(Photo: Alan Maki at Wellstone Monument south of Eveleth, Minnesota on Bodas Road)This "Red" Finn tells it like it is...
From the blog of Alan Maki
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Ford may review truck plant closure plans, Coleman says
One headline reads:
Ford may review truck plant closure plans, Coleman says
Another headline blazes:
CAW boss disappointed after meeting with GM on plant closure, considers strike, other options
Obviously this closing of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant is far from the “done deal” that many, including the Minnesota AFL-CIO, Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party, the UAW leadership and others have proclaimed as an excuse for not uniting working people in a struggle to save the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant and hundreds of jobs.
The time has come for Minnesota DFL State Senator James Metzen to boldly step forward pushing to pass S.F. 607 now!
It is time for the leaders of UAW Local 879 to fully mobilize the retired and active workers, flex their political muscle, and demand pay-back from the MN DFL for many years of loyal support.
The MN DFL has slavishly and shamefully been manipulated by the architects, contractors, bankers and real-estate speculators along with reactionary leaders of the building trades unions who have piggishly put a few jobs for their own members before the rights of autoworkers to continued employment and the welfare of the local community and the economy of our state.
Republican Norm Coleman opportunistically got involved in this issue to try to take the wind out of the sails from the huge Obama rally. However, what Coleman has done is reignite what we all know are the feelings of the vast majority of the people who want to see this plant kept opened.
If Ford won’t keep the plant open now; then, as we have been saying, public ownership is the only solution to saving this plant.
Working people should not be relying on Norm Coleman and the Ford Motor Company to keep this plant operating… this plant can easily and cheaply be re-tooled to produce many other socially necessary and useful products--- from the components for rail to electric or solar or wind generating equipment to making a product making hydro-electric generating plants more productive and efficient or even manufacturing hi-technology systems to bring fresh water to millions of people languishing from drought around the world to pollution control equipment to retrofit a vast assortment of polluting industries... what can be produced in the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant is only limited by our imaginations to turn production in this country towards meeting the needs of people and our living environment rather then seeing production which now takes place with the sole motivation of expanding the bottom line of the Wall Street coupon clippers.
The time has come to take the concept of "people before corporate profits" from mere rhetoric to reality in a way that creates a better life for working people and all of humanity.
Look, let’s be frank; a factory is a factory--- only a fool would destroy this kind of wealth embodied in the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant by taking a wrecking ball to it; workers don’t care what they produce, just so they continue getting a pay-check. Obviously, there are products which could be produced that are more socially useful and beneficial than others--- but, right now, our goal is to save hundreds of union jobs by saving this plant. If Ford doesn’t want to continue production, that is their problem--- our problem is to see that workers continue producing in this plant.
It is time for those like Norm Coleman who talk about “democracy” to bring Ford workers and Minnesotans who have subsidized this operation for over eighty-years into the decision making process. Up until now, politicians like Norm Coleman and Mayor Coleman have maneuvered to prevent working people and tax-payers from having a say in the decision-making process so fundamental to democracy.
It is shameful that Norm Coleman would opportunistically raise expectations about keeping this plant open for his own self-serving political reasons while leaving the final decision on the future of this plant to a bunch of greedy, exploiting parasites and Wall Street coupon clippers operating behind closed doors in Ford’s Detroit corporate boardroom.
It is time to bring the decision-making process over the future of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant to Minnesota--- where it belongs: with Ford workers and tax-payers having the final say.
The response from United States DFL Congresswoman Betty McCollum is equally as shameful as Norm Coleman’s self-serving attempt to use this issue as she belittled Coleman’s efforts instead of offering to join him and by bringing pressure to bear on State Senator Jim Metzen to get S.F. 607 through his Senate Committee on Business, Industry and Jobs which is dominated by the DFL over Republicans--- eleven to seven.
Which brings me to wonder if Coleman is really sincere; why doesn’t he pressure the seven Republicans on this Committee to get behind passing this very straight-forward piece of legislation which brings the decision–making process into Minnesota?
Why DFL Congressman James Oberstar and his staff of displaced iron ore miners has been in hiding every time this issue is brought forward needs to be explained, also; perhaps Peter Makowski would like to explain?
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s Iron Range staff member, Jerry Fallos, has been shamefully silent, too.
The Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party state convention is underway in Rochester this weekend… what will we hear from the Minnesota DFL on where it stands on the future of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities assembly Plant?
In the past, James Oberstar has mesmerized convention delegates with his outstanding oratory of “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs;” will Congressman Oberstar have the moral and political courage to open his big mouth in defense of the jobs of Ford workers… which is also a defense of his constituents in the iron ore mines and taconite industry.
It is also time for Canadian and U.S. autoworkers to join hands in searching for solutions to the issues involved in these plant closures... combining the militancy and left-wing thinking of Canadian auto workers with cross-border calls for public ownership of these auto plants and/or nationalizations of the entire industry could prove to be a very powerful force for real change, which someone might want to talk to Barack Obama about; Canadian NDP leader Jack Layton should be up for this discussion.
