Time to Take a Stand
Keep Our Work Here
Brothers and Sisters,
Make no mistake about it; it is time for all of us to speak out (e-mail or call the company leadership). This company, after making commitments to us not to offload anymore of our work has reneged again. More ships going down to Summit Aviation for flight testing. Work from tooling being off loaded, small tool repair is out of here and we are being nickeled and dimed with outsourcing in V-22. When does it stop? If we don’t speak out now, it won’t! We need to fight vigorously against anymore offload of our work.
I personally find it insulting to our membership that, because of poor performance by vendors, we continue to be blamed for scheduling and workmanship issues. Our members are now repairing their own tools because the small tool repair vendor can’t. How can they bid on work they either can’t do or deliver on time? It is absolutely mind boggling that these vendors can perform so poorly and continue to do our work. Year after year, we make cost and schedule in spite of these obstacles. Where is their so-called commitment to cost, quality and schedule? Ask them who is going to do our flight test work at Summit. Is the integrity of the ship at risk?
In addition, you also need to question what is going on when you have senior managers going out on to the floor and falsely accusing our members of trivial BS, such as swearing, being in the bathroom to long etc. They have gone so far as to tell our members not to talk to each other. What the Hell is this, grade school? I say no! We are the real Men and Woman of UAW Local 1069 and we expect and demand to be treated with dignity and respect.
Enough is Enough and we must Stand Together and voice our displeasure. Show them we can not be bought with out of seniority pay letters, doughnuts, pretzels, mugs, Phillies tickets, t-shirts etc. Management will tell you not to call the Union, to call them instead. Don’t Bite! This is their way of trying to divide our Union. Always call your Local 1069 Stewards and Committeemen.
I say to the Company, it is time for you to make a commitment to UAW Local 1069 and the Delaware Valley region. Keep our work here and begin to bring back work from vendors who have proven they can not perform. We have all seen the recent demise of Conoco and Sunoco. Let’s grow this region through tough times together; it is yours, and our, responsibility.
We can only fight these battles United. Our retired Local 1069 members sacrificed and fought for us and now we need to do the same for our future. To quote my good friend JP, “ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL”. At the end of the day we are, and must continue to be, the proudest Local membership in the country. Always have each other’s back and remember at UAW Local 1069 “WE TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN”. Thanks for all your support.
In Solidarity,
Christopher Owens, President
UAW Local 1069
KEEP OUR WORK HERE!
Brothers and Sisters,
Recently, the Company has come to your leadership to, reveal plans to offload more of our work. Following their “commitment” to this Local last year that they would not offload any more Flight Test work, they announced that they will be sending the 2 Canadian CH-47 Chinooks down to Summit Aviation for flight testing.
For those of you not familiar with the situation, Summit is a non-union aircraft company in Delaware that has been on the receiving end of Boeing’s offloaded work over many years. Boeing moved 6 Netherlands (RNLAF) CH-47 Chinooks that were to be flight tested here down to Summit for flight testing. Company management alleged that they were at “full capacity” at our Ridley Park Flight Test, thus the need for the move. Now, this year, they are once more at “full capacity”, necessitating moving more Flight Test work, the 2 Canadian CH-47s, to Summit.
In order to fulfill our membership’s commitment to provide the world’s best, and safest, rotorcraft, your leadership offered to have Local 1069 Flight Test personnel make a Field Trip to Summit to complete their work. We are all familiar with the practice of sending our mechanics and technicians to remote sites to provide the same level of performance as found at our plant. Unfortunately, Company management commented “that they could not spare anyone (Flight Test personnel)” to go to Summit. I raised the question of how in the hell do we bring personnel down from 79 to 67 heads in Flight Test at a rate of 3 ships a month, and then expect to get 5 ships a month out in 2012? The answer was right in front of the Company’s face; Impossible! It seems that they didn’t forecast their manpower needs very well for 2012. We’re taking that excuse at face value, but there is no way we can confirm that as the case. This scenario may have been their plan all along.
With that thought in mind, your leadership, and our membership, has to wonder about the Company’s future plans for Flight Test at this facility. We are fighting at every opportunity to stop every single instance of offloading by the company, but this situation is especially troubling. If we lose more Flight Test work, there will be less for our World Class mechanics to do. As they move on or retire, will the Company replace those members? Will their knowledge be lost? Once that knowledge is lost, Flight Test work could never be performed here again.
The Boeing Company has been a mainstay in this area for many years. Through those years, the Company has received many different types of inducements to keep this plant open and prospering. National, State, County, and local government officials, as well as the leadership and membership of UAW Local 1069, all contributed their pledges to support this site. With those incentives allowing our plant to prosper, the Company has a commitment, if not a duty, to keep this plant open and grow the work here in Delaware County.
Read the Company’s own announcements. This plant, and the membership of our Local, has been the backbone of the Chinook program for 50 years. We can’t have it whittled down to nothing by callous Company planning. We need to Stand United in the face of these repeated attempts to take our work away!
In Solidarity,
Christopher Owens, President
UAW Local 1069
Rally for United Steelworkers in Washington, DC
February 2, 2012
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Please show Solidarity for the United Steelworkers as they endure tough times and great uncertainty. The shutdown of the refineries in Philadelphia, Marcus Hook and Trainer could devastate our region. Almost 2,000 people could possibly lose their jobs. This will have a far reaching impact not only on these individuals but also on the surrounding communities. We are asking you to take time to show your support and join your voices with theirs. There will be a bus trip to Washington, DC to call on our elected leaders to intervene to stop the shutdown of these facilities.
WHEN: Wednesday, February 15 7AM – leaving from Philadelphia and Marcus Hook refineries and returning early evening the same day.
CONTACT:
Joe Anthony – UAW Local 1069
610-999-0890
Jerry Dugan – USW Local 10-901 jdugan510@comcast.net
Jonas Dauber – USW Local 10-234 bk1964727@gmail.com
RSVP: You must RSVP no later than February 10, 2012!
In other news, UAW Local 1069 has a legal benefit that can assist our members that need the services or counseling from an attorney.
The law firm of Cleary & Josem LLP was formed in 1991 to represent labor unions and employee benefit funds exclusively, and to provide legal services to union members. Our legal services group represents individual union members in workers’ compensation, personal injury and social security disability matters, as well as in other general legal matters.
If you are interested in this service, then call the Union Hall at 610-876-6217 and schedule an appointment or to receive further information.
In Solidarity,
Christopher Owens, President
UAW Local 1069
