UAW Member Perks Slashed

Anthony Fontanelle
April 25, 2007

Tough times obviously cripple Detroit’s Big Three consisting of General Motors Corp., the Ford Motor Co., and DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group. This is why the Big Three, along with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, is forced to slash worker programs from job training to education.

The new program will result to steep production cuts and limited working schedules. The said programs are funded by Detroit automakers and by a portion of the workers' salaries based on straight time and overtime, both of which have fallen due to plant closures, job cuts and production cutbacks.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler have all revised the courses they partly subsidize, removing or freezing a bunch of programs that are not directly related to workers' jobs. In March, a governing body composed of five union members and five Ford representatives decided to cut a plethora of skill-enhancement programs given to workers, retirees and spouses.

"The reduction in hours worked, and particularly the decrease in overtime hours worked, has reduced revenue to the point where Joint Programs is in an unsustainable financial condition," said the UAW-Ford National Programs Center in a letter disseminated to union officials, plant managers and plant human resource managers last month. "Unless significant program reductions are made immediately, the UAW-Ford National Programs will be in a deficit situation before the end of 2007."

Moreover, the new program no longer offers tutoring for college classes, math enrichment sessions, computer software training and English as a second language. The General Educational Development classes also were slashed. The said classes are designed to allow students to earn the equivalent of a high-school diploma. In addition, educational and training programs which were offered to retirees and personal finance courses have been temporarily suspended.

But automakers said that many programs are still available. "There is still very important job-related training and educational services that are continuing for employees," said Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans. For instance, employees will still be reimbursed for the costs incurred in earning certain degrees from accredited colleges.

According to company and union officials, “The automakers and unions are concentrating on maintaining programs on health and safety, job security, quality improvement, and plant-operating efficiency.”

But employees are deeply affected by the cuts. The swift process comes like the uncontrollable acceleration that even the might of the EBC greenstuff could not stand. "They closed the Rouge Academy completely. They closed all of that," said Ron Turner who has been a worker at Rouge plant in Dearborn paint shop plant for more than 30 years until accepting a buyout several weeks ago.

Turner had planned to apply for a grant through the UAW-Ford National Programs Center to study broadcasting at the Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts in Detroit. "They were supposed to fund up to $4,600 toward my course but when I went to apply, they said that all self-improvement programs have been cut," Turner said. "I'm going to have to come up with some other way to fund my class."

GM, Ford and Chrysler are restructuring their businesses and, as a result, cutting the hourly work force that contributes to the funding for these programs. Chrysler workers are also feeling the pinch. Previously, the gym at Warren Stamping was open five days a week until "the wee hours of the morning," said Mike Tremain, a skilled trade worker at the factory. "The hours were cut right in half."

Unions are obliged to make harsh choices with limited budgets. "The locals don't have money to do things they used to," said Chris Sherwood, the president of the Local 652 in Lansing that represents workers at GM's Cadillac plant. Sherwood has watched the local membership fall from 14,000 people in 1980 to 3,300 today. He stressed, "All that money is lost. And it's hurting everybody. It's a sad situation."

Source:  Amazines.com