Let's get former Manitoba NDP Premier Ed Schreyer involved in helping us in finding a solution to saving these auto plants... he managed to save a huge bus plant and hundreds of jobs in Manitoba... we could use his help here in Minnesota. Is anyone curious about how Premier Ed Schreyer, with help from the Communist Party of Canada-Manitoba, saved the bus plant in Winnipeg?
CAW leader Buzz Hargrove might want to consult with Ed Schreyer and the leaders of the CAW in Manitoba, too, in looking for a solution to keeping auto plants open. His sleazy affair with Liberalism hasn't seemed to pay off in saving a single job.
Ford may review truck plant closure plans, Coleman says
By KEVIN DIAZ, Star Tribune
June 6, 2008
WASHINGTON - Sen. Norm Coleman left a meeting with Ford Motor Co. officials Friday expressing optimism that the automaker will review its decision to close the plant in St. Paul that makes the Ranger pickup.
"I'm not raising any false expectations; all I've done is raise the curtain," Coleman told reporters during a conference call from Detroit.
"We'll see if it's fruitful or not."
The Minnesota Republican said he was given no time frame for the review. Ford plans to shutter the plant in September 2009, and Coleman acknowledged that "nothing's been changed, as of right now."
But he said that Ford officials told him that the changing vehicle market responding to $4-a-gallon gasoline is prompting sweeping reviews of operations, including the future of the Ranger, a medium-size pickup that is made exclusively at the plant in St. Paul's Highland Park neighborhood.
"It was clearly expressed to me that Ford is looking at all aspects of their operations," including the company's plans to close the plant, Coleman said. "That decision is being looked at. It is being reviewed."
Ford spokeswoman Angie Kozleski said Friday that the plan to close the plant has not changed, but that all operations are under review. "We are aggressive in lining up our capacity with demand, and are examining all areas of our business," she said.
Coleman flew to Detroit on Thursday, a day after he wrote Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally, asking that the company review its decision about the truck plant. Coleman noted that Ranger sales have increased this year, as car buyers move away from bigger and heavier sport-utility vehicles and pickups.
Coleman met Friday with Joseph Hinrichs, Ford's vice president for global manufacturing, and Curt Magleby, the company's director of government relations. He said the meeting came at "an opportune time," in light of two recent industry reports praising the Ranger and the plant where it is built.
On Wednesday, a J.D. Power survey ranked the Ranger second in its market segment for quality. On Thursday, a Harbour report ranked the St. Paul plant first in productivity.
"The [1,000] workers of the Ford plant should feel very proud of what they're doing," Coleman said.
Coleman, who has been criticized for not including other Minnesota politicians in his overtures to Ford, said he would talk Friday with Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a fellow Republican. He also said that he plans to talk with some Democrats.
"There are internal things that Ford has to do," Coleman said. "The good news is that all options are on the table."
CAW boss disappointed after meeting with GM on plant closure, considers strike, other options
By TOM KRISHER , Associated Press
June 6, 2008
DETROIT - The Canadian Auto Workers could strike or take other action against General Motors Corp. because the company won't budge on plans to close an Ontario pickup truck factory, the union's president said Friday.
Buzz Hargrove said the automaker committed to keeping the Oshawa plant open in a contract agreement on May 15. But earlier this week, GM said it would close the plant in 2009. It employs 2,600 hourly and 300 salaried workers.
After meeting with GM CEO Rick Wagoner on Friday in Detroit, Hargrove said the company wouldn't change its latest stance.
"We're walking away incredibly disappointed," he said. "We still feel betrayed."
GM said it can idle factories if market conditions warrant. In May, U.S. pickup sales fell more than 38 percent, and the company has said the market declined more rapidly than expected last month.
Detroit-based GM announced Tuesday it was closing Oshawa and three other pickup truck and sport utility vehicle factories as $4 per gallon gas has caused sales to tumble.
Union officials described the 90-minute meeting as tense. Hargrove said the CAW would decide its next move after its national convention later this month. Other moves could include arbitration, legal action or filing a complaint with Canada's labor board, he said.
A union blockade of GM's Oshawa offices will continue, union officials said.
Hargrove said market conditions haven't changed in the 2 1/2 weeks since GM agreed to the new three-year deal with the CAW.
"We haven't seen any evidence of that whatsoever," he said, adding that gasoline prices haven't changed since then.
Hargrove said the union has time to decide its next move because the plant isn't scheduled to close until 2009.
"They made a clear-cut commitment on the truck plant" to keep it open and invest in it, he said.
Wagoner told Hargrove and other union officials there was some promise of new products for the Oshawa car plant, Hargrove said. But the CAW president said that wasn't good enough.
Chris Buckley, president of the union local at the truck plant, said GM wrecked any trust it had with the union.
"They fractured the relationship severely," he said.
GM spokesman Stew Low said the factory commitments in the CAW contract are contingent upon board approval, market conditions and making a viable business case.
At the time of negotiations, GM still believed that the slumping pickup market could recover, Low said. Since then, the the trend away from trucks to cars has accelerated, he said.
