THE SPECIAL MEETING FOR THE RATIFICATION VOTE ON THE PROPOSED MODIFICATIONS TO THE 2007 NATIONAL AGREEMENT will be held at Admiral King High School, 2600 Ashland Avenue, Lorain 44052 on Saturday, March 7, 2009. The informational meeting will start at 10:00 AM and voting will be from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Members must present their Ohio Assembly ID card or other suitable ID for the meeting and at the time of voting. All active members are eligible to vote.

Directions to Admiral King High School: From Route 2 (heading west), get off at Exit 10 (Middle Ridge Road / Broadway Avenue exit). Turn right (north) to the first light and turn left (west) on Cooper Foster Park Road. Turn right (north) on Oberlin Avenue. Turn left (west) on West 26th Street and follow West 26th Street straight into the driveway of Admiral King High School.

On February 23, 2009 in Detroit, the UAW Ford National Council voted unanimously to recommend that the membership ratify the proposed modifications to the 2007 UAW-Ford National Agreement.

We are expecting to receive copies of the summaries of the Modifications to the 2007 UAW/Ford National Agreement and Addendum to the VEBA Agreement to arrive from Detroit within the next few days. As soon as the summaries are received they will be distributed throughout the plant.

You can go online to Local 2000 website (uawlocal2000.org) to read or download the proposed National Agreement (PDF file) or there are limited copies available at the Union Hall.

While some may find the modifications to our national agreement challenging, they could have been much worse had our UAW International President Ron Gettelfinger not used the strategy of negotiating with Ford first. Reaching an agreement with either GM or Chrysler first would have meant much deeper cuts for all their active workers, retirees and surviving spouses. GM and Chrysler would have been given an unfair competitive advantage over Ford had the UAW negotiated first with either of them. Given that scenario, Ford would be in the same condition as GM and Chrysler.

It was a few short years ago Bethlehem Steel Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, 95,000 retirees’ pensions were devastated and their dependents lost healthcare. Remember, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation guarantees basic benefits only and will not pay any supplement if our pensions were to roll over into the PBGC. Many current and future retirees would see their pensions cut in half. Most of our members have seen the forces in the United States Senate, such as Richard Shelby and Bob Corker push for GM and Chrysler to be placed into Bankruptcy to eliminate “legacy” cost and leave current and future retirees without healthcare and a portion of their pensions. We are in a fight for our very existence but together we will win this battle and the security that our members and their families so rightfully deserve.

If the current recession continues as it has been, Ford will be forced to continue to tap into their cash reserves at the tune of at least one billion dollars a month to keep the company afloat. This could lead our company to the brink of bankruptcy like GM and Chrysler. Bankruptcy is not an option. If bankruptcy were to happen, all active employees, retirees and surviving spouses would be at the mercy of an unsympathetic bankruptcy judge and we all would stand to lose a lot more than the proposed modifications.

The tentative agreement’s recommitment to bring a new product to our plant is the best thing we’ve all heard in a long time. The name of the product and the timing of the construction of the new flex body shop are still unknown.

We, the Leadership of UAW Local 2000, are asking that you support the proposed modifications. Sacrifice today to fight for tomorrow.

SHIFT PREFERENCE: Sign up in the Human Resources Monday, March 2nd through midnight on Friday, March 6th.

Rumors and speculation about our company, plant and product will continue in the plant and in the media. As we receive any information, we will keep the membership informed as soon as possible.

THE NEXT MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP MEETING will be March 8th at 2:30 PM at UAW LOCAL 2000 Union Hall.