Voluntary Separation Program Information & Performance Incentive Plan
January 27, 2015
Brothers & Sisters,
Your leadership has been meeting with the Company over the last few weeks to finalize the Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) that was negotiated in our latest CBA. We have been able to begin the process of informing the members who signed up for the program with the Company sending out letters to participants on this point in time. You may have already received the notification of your separation date.
Participating members indicated their preferences for their separation dates when they signed up. In our meetings with the Company, they told us that they tried to accommodate as many people as possible. As you know, the VSP separation process is subject to the impact of those separations on the production situation in the plant. In order to maintain the production schedule, the Company had to adjust separation dates for some members.
As the participating members prepare for this situation, the HR department will be adding hours to the Service Centers to serve members’ needs. The hours in each building are as follows:
3-92 Standard hours – 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM; also, Wednesday, January 28, 6:00 AM to 4:30 PM; also, Thursday, February 6, 6 AM to 4:30 PM.
3-25 Standard hours – 7 AM to 5 PM
3-28 Standard hours – 7:30 – 4:00 PM
3-07 Tuesday, January 27, 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM; Wednesday, January 28, 6:00 AM to 7:00 AM; Thursday, January 29, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM; Tuesday, February 3, 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM; Thursday, February 5, 6:00 AM to 7:00 AM
The timeline of events is as follows:
Monday, 1/26/15 and Tuesday, 1/27/15, MARCH Acknowledge letters emailed
Tuesday, 1/27/15 and Wednesday, 1/28/15, MARCH Release & Waiver Documents emailed
By Friday, 1/30/15, MAY, JULY, & SEPTEMBER Acknowledge letters emailed
Approximately 63 days to separation date, MAY, JULY, & SEPTEMBER Release & Waiver Documents emailed
Your manager will be receiving information about your situation and will be a resource to assist you in the proces
Information for the VSP process moving forward will be available from your Union representatives and the HR Department. With this process, there are sure to be questions raised. Communicate them to your leadership and we will get an answer for you ASAP.
Regardless of whether you choose to go or stay, I send you my best wishes to each of you for a great future.
In other news, I’m happy to report that we have received 12 days of pay for the Performance Incentive Plan (PIP). This will be paid out in the second check of the month, which is February 19, 2015. Thank you for your hard work, which made this possible. Great job!
Yours in Solidarity,
Chris Owens, President
UAW Local 1069
VSP Sign Up Deadline January 9 2015
January 8, 2015
Brothers and Sisters,
I want to remind everyone that is eligible that the VSP sign-up period ends this Friday, January 9, 2015. You will also receive notification from the Company about this same issue. If you want to participate in the VSP, you must sign up by this Friday. Once the period is complete, no one else can enroll. I strongly urge you to sign up if you have ANY thoughts of taking advantage of this negotiated program. There are ample opportunities to withdraw after signing up if you change your mind.
Once you sign up, you will receive an email acknowledging your enrollment in the VSP, followed by a letter that will inform you of what separation date you have been assigned. You will still have plenty of time to review your Pension Packet and decide if the VSP is right for you.
Registration can be done through Total Access or by phone at 866-473-2016. When prompted on the phone, say “Voluntary Separation Plan” and indicate that you are a member of UAW Local 1069 when connected to Total access representative. If you have trouble with signing up, contact your Union Rep or the Hall immediately for help.
Another issue that needs to be addressed is the opening of the new Royal Farms store across the street from the north side. You read, in an earlier Chopper, about Royal Farm’s practice of bringing in out-of-state workers to build their store at a very low rate of pay and refusing to hire local union workers from this area. Our brothers and sisters in the building trades need your support by boycotting the store once it opens. Builders in this area hire union workers, such as the IBEW, and pay a fair, prevailing wage so those workers can provide for their families. Royal Farms even refused to hire IBEW members after they were offered a reduced rate. This kind of union-busting behavior cannot be condoned by this membership. Pass this info on to your family and friends.
Stand up for all union workers by boycotting Royal Farms!
Finally, the COLA for the 4th quarter of 2014 was zero.