"We're not in a situation where this is a cyclical type of economic condition where we can wait it out," he said. "We think it's a fundamental shift."
The decision to cease production at the four plants, including Oshawa truck, was made just a few days before Tuesday's announcement and after the bargaining was concluded, he said.
"We absolutely bargained in good faith," Low said.
Oshawa truck was picked for idling because it makes high-end pickups with more expensive options, a segment of the market affected severely by the sales decline, Low said.
Low said GM committed during contract talks to build a second car at the Oshawa car plant, and is looking at a third because the plant is flexible enough to build several models. He would not say what models.
The union's office blockade has forced GM employees to work from their homes, Low said.
GM shares fell 83 cents, or 4.9 percent, to $16.22 Friday after sinking to a 52-week low of $16.20 earlier in the session.
Here is another view from Canada we aren't getting here in the States...
Union vows to step up action against GM
CAW fails to win reprieve for Oshawa plant
Last Updated: Friday, June 6, 2008 | 11:08 PM ET
CBC News
Canadian Auto Workers President Buzz Hargrove talks on a cellphone before entering a meeting with General Motors executives in Detroit, Mich., Friday. (Dave Chidley/Canadian Press)Autoworkers blockading General Motors' corporate offices to protest the decision to shut down its Oshawa, Ont., truck plant vowed to introduce "phase two" of actions against the automaker on Saturday.
"What I can guarantee, and I said this to General Motors about an hour ago on the highway, they want their building back and they're not getting their building back," Chris Buckley, president of Canadian Auto Workers local 222 in Oshawa, told a crowd of union supporters Friday.
Buckley requested all union members be at the site of the blockade Saturday morning, where they will announce how they will step up their action.
The comments came just hours after CAW president Buzz Hargrove came out empty-handed Friday after asking GM executives to reverse a decision to close the truck plant.
GM officials and Hargrove met in Detroit to discuss the announced closure.
"He is leaving with nothing," the CBC's Havard Gould said.
Hargrove met GM CEO Rick Wagoner and other company executives to discuss the decision, announced Tuesday. The company said the Oshawa plant is one of four North American plants closing because of falling truck sales.
GM 'pulled the rug out from under us': Hargrove
"I'm very, very disappointed," Hargrove told CBC News. "I've worked with these people for a lot of years and they pulled the rug out from under us here."
As many as 2,600 jobs are at stake, and CAW members are continuing to blockade the Oshawa site to protest the planned closing, set for 2009.
Hargrove says GM is disregarding the terms of a new collective agreement reached just last month, but the automaker says the soaring price of gas has hit pickup truck sales hard, with no relief in sight.
'Good exchange' at Detroit meeting: GM
A spokesman for GM's Canadian operations, Stew Low, said the company understands the union's disappointment, but maintained there was a "good exchange" between the two sides at the Detroit meeting.
Low said the company did bargain in good faith for the latest collective agreement with the CAW, but demand for trucks and SUVs had plunged "rapidly and dramatically."
Angry union members reacted to the surprise closing announced Tuesday by setting up the blockade at GM headquarters.
Hargrove said he's determined to keep the truck plant open past 2009.
"We'll explore every avenue that's available to us," Hargrove said after the meeting with GM. "We think we have some legal grounds and we'll review all of our options with the local [union] leadership."
The CAW leader said those options included going to court and arbitration, but he wouldn't say whether any sort of strike action might be possible.
"I'm not going to speculate on that," he said.
General Motors executives have said their decision to close the Oshawa plant is within the terms of the three-week-old collective agreement.
Analysts have said there is a loophole in the agreement that allows GM take action if the market changes.
Truck sales off 39%: GM
Wagoner told a news conference in Wilmington, Del., on Tuesday that higher gasoline prices are changing consumer behaviour and rapidly affecting the auto industry sales mix.
"We at GM don't think this is a spike or a temporary shift. We believe that it is, by and large, permanent," he said.
As part of the consumer shift away from large trucks and SUVs, GM plans a 2010 launch of a new Chevrolet compact car, which will be built in Ohio. Wagoner also said the company has approved the launch of the Chevy Volt extended-range electric vehicle, which is tentatively slated to be built in Detroit.
Wagoner said GM is reviewing the future of the Hummer brand.
The company also said Tuesday that its U.S. sales of trucks in May were down 39 per cent compared to the same month last year. GM's overall sales of all vehicles were down 30 per cent year over year.
Closure 'a betrayal': union
In May, the CAW reached an agreement with GM to postpone a 900-worker layoff at the Oshawa truck plant until September 2009.
Chris Buckley, chairman of the CAW's master bargaining committee with GM, said he felt betrayed by the company's latest move.
"We just ratified a new three-year collective agreement on May 16," Buckley said. "We gave General Motors some cost savings to remain competitive here in Canada. General Motors felt comfortable enough to agree with the tentative agreement. They committed to products in this plant … and as of today they've pulled that product out from underneath us. It's nothing short of betrayal."
Buckley is one of the leaders of the blockade of GM's Oshawa headquarters, and said the action will continue until the company reverses its decision to close the truck plant.
With files from the Canadian Press
