEALTH
Everyone knows a little about mental health issues,
but knowing the facts about mental illness can help you
educate others and reject stigmatizing stereotypes.
They are not the result of personal weakness, lack of
character or poor upbringing. Understanding mental
health isn’t only about being able to identify symptoms
and having a name for these conditions but dispelling
many false ideas about mental health conditions as well.
In my personal dealings with mental illness, stigmas
attached to the conditions exist still and must be
addressed.
Our mental health care systems have been in crisis
for far too long and often keep treatment and recovery
out of the hands of many who need it. We can take
action now as we push for better legislation and policies
to improve lives for everyone.
“When someone is going through a storm, your
silent presence is more powerful than a million empty
words.” Thelma Davis
If you or someone needs help, please call:
Ontario Mental Health Helpline: 1-866-531-2600 or
Dial 911.
ELECTION HAS COME AND GONE SINCE
THE LAST LOCAL 200 TALKS. WHAT CAN
CANADA SAY?
Harper was beat and we have some fresh blood in
Ottawa. Trudeau’s Government has hit the ground running and has started the task of getting the inquest into
the missing and murdered indigenous women where it
should have been 10 years ago. Roundtables have been
ongoing and some intense testimonies from witnesses
have shed light on the horrors families have been going
through.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett said
in January that she hoped to announce the commissioners for the inquiry on National Aboriginal Day which is
June 21st.
It might be hard to find in the media but I implore
you to follow this story as much as you can. As painful
as it might be to read, this is a sad chapter in our country’s history that must not be allowed to happen again.
PAGE 22
The Unifor Sworc Recreation Council setting
up for the Moonlight Moonlight Bowling
Tournament .
UnIFOR
Local200 | Canada
Community
Unifor Local 200 membership donate from our Social Justice Fund
$5000.00 each to the following: The Downtown Mission,
Unemployed Help Centre, Amherstburg Food and Fellowship
Mission, Essex Area Food Bank, Lakeshore Community Service and
Drouillard Place.
Partners
Making a
Difference
The Unifor Local 200 Big Bike team raised $2,472.25 for the Heart
and Stroke Society
PAGE 23
UnIFOR
Local200 | Canada
The Ford,Voith,Penske Local 200 members and Local 240
Members raise $560,022 for United Way in 2015.
Community
Partners
Making a
Local 200 canvassers Lori Balkwill, Krystina Pare and Darryl
Charron work the phones at the 2016 Easter Seals Telethon.
Difference
PAGE 24
Dan Cassady speaks to the recipients of the Unemployed Help
Centre Crock Pot Healthy Meals Program sponsored by Unifor
Locals 200 and 444
MAKE PERFORMANCE FORD LINCOLN
(519) 972-6500 1150 PROVINCIAL RD., WINDSOR, ON
PAGE 25