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From the Presidents Desk
Hugh Bowen
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The bargaining committee sat down with the company the week of May 21st to discuss hose final jobs. As of this date we haven't talked about this with the company since May 21st. The company wants us to tell them what we are willing to do to save them 6 million dollars. According to the company, they have lost 17 million dollars in hose. If they can save 6 million dollars, their loss would only be 11 million dollars. If the company moves all the hose final jobs, we are looking at losing approximately 200 jobs
The International has told us that they will be sending a person to Lincoln to go over the all the figures with the company. Right now, our plan is to sit down with the company again on June 25th.
If the company brings something to the table that the bargaining committee feels should go to the membership for a vote, we would arrange for an informational meeting and a vote. At that time we would make sure that all the information about where and when the meeting and vote would be held was posted .
We have already lost a high number of jobs and a lot of our work out of belts to Mexico. I think Akron is doing everything it can to shut this plant down. The only thing that is stopping them right now is money. It's a damn shame the company thinks we can compete with Mexico or any of the other fly-by-night places they want to do business with. The company wants us to work for less or change things in the agreement, but not once have they talked about working for less. I believe that if we have to work for less, the management needs to do the same.
The informational picketing has started and will continue for as long as necessary. A schedule has been set up to allow 3rd shift members to picket from 7:00 a.m. until 9:00 a.m., 2nd shifters will be out from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. and 1st shift will have the line from 3:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Picketing will only be done on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If it becomes necessary to add to these times, we will let you know. If you have not signed up and would like to help, please stop at the union hall to add you name to the list.
Everyone needs to make sure that you follow all of the company rules. These days, it seems like the company doesn't have anything better to do but look for someone doing something wrong so they can discharge a person or suspend a person. Please don't give them any reason to do so.
The sub-fund is still below the 10% level so the information is updated weekly. You can check this information by calling extension #8822.Hugh Bowen
Thoughts from the Vice President
John Shotkoski
News from your Secretary / P&I Rep.
Sally Edwards
CHANGING PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIANS
If your medical coverage is Blue Choice Advantage, which is the HMO with HMO Nebraska, and you change your primary care physician, you must call 1-800-843-2373 to make the change. Once a primary care physician has been changed, the insured will receive a new ID card in the mail verifying the primary care Physician of choice.
Again, any changes in your Primary Care Physician must be done by calling HMO Customer Service.
You cannot change your Primary Care Physician without notifying HMO Nebraska or services will be processed as OUT-OF-NETWORK. ($300 deductible, then HMO pays 70% and you must pay 30%)
Please discuss this with your spouses so they understand what the procedure is.
I am still getting phone calls from providers of service telling me the Goodyear employees with HMO coverage are using the wrong card. When you seek medical treatment, you must show your HMO-BLUE CHOICE ADVANTAGE CARD, not your Goodyear card!
If you have HMO coverage and do not have an HMO ID card, please call 1-800-843-2373 and order them.
Thank you,Sally Edwards
Pension & Insurance Representative
In The Editors Opinion
Ucinda Sims
“If it's not one thing, it will be another.”
At brisk pace that mirrors the increased speed of life in general, the battles we must fight increase on what seems to be a daily basis. On the home front we continually see the affects of increased hours and decreased job security, affecting everything from our quality family time to our social lives. Our kids and grandkids are faced with more pressure than ever before and we seem to have less time and opportunity to deal with it. It is easy to see why the catch phrase of the new millennium could be and probably should be, “if it's not one thing, it's another.”
Once you get to work everyday, this doesn't change. Maybe even more here, than at home, things change at lightening speed and when the people in charge can't keep up, it is extremely difficult to expect anyone to. One week there is more overtime available than people to work it, more work to be done than hours to do it, and the next week the schedule is 5 days only and they are not covering any overtime. And what you hear the most is “if it's not one thing, it's another.”
And guess what. In our union the same scenario is true. While we are trying to save the entire American Steel industry so that we will not be next, we are still fighting the battle with our members at Titan Tire, at AK Steel and at Rocky Mountain Steel.
Members in Washington and Oregon are fighting to keep their aluminum plants open when there is not enough energy sources to go around.
And now here in Lincoln, we are being forced to do battle with Goodyear, a battle which affects not only the members of Local 286, but of workers everywhere. “If it's not one thing, it's another.”
This time the battle is to save our jobs, keep them here in Lincoln, not Mexico, to keep our customers and to protect our good name. We are fighting to bring to the attention of the management and the community that we will not let corporate greed and corporate terrorism cost us everything without a fight. And just when you thought they might have a clue… After they shut down tire production in Mexico, it seemed that they really might be paying attention. Other companies and corporations are pulling out of Mexico and shutting facilities down in other countries as well. But now we know that they are not paying attention.
So we will continue to keep fighting, kicking and screaming if necessary, until they do pay attention. We will negotiate, we will picket and we will do more if necessary. We will not go down without a fight.
