A "good news" Union Story: Lordstown Auto Workers Get Pact Details

[Ming]

Auto workers get pact details

By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

POSTED: May 7, 2008



LORDSTOWN — Jon Schofield said he went to an informational meeting Tuesday ready to vote against a tentative agreement for 1,000 United Auto Workers members at the General Motors Corp. Lordstown West Metal Center.

Despite some misgivings, the Mineral Ridge resident left the meeting at the Local 1714 union hall ready to vote for the contract when balloting begins at 5 a.m. Thursday and runs until 1:30 a.m. Friday.

‘‘I changed my mind after listening to (shop chairman) Will Adams,’’ said Schofield, 59, who has 31 years with GM. ‘‘They did the best they could. They saved core and noncore jobs, and got extra jobs.’’

Bob Frisk of Mercer, Pa., said he didn’t like the prospect of losing money through a change in determining overtime but added he hopes the contract pays off for younger workers.

‘‘I’ll probably vote for it because I think they need the jobs. I hope they get the product, and they do well,’’ said Frisk, a skilled trades diemaker who plans to retire by July 1 after 38 years.

One of the younger workers said the contract appears ‘‘decent. It sounds like they’ll add a bunch of subassembly jobs in the next couple of years’’ as the factory takes over assembly of the entire body of the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 small cars the complex makes.

‘‘It seems like it will win us some work for job security,’’ said the worker, who declined to give his name but who said he lives in Boardman and has nine years at the factory as a production employee.

The Metal Center currently makes the cars’ underbody, but under the new pact will assemble the entire frame, including side panels, hoods, trunk lids and roof.

Local 1714 President Dave Green acknowledged different concerns by skilled trades workers — pipefitters, diemakers and others — from their production co-workers, especially how some of the skilled jobs will be combined as workers retire.

http://www.tribunechronicle.com/page...id/504984.html

[FenwickHockey65]

Frisk, a skilled trades diemaker who plans to retire by July 1 after 38 years.

Christ. 38 years? That's dedication right there.

Good to hear that at least some Unions have sense...

[AndrewGS]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

Christ. 38 years? That's dedication right there.

Good on 'em! You don't leave a good job. My grandfather retired with 44 years at the same company.

It's good to know Lordstown will be around for a while. I hope the same for Janesville.

[MCGARRETT]

38 years!

He's been there since the first Vega sputtered off the line!

[jarsworldcom]

My uncle will have 40 years in at model change.

[tgagneguam]

Originally Posted by MCGARRETT

38 years!

He's been there since the first Vega sputtered off the line!

Originally Posted by jarsworldcom

My uncle will have 40 years in at model change.

Wow, both of these workers have been at their jobs for longer than most people on this site-myself included-have been alive!

Funny, placing this article against the backdrop of the Toyota article that New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66 placed on this site yesterday (05/06/08), these two workers could offer a whole lot of information to their respective companies about what works and what doesn't work with respect to their jobs. I betcha they're a goldmine of information about improving their positions.

[geozinger]

Glad to see my hometown boys have managed to come to an agreement.

This is what the Valley needs, previous rumors notwithstanding.

[jfnz24]

Good to hear, and makes sense, unlike most of the union stuff we have been hearing lately.

[psece]

Bob Frisk of Mercer, Pa., said he didn’t like the prospect of losing money through a change in determining overtime but added he hopes the contract pays off for younger workers.

‘‘I’ll probably vote for it because I think they need the jobs. I hope they get the product, and they do well,’’ said Frisk, a skilled trades diemaker who plans to retire by July 1 after 38 years.

This is what everyone should be thinking about: Where are our kids going to work? Good News and Good People!

[GM-10]

Lordstown's local has become so much better since its days as GM's supermilitant plant in the seventies.

[NfamousZ24]

Originally Posted by GM-10

Lordstown's local has become so much better since its days as GM's supermilitant plant in the seventies.

LOL has become much better. LMAO Yeah it has become much better but still as far behind most of the other locals, Even Fairfax and Lansing Delta Township even though they are on strike. Trust me when I say they are not as easy going as the other two.

[Steel4ring]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

Christ. 38 years? That's dedication right there.

Good to hear that at least some Unions have sense...

My old man did 36+ years with GM.

[BlackSilverado]

No offense and i am no trolling, but that is a huge problem. Guys working way past the 30 year mark and keeping younger people from coming in as there are no open jobs. I dont know how it is down there in the plants for retirement, but up here your pretty much taken care of and i got lucky when i got in. But i work with alot of guys with over 30+ years who wanna drop dead on the line rather then retire and enjoy thier non working lives like they have earned. It should be 30 to max 33 years and your out, no excuses.

Alot of the bitching about unions comes from the choices the "old gaurd" are making.

A good portion of the younger workforce realize that change has to happen, wage reductions etc. It is not a good time to have a job at Detroit big 3, and to be competitive you have to trim the fat.

I am all for my Union, and they can do some pretty dirty things, but, gm corperate do even dirtyier underhanded things and the union is nessecary to protect the workers who need it.

Afterall, if the unions were not there, we would all be working for $8 an hour, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week with mandetory overtime everyday, no pension, no healthcare, abysmal working conditions "you have no clue how many saftey and health laws gm breaks every day to fill thier pockets at the expnse of the workers".