Yours in Solidarity,
Chris Owens, President
UAW Local 1069
IMPORTANT Local 1069 News and Info
December 10, 2014
Brothers & Sisters,
As we wind down to the end of the year, there are always things that come up in our dealings with the Company and this year is no different. I’ll run through them here. Please take note so you are not left out or forget to do something.
But first, let me send out thanks to the Women’s Committee and the Community Services Committee for the great job done by them for this year’s Local 1069 Christmas Party, held this past Saturday. The party is held each year for members of Local 1069 to participate in our Toy Drive and is sponsored by the two committees. The toys collected for the party are distributed to local domestic abuse shelters. Families forced to spend their Christmas holiday in a shelter face difficult times. Your generosity, with more than 4 tables full of toys, was amazing. Your good works not only brighten up Christmas for the children in the shelter, but for the parents there that face dark times. They see that there are good people in the community that care about them, and that’s each of you. Thanks again for your help!
On the Community Services Committee front, don’t forget that the Christmas Canned Food Drive gate collection is tomorrow and Friday. Continue your generous giving by helping our members out on a disability LOA. They’ll face a tough Christmas without your help!
Reminder: The Voluntary Separation Plan (VSP) sign-up window opened yesterday, Dec. 9th. I strongly urge any eligible member with even a passing thought about signing up to do so. Even if you sign up, you are not obligated to take the VSP package until later in the process. The window closes Jan. 9th, so anyone not signed up by then will miss out on the negotiated 3 additional years of pension credit at $95 per credited year of service and the 1 week per year of service severance pay. Remember, the pension number does not increase until 1-1-16 for members not in the VSP process.
IMPORTANT NEWS REGARDING CHRISTMAS VACATION TIME CHARGING
In order to prevent a lockout by the Company on January 2nd, we negotiated with the Company to keep the plant open for our members wanting to work that day. Consequently, we received this message from the Company about the upcoming holiday vacation and their expectations for members regarding taking time off prior to and after the holiday.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014 and January 2, 2015
Employees are expected to work a full day unless they have been pre-approved for vacation by their manager or their manager allows them to leave early and charge their time appropriately. Employees leaving early with management approval will not receive an attendance infraction on either of these days. Also, an employee must have worked or have approved vacation time, bereavement, jury duty or legitimate sick leave on these days to receive holiday pay. An employee recording eight (8) hours of LWOP on either day will not be eligible for Holiday pay and will receive an attendance infraction. (UAW Local 1069 italics)
In order to plan for the work on January 2, 2015 and to be able to provide the appropriate level of support personnel, we expect employees to make vacation requests for January 2, 2015 as soon as possible and would prefer the request be made by Tuesday, December 16. In addition, please input your vacation time into ETS for January 2, 2015.
Sick Leave Requirement (Article XIV, Section 4)
As a reminder sick leave is not a form of vacation and is to be used for illness only. Article XIV of the CBA requires an employee (or a designated representative) wishing to use sick leave, and receive pay for such sick leave, to notify their manager prior to the start of their shift. Employees taking sick leave need to notify their manager through the use of the employee Attendance Line (888-400-2345) and provide the reason for their absence.
Make sure that your plans for the days before and after the holiday are properly administered so you don’t lose your holiday leave pay!
Reminder: Be sure to fill out a transfer slip for any job in the Bargaining Unit you may be interested in. This step is crucial if the job opens. The job(s) will be filled using the Promotion Review List (PRL) process. If you are not on the PRL for that job, you will not be considered for that job, regardless of you qualifications.
Reminder: If you haven’t already filled out a sick leave carryover request, do it today! Today, the 10th, is the closing date for that. If you have previously completed a sick leave carryover request in past years, you do not need to do it again.
Reminder: We have been emphasizing this issue for the good of our members. Please remember that you are able to call for an inspector to come check your work. With the safety of our customers in our Armed Forces being at the forefront of our work, it is critical that everything we do be right. Quality is an important part of our work, so we recommend that you get an inspector to check your work every time!
GET AN INSPECTOR TO CHECK YOUR WORK!!!
Yours in Solidarity,
Chris Owens, President
UAW Local 1069
