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Vice President Report
Our January General Membership Meeting went well. It was good to see the brothers and sisters involved in their union and looking out for those who could not attend. We welcome children with open arms. Please do not feel excluded because you have children to attend to. I commend those members who raised their hand with questions it is better to ask than assume. Communication is a never-ending struggle with so many members and we appreciate your in-put. With budget cuts on the rise our Fitness Center Chairperson, Sister Cox, encourages Saline UAW members to make use of our facility. It would be a shame if this negotiated benefit were lost for lack of interest. For those of you planning to attend a college or university, or if you are gearing up to send your kids, we now have two Scholarships available for you: * The 2002 Mary Alexander Memorial Scholarship Fund. Applications and essays are to be postmarked by May 3, 2002. Also there is a change in the eligibility requirements, this year it includes dependents currently enrolled in an accredited college. * The UAW Scholarship Program. This program was established for the children and grandchildren of Michigan UAW Members of Ford Motor Company and Visteon active and retired members. Essays must be postmarked March 31, 2002, and applications are now available here at the Local Hall or the In-Plant Union office. I urge members to take advantage of these generous opportunities. Joe Dzwonkowski (429-6959) can assist you with any questions you might have. Again, applications for either of these programs can usually be obtained from the brochure rack just outside the in-plant union office or at our Local Union Hall. Once again Brother Dick Graham gave an impressive report on quality. It seems suppliers to Saline have been told that they have to prove 100% containment on bad parts. If bad parts reach Saline, suppliers can expect to potentially pay Saline UAW employees to sort their parts. Dick has been striving to replace in-plant vendor sorts with Saline UAW workers for a long time. It's nice to know we have Dick on our side. Local 892 will be sponsoring the 15th Annual Fishing in the Park, to be held Saturday, August 24, 2002. Brother Pete Graham will head up this exciting and popular event. We will keep you informed as we near August. Thank you to the membership for voting to allow our Recording Secretary, Terry Coffey, to fill in for Sherrie Saksewski, our Bookkeeping/Secretary. Sherrie was unfortunately off on bereavement. Sherry's son, Steven just 23 years old, was involved in a fatal snowmobile accident up north. Our sympathy and prayers go out to Sherri and her family during this trying time, and may God give them the strength to carry on. Local 892 will be sponsoring our bowling team for the International UAW Bowling Tournament being held in Las Vegas, Nevada. We wish them the best of luck. As a final note I would like to alert the brothers and sisters of our union to a wave of change that has spread through our shop and does not distinguish between hourly and salary. Along with our new head of management comes a strict order of health and safety. and common work practices. This change, although good in the sense of accountability and responsibility, has and could continue to be a burden. I know many brothers and sisters that have gone the extra mile, given the 120 percent and have taken positive general interest in their work, only to be disciplined because of one mistake. We have become accustomed to believing that if we make an honest effort to do our best we will be excused for common human errors. This however it is now a myth. The extra parts you make and the extra mile you have gone is accepted and unspoken of, unless error is found. Until this annoyance of splitting hairs and finger pointing is under control I suggest we perform to the processes, paying extra attention to safety, thus, leaving no open door for criticism or discipline. As One, |