Wednesday, September 26, 2007
UAW, GM settle strike with new health care deal
Considering what a long strike everyone was saying this was going to be, it sure was over fast!
Reuters via Yahoo! Canada Finance
DETROIT (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers union on Wednesday agreed a contract with General Motors Corp ending a national strike by 73,000 workers, with a deal that includes a groundbreaking health-care trust fund. Union President Ron Gettelfinger, speaking at a news conference at the union's Detroit headquarters and surrounded by cheering UAW officials, said production at GM facilities would resume on Wednesday and ratification of the agreement by GM workers would begin this week. 'We feel very confident it will be ratified,' Gettelfinger said of the tentative four-year agreement.
GM said the national agreement "paves the way for GM to significantly improve its manufacturing competitiveness" and maintain a strong production presence in the United States.
A GM spokeswoman said the automaker would not provide details of the agreement until it was presented to UAW workers for ratification.
Gettelfinger said he would not disclose details of the agreement at this time. But he did say it includes a landmark health-care deal, under which responsibility for retiree health care would shift to a new UAW-aligned trust fund known as a voluntary employee beneficiary association, or VEBA.
Wall Street analysts have said establishing a VEBA could cut GM's annual costs by $3 billion in exchange for a one-off payment expected to top $30 billion.
Reuters via Yahoo! Canada Finance
DETROIT (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers union on Wednesday agreed a contract with General Motors Corp ending a national strike by 73,000 workers, with a deal that includes a groundbreaking health-care trust fund. Union President Ron Gettelfinger, speaking at a news conference at the union's Detroit headquarters and surrounded by cheering UAW officials, said production at GM facilities would resume on Wednesday and ratification of the agreement by GM workers would begin this week. 'We feel very confident it will be ratified,' Gettelfinger said of the tentative four-year agreement.
GM said the national agreement "paves the way for GM to significantly improve its manufacturing competitiveness" and maintain a strong production presence in the United States.
A GM spokeswoman said the automaker would not provide details of the agreement until it was presented to UAW workers for ratification.
Gettelfinger said he would not disclose details of the agreement at this time. But he did say it includes a landmark health-care deal, under which responsibility for retiree health care would shift to a new UAW-aligned trust fund known as a voluntary employee beneficiary association, or VEBA.
Wall Street analysts have said establishing a VEBA could cut GM's annual costs by $3 billion in exchange for a one-off payment expected to top $30 billion.
Labels: auto, manufacturing, steel
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
In G.M. Strike, Both Sides See a Crossroads
Well, the big news today for metal stampers has got to be the GM strike.
New York Times
The United Automobile Workers union wielded its most potent weapon against General Motors yesterday, sending 73,000 workers to picket lines in its first national strike at G.M. since 1970.
But what does it mean for metal stampers? If you supply GM, various industry officials say that 2 supplier jobs for every GM worker job are also in danger. That's almost 150,000 jobs in parts manufacturing.
Beyond that, if the strike goes on for any length of time, the GM steel consumption will be taken out of the steel marketplace. There's a chance that steel lead times will drop, and perhaps also steel prices.
I guess we'll have to wait and see.
New York Times
The United Automobile Workers union wielded its most potent weapon against General Motors yesterday, sending 73,000 workers to picket lines in its first national strike at G.M. since 1970.
But what does it mean for metal stampers? If you supply GM, various industry officials say that 2 supplier jobs for every GM worker job are also in danger. That's almost 150,000 jobs in parts manufacturing.
Beyond that, if the strike goes on for any length of time, the GM steel consumption will be taken out of the steel marketplace. There's a chance that steel lead times will drop, and perhaps also steel prices.
I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Labels: auto, manufacturing, steel
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Minn. Steel's Nashwauk Project Passes Final Hurdle
This is interesting. Steel would be produced to the slab level right at the mine site cutting out, I guess, one level of transportation.
wcco.com
Construction of a $1.6 billion taconite-to-steel plant near Nashwauk can move forward, now that a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency board approved an air permit for the project. The pollution board voted for the permit 8-0 Friday after a hearing in St. Paul. The process was the last of many governmental approvals that Minnesota Steel needed to build the plant, which would be the nation's first operation that produces steel at the site where the ore is mined.
wcco.com
Construction of a $1.6 billion taconite-to-steel plant near Nashwauk can move forward, now that a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency board approved an air permit for the project. The pollution board voted for the permit 8-0 Friday after a hearing in St. Paul. The process was the last of many governmental approvals that Minnesota Steel needed to build the plant, which would be the nation's first operation that produces steel at the site where the ore is mined.
Labels: steel
Suit To Bar U.S. Steel From Hauling Coils In Ala. Dropped
You may remember that there was a rash of steel coils falling off open-bed transport trucks a year ago. Here's the followup from one law suit in one area (Alabama).
NBC13.com
A lawsuit asking a judge to bar U.S. Steel from hauling steel coils on Alabama highways will be dismissed if the company requires its drivers to provide proof they have received proper training.
U.S. Steel officials said most of the incidents involving the steel coils have resulted from driver error.
NBC13.com
A lawsuit asking a judge to bar U.S. Steel from hauling steel coils on Alabama highways will be dismissed if the company requires its drivers to provide proof they have received proper training.
U.S. Steel officials said most of the incidents involving the steel coils have resulted from driver error.
Labels: steel
