Ratification Vote set for Monday March 2, 2009

All members of the Ford R&E Unit are strongly encouraged to come to Local 245 and vote for the modifications to the 2007 national agreement. I ask each of you to give sincere thought as to how you will vote on this contract modification. If the contract is rejected and the committee is able to return to the bargaining table, the modifications they would come back with the next time will be worse than what we see right now. As you know we are going through unprecedented times in the auto industry and this vote as well as the concessions the rest of the stakeholders are administering are vital to the success of the Ford Motor Company. Your voice is in your vote and it is vital that you make your voice heard! Thank you to the members that took time to come to the explanation meetings on Friday, I do appreciate your attendance. Details for the vote are as follows:
VOTE at UAW Local 245 Headquarters Monday March 2, 2009 (313-561-7500)
POLLS OPEN 7:30 am POLLS CLOSE 5:30 pm
Additional copies of the modification booklet will be available at that time. Thank you!

CONTRACT MODIFICATION EXPLANATION!

In an effort to get you the information as quickly as possible , and also to make sure you have an opportunity to have time to get your questions asked and answered we have scheduled a Contract modification explanation meeting.

ALL meetings will occur on FRIDAY FEBRUARY 27, 2009

The times of the meetings will be as follows: 8 AM, 1:30 PM, 3:15 PM and 4:15 PM

All Meetings will take place at the Ford Fuel Cell Center Auditorium (formerly Auto Safety)

Contract modification update booklets will be available at this time. National Ford Department Representatives and National Negotiators will be on site to answer your questions.
Thank you for your support and we will see you at the meetings!

Contract Modifications

Rodney Clemons and I attended the contract modification meeting last night at the National Program Center for Presidents and Chairs in the National Ford Department . There is a leadership meeting today to discuss and roll out with all leadership and plans are in the works to have explanation meetings with the membership as soon as possible. All changes that have occurred are subject to ratification, which means you will have a vote on the changes. We are in the act of setting up the dates and times of the vote and the explanation meeting. The modifications do include give backs by active members to the company to get them through the economic downturn, however it kept retirees virtually untouched. Additionally we were told that the Executives including CEO Alan Mulally are taking a pay cut as well as many other salary give backs. We will be getting you more information as we soon as we can get the highlight books to distribute. Thank you for your patience and watch for postings and emails concerning explanation and ratification meetings.

Greetings Brothers and Sisters!
Thanks to tom Rizzo and his crew of volunteers as well as to all of you that supported the Bowling Tournament! It was another successful event and I thank all of you that worked hard to put it together!
Our fight to preserve the jobs of our brothers at Ford Air Transportation has hit a brick wall and as the company initially planned our members will be finished there on Friday Feb 27th. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as our members and their families go through this transition!
Be Safe!

Greetings Members and Retirees,
I appreciate the big turn out for the R&E Unit meeting as well as our Retirees meeting and thank Brother Ed Huddleston for filling in for me in my absence. I have been attending the financial conference out of town and will return on Monday. All registered Democrats please come out to the State convention on Saturday starting at 8 am and support your UAW brothers and sisters seeking election and re-election. Don't forget about the Local 245 Bowling Tournament that will take place Saturday at Thunder bowl in Allen park. Please continue to keep our brothers at Air transport in your thoughts and prayers as they are being offered severance packages next week and Ford has given them a very bleak future...We have fought in earnest to help our brothers at ATO but run into resistance! Have a good weekend!

R&E Unit Meeting Today!

Attention all R&E Unit Members...today is the day in which most of you have been waiting for...a unit meeting during the week. There will be a meeting at 1:30 pm and at 3:30 pm to accomodate as many members as possible. A bylaw was submitted and approved by memerbship action in the January meeting to allow this to happen. Please plan on attending as there are many issues happening in the unit.
Thank you to those of you that attended the 2009 VCAP sign ups at the local the last two weeks. VCAP Cards must be signed by March 1, 2009 to be eligible for this years Centruy Club gifts. If you need to sign please call Local 245 or watch for the CAP committee member in your area.

2009 VCAP Drive is Here!

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Each Year Local unions across the United States conduct their annual V-CAP Drives. V-CAP stands for the Voluntary Community Action Program and is the main fundraiser each year to fund the UAW political action fund. V-CAP dollars are voluntarily given by members. The money can be used for political endorsements such as, the last Federal Election in November to community elections such as school board and leadership of cities and townships. The money is also used to fight bad legislation at the state and national level, and anti-worker agendas like the Right to work effort. V-CAP dollars can also be used to make TV and radio commercials to promote labors view on issues.
We enjoyed great victories in 2008 in regards to electing what we hope will be a pro-labor Administration in Washington D.C. and also have a tremendous opportunity to re-build the Union movement in this country this year as well when the Employee Free Choice Act legislation begins getting deliberated. Past successes and future victories for a successful labor movement can be achieved with funding in our CAP programs.
This year the R&E Unit drive will be conducted in the month of February and we have taken a little different approach in kicking off the event. Our CAP committee has decided to host two Hot Dog Lunch Days at Local 245 on February 10th and 17th from 11am until 12pm. We invite you to come to Local 245 and sign your card and enjoy a complimentary lunch for signing up. For Century Club Members, those who give $9.00 per month or more will have three gifts to choose from including a jacket, a vest or a blanket. Additionally this year if you sign up for $5.00 per month or more you will receive a t-shirt. I am extremely proud to report that your local leadership leads by example with an almost 100% participation rate by all appointed, elected, alternates and volunteers! I know that this economy makes it easy to eliminate extra spending on items such as this. However I am asking you to renew your VCAP contribution, or sign up for the first time as the funding to our CAP account has never been more critical with the issues we have to take on in the near future. If the Big three testimony in Congress showed us nothing else, we learned that we have a long way to go as an auto industry and a union to promote the good we do, and the need to get manufacturing/labor friendly candidates in elected positions has never been greater. Thank you for your support and if there are any questions feel free to call Local 245 at 313-561-7500.