Chairman's Report
By Tom Kanitz

Thanks for coming out Sunday for some fun in the sun at our Local picnic. It is always great to see everyone relax and enjoy themselves in a setting other than work. Meeting our member's families and conversing on a personal level makes our daily efforts at work all worthwhile. I especially want to recognize Leon Tooles, Picnic Committee and all of the volunteers it was outstanding!

Our next big event is the Labor Day Parade, Monday, September 2, 2002. Everyone is welcome, needed and appreciated that day to participate by marching with our brothers and sisters in support of how important Labor and Unions are. This event is lots of fun. Directions and other information are available in the union office, and at the Local.

It's time again for Local 892 Contract Resolutions and UAW National Contract Resolutions. Start thinking about the resolutions for both our National and Local contracts. Forms will be available in the Union office or you can visit uaw892.org, and print one yourself at home.

We are scheduled to add 10-15 new skilled trades people. Some will be journeymen and others will start as apprentices around or before September.

Ford Motor Co. will cut a shift at its' Wixom Assembly Plant in early September. Eliminating the shift, which produces the Lincoln Town Car, Continental and LS, is part of the massive cost-cutting plan Ford announced in January. Workers were told the shift would be eliminated starting September 9. Wixom currently has two shifts building the Lincoln products and two shifts building the Thunderbird. No Thunderbird shifts are to be cut. Wixom was targeted, in part, because of slowing sales of the Lincoln Continental, a luxury car that will be phased out. Sales of the Continental are down 34.5 percent this year through the end of May. Continental sales in 2001 were down 22 percent from 1999, dropping from 26,246 units to 20,392 units.
Saline employees on the Town Car line will be distributed to "work available" through the Labor Relations office. Based on the present volume forecast, no layoffs are projected for Saline in the immediate future.
We have acquired new business here at Saline. The New (221) F150 truck will stay at Saline, and along with it comes new content. New content means additional employees, which is always good.

September 14, 2003 is our contract expiration date. In case we need to strike, be safe-save money now to sustain us during negotiations.