ST. LOUIS UNION COMPANY ESTABLISHES
FIRST-EVER UNION-MADE PRODUCT WEBSITE
By the St. Louis Labor TribuneST. LOUIS (PAI)--Union families seeking union-made products now have a handy website to buy them, guaranteed.
BuyUnionNOW.com, founded by labor and Democratic activist Chris Kuban, now lists approximately 500 items and hopes to have 1,000 by the end of the summer. Not only does the site double-check all its products are union-made and U.S.-made, but its staff is already organized, by UNITE Local 2698.
Each product is accompanied by the name of the union that organized its production facility and certification the company is unionized and the products are union-made. Recertification is required every three months, and certifications are double-checked with the unions cited.
"Finding union-made products has always been difficult because it's hard for people to know which brands are union-made and which stores carry union brands," the company told the St. Louis Labor Tribune. "People had no choice but to run from store to store. Now, buying union can be done quickly, efficiently and in the privacy of your own home."
Credit card information is on a secure server, Kuban added. He said his goal is one-stop shopping for union families, but notes it is hampered right now by the fact that many companies do not ship single items to consumers' homes.
Kuban said consumers can notify the web site of a union-made product by e-mailing products@buyunionnow.com or by calling (314) 638-9900. It will need the name of the product, its manufacturer's name and address, telephone and a contact.
"If you'll let us know about your union-made products, we'll try and put them on our site and help keep union jobs secure at home and in America," he says.
"This will be the first time ever that management will get to see--in dollars and cents--just how much of their sales come from union families. They've never seen our purchasing power before. This will get their attention--which couldn't hurt during negotiations," he added with a smile.
Backers of the site include UNITE and the St. Louis Labor Tribune.Ucinda Sims, Editor
Community Services Committee
Milt Schmidt
Retiree’s Corner
Officers of the Retiree's Club
President Jerry Teichmeir, Vice Pres. William Ellsworth, Secretary Marge Lahodny Tresurer Jim Landstrom
FEDERATION LAUNCHES SENIOR CITIZEN
LOBBY WITH PRESCRIPTION DRUG BLITZ
WASHINGTON (PAI)--Predicting it would be "an instant political force to be reckoned with," AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney launched the federation's senior citizen lobbying arm with a blitz for Medicare payment for prescription drugs for seniors.
Members of new Alliance for Retired Americans, headed by former Machinists President George J. Kourpias and Executive Director Ed Coyle, then fanned out on May 23 to lobby lawmakers on the issue before flying to New York to demonstrate at the corporate offices of the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
Sweeney said the alliance will start with 2.5 million members and could double within five years. He called it "the largest retiree-only advocacy organization in the country," and noted seniors are a formidable voting bloc. The American Association of Retired Persons, which is not labor-backed, is larger, but also admits people starting at age 50.
The alliance's first effort focuses on enacting affordable prescription drugs for seniors under Medicare. Coyle said members would lobby lawmakers in 20 cities nationwide on the issue during the congressional recess in late May and early June.
Rising prescription drug prices have forced thousands of retirees "to choose between the drugs they need to stay healthy and the food they need to survive," Coyle added.
An alliance report says prescription drug prices rose 306 percent from 1981 and 1999, three times the rise in the consumer price index. Medicare now pays little or nothing for prescription drugs, and elderly consumers are charged more than other consumers for those medicines, the report says.
Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies last year earned an average 18.6 percent profit after taxes, four times the average of all Fortune 500 firms. That contrast led to the Pfizer protest.
Congress is considering differing versions of prescription drug legislation. Democrats, led by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), and the alliance back a plan making Medicare-paid prescription drug benefits available to all seniors on voluntary basis, with all costs covered for low-income retirees.
Republican President George W. Bush backs a plan that would leave prescription drug coverage with private insurers.
Cope Committee Report
The Nebraska State AFL-CIO Calendar Raffle
Trevor Peterson is the only winner from Local 286 for the month of June. Congratulations Trevor.
Also in June, there was a retiree winner. Congratulations Larry Richter.
Notice to All Members
In compliance with the constitution of the United Steelworkers of America, RPIC, the AFL-CIO, CLC and the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, you are hereby notified that nominations and election of delegates and alternate delegates to the Third Rubber/Plastics Industry Conference (R/PIC) 2001 Conference to be in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 24th, 25th and 26th, 2001, will be held as follows:
Date: July 8th, 2001
Time: 2:00 P.M.
Place: 5724 Seward, Lincoln, Nebraska
Four delegates will be elected to attend this conference along with our Local 286 President.
Note: Article VI, Section 7, of the International Constitution of the United Steelworkers of America provides that to be eligible to accept nomination to be a delegate to an International Conference or Convention the member shall have been in continuous good standing for a period of twenty-four (24) months immediately preceding the Conference and has attended at least one-third (1/3) of the regular meetings held by the Local Union during the twenty-four (24) month period immediately preceding the month in which the delegate election is to be held.
If you are eligible and interested in running for election as a delegate to this conference, but cannot attend this nomination and election meeting, you must submit in writing your name and acceptance to the Union Hall on or before the July 8th, 2:00 p.m. meeting.