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UAW LOCAL 1050 UPDATE

 

5/21/14

 Brothers and Sisters,

            We have communicated to you in the recent past about the company proposing job combinations in the press room department. As you all witnessed at the May Business Update town hall meeting put on by the company, there are many questions surrounding the company’s proposal without many answers. In those meetings we learned of how Alcoa is leading the Industry with Truck Wheels and our innovative process gaining new contracts in Aerospace. We learned that our competitors are improving their business by investing in their plants by building a new plant or purchasing new equipment or building new presses. Alcoa on the other hand is fixing our current equipment that has been limping along for a while now, selling and scraping old equipment and being the innovative leaders that Alcoa is, allegedly following all of our competitors by combining 27 current classifications in the press room to an all improved 2 classifications.

             For almost a century now, there is a process of forging Aluminum. The process hasn’t changed much as to why there are specialty skills that have been and continue to be developed in our everyday work responsibilities. The Crane Operator operates numerous cranes throughout the facility up to and including a 200 ton crane. Some dies that are transported via crane weigh more than most buses. The hundreds of different parts that we manufacture that are used in the assembly of Airplanes are inspected right off of the press by a Hot Inspector to determine if we are in spec based on the blueprint and pronotes of what may be a critical part to a plane. Our Industrial Truck Drivers are performing a task that leads all of Alcoa, Inc. in the most frequent fatalities worldwide when it comes to safety, yet Cleveland Works leaders have a plan to have roughly one hundred employees from all ages, skill sets, education, work experience, knowledge and physical abilities perform all 27 job duties at any given time without in most cases much continuity to perform a task safe, efficient or productive. Whenever asked how the company plans on training 100 employees that they are obligated to do, there is no answer other than “we will look into that and come up with a training matrix!”

            We had one member compare what Alcoa is trying to do to a Major League baseball team running a team like Alcoa. Imagine you have 9 players in a game and the pitcher is tired and you need to make a pitching change so you decide to switch the pitcher with the catcher and move the shortstop to right field; put the righfielder at short, move the centerfielder at 1st base and the 1st baseman in centerfield. Now, don’t get hurt and go win a ball game!

             The company is well aware that contractually they can combine jobs and the Union has the right to challenge the wage proposed. We just can’t believe the reasons that the company is giving us for the combinations are for flexibility to keep the presses moving and because our competition is doing it. When’s the last time you saw a press idle because someone was on vacation or was ill?

            The Union does not think this proposed job combination will achieve any of their alleged goals. In fact, we have expressed to the company that we believe that there will be increased risk of injuries and safety incidents, quality issues, violation of seniority, and the overtime agreement, discrimination due to abilities, and restrictions and prior disqualifications.

            We have requested information on how the proposed job grades were assessed, job descriptions and training programs. As many infractions, safety violations or contract violations will undoubtedly arise, the Union will most definitely deal with each and every infraction accordingly through our grievance procedure as well as any other source that we deem fitting to the situation.

            We just had a member walk in on us and commented on this whole job combination that really sums up this proposal from Alcoa, Inc. a self proclaimed world class leader…”The jack of all trades and the master of none!”…. Touché

In Solidarity,

 

 

 

UAW Local 1050

Bargaining Committee