Brothers and Sisters,
On February 14th John Savon the Vice President of North American Manufacturing was in the Plant. Dave Thomas, Mark Luey and myself had an opportunity to meet with John to discuss the current state and future state of the Ford Oakville Assembly Plant. Among the topics discussed was the challenges that the final area was having with the build Diesel engines. There were talks about the balance out of the MKT and Flex and the affect it will have on the Plant. During the meeting it was indicated that the plans to balance out the MKT will happen mid-year and the balance out of the Flex would be at the end of the year.
Increase in Conducts
In recent weeks, there has been an increase in conduct reports submitted. The Chassis Stewards have been successful in arguing to resolve the conducts and have the Company follow the negotiated 10-step procedure. The 10-step procedure is laid out in Exhibit B of our local agreement. The 10-step procedure is to be used as an investigative tool to stop premature discipline and address job related issues. If, while preforming your job, you are not able to complete all elements, the established process is to turn on your yellow Andon light to notify your supervisor or leader. This will help bring attention to any issues you may have and eliminate the conducts submitted for missed elements of work.
Company A&L Policy
The Company, on February 12th, posted a new A&L policy that will take effect on February 15th. To be clear this change to the A&L policy was not a joint decision between the Union and the Company. The Company made the changes to their A&L policy based on the legislative changes in Ontario. To be specific Bill 47 was introduced by the Doug Ford Conservative government and repealed many of the gains made for and by workers under Bill 148. This A&L policy change is in direct response to the repeal of the 7 PEL days that employees in the auto industry were allotted under Bill 148.
Manpower Issues
The In-Plant Committee has been having ongoing discussions with the Ford Motor Company regarding our manpower shortage. As many have been experiencing, the Plant is under manned on a daily basis. This manpower short fall has led to jobs being temporarily shut down. Our members have been bounced from department to department and mass relief has been called on a regular basis. Our continued efforts will be to have the Company recognize what we already know and that is we need people to be hired full time in order to have our Plant run to its full potential.
Grievances
Compared to a year ago, the number of grievances we have in the system is much lower. However, over the last month we have seen an increase in grievances being filed. This increase in grievances are for many reasons. The Company unjustly disciplines our members, disciplining our members too severely, the Company not properly canvassing for overtime. The Committee people meet on a weekly basis with Labour Relations to resolve outstanding grievances and the In-Plant meets as a group on a bi-weekly basis. If you have questions about your individual grievance contact your Steward or Committeeperson.
New Chassis Jobs
As I have reported out recently, the Chassis Department was having difficulty with the Diesel build and with some of our electrical connections. Through on-going discussions with the Company and input from the floor, the Chassis Department has posted 18 new jobs between the ‘A’ and ‘B’ shifts. The addition of these jobs helped resolve outstanding job disputes we had in Chassis and helped our overall quality and first time through.
CTO Program
During the 2016 negotiations a pilot CTO (Compensatory Time Off) program was created. After many discussions and arguments with the Company, the program has finally been implemented. This program allows our members who work a mandatory production Saturday to bank the hours worked if they so choose. Once they have banked four Saturdays, they will have the opportunity to book a week off and then receive the 48 hours of banked time pay. The request for CTO is initiated through the job ad system. If anyone has further questions or if further clarification is needed about the program, please ask your Union Representative or Labour Relations
Vacation Scheduling
On February 1st, the Company announced a one-week vacation shutdown for pp28. With only a one-week shutdown that leaves more hours for our members to schedule their preferred vacation. The vacation forms for the remainder of the year have been handed out. To give yourself the best opportunity to get the vacation week or weeks that you prefer, please ensure that you hand the form in by the date indicated (March 4th 2019).
Chassis Retirements
I want to congratulate the Chassis members who have retired since the start of the New Year. Those members that have moved on to start the next chapter of their life are Troy Appleby, David Jones, Charles Moscato, Don Clarkson, Randy Tracey and Mike Roantree. On behalf of the Local 707 leadership and membership, I want to wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
Marc Brennan
Chassis Committeeperson
289-681-7654
905-845-2511 ext. 3335
