NATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
On behalf of the national negotiators, and ourselves, we want to express our most sincere appreciation for the patience that you have demonstrated since we opened the contract with GM back in the summer of 2005. Was it really that long ago that we agreed to let GM close 12 plants, hire temps indefinitely at a steep discount, send 34,000 UAW members to pasture, and empower retirees to pay monthly premiums and higher copays for health care? It seems like yesterday. We've come a long ways, but there are still miles of concessions to make before we sleep.
It is because of your support that your national negotiating team has stayed at the bargaining table eating Krispy Kremes and drinking Old Bailey's until all hours of the night in an attempt to make every possible effort on your behalf to reach an agreement without including you, the membership, in any way whatsoever. Just keep punching in and pumping out product and we'll take care of the backroom details.
We have made progress in many areas of the discussions with GM, like which hallway to use for pitching pennies and who gets to lick the frosting off the knife first, but there are several major issues separating the parties that must be resolved. However, we do not take your patience for granted and recognize that the negotiations process must accelerate in an expeditious manner or we will be forced to establish mandatory overtime and a reduction in vacation days for assembly line workers. Afterall, two and half years is a long time and we know you are all eager to see what the members are going to give up next in solidarity with the corporate class.
From the standpoint of your negotiating team, we intend to keep you in the dark as long as it takes. So enjoy the bliss while it lasts. The discussions at the bargaining table are none of your business and we see absolutely no justification for trying to inform or include the membership. Obviously, there are some unnamed sources who are leaking "so called" inside information to the media. From what we have seen in the media, these stories are based on reports from people who have never licked the frosting off the knife. We do not find fault with the media as we recognize they have to make up stuff if they don't want to get fired, but we did commit to a media blackout, and we have kept that commitment. We don't say shit to anybody. Only the company is permitted to leak the information that they want you to read.
Despite our best efforts to keep you in the dark and unconcerned, there are some nagging naysayers among the membership who are casting doubt on our good intentions. The stuff these termites write is full of negativity like "equal pay for equal work" and an unreasonable demand that the company live up to its commitments to retirees. We prefer to accentuate the positive.
For example, tomorrow GM will leak a story to the press about the VEBA and you better believe it's going to be good news. Your health care will be funded a full 71%. That is one percent more than that one particularly aggravating naysayer predicted. How's that for progress? Retirees will only be required to pay 29% of costs out of pocket provided all our bets pay off. The 71% from GM will include some cash, some GM stock, a stack of promissory notes and IOU's, some lint from Rick Wagoner's pocket, and a sub prime mortgage on some real estate in the Wish You Were Here and I Wasn't islands off the coast of Iceland.
All this is contingent on your willingness to double up on your jobs, but we don't expect you to work harder, longer, and faster without the comfort of Job Security. GM has agreed to a moratorium on plant closings and they actually mean it this time. Plus, GM has promised to maintain a Secure Employment Level [SEL] for all the workers who are left after they finish shutting down US operations in preparation for the moratorium.
Once again, we want to thank you for your patience, understanding and support as we work hard on your behalf to bring back a tentative agreement that protects bonuses for GM executives, top notch fees for financial advisors, unaccountable compensation for VEBA administrators, and a 29% reduction in health care for current and future retirees and active workers before inflation.
In Squeamish Solidarity,
Gettelfinger & Co., Lizard Ltd., and The Concession Caucus negotiating team.
http://www.soldiersofsolidarity.com |
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