By: Tom Edwards

Season’s Greetings NAETC Brothers and Sisters,

Hopefully, everyone had a great Thanksgiving and spent it with loved ones. Our Old Newsboys paper sale on December 5th went very well. Thank you to all who gave and volunteered. The total collection, with in-plant and street corner, was $10,261! For a plant with a little over 200 in population, this is incredible! Always huge generosity at plant 38.

I’d like to congratulate a couple folks for completing their “JIT” training. Tony Terry, who is now a machine repair journeyperson (in speedy record time), and Steve Chapdelaine, who is now a journeyperson diemaker. Great job, fellas!

Now for a little more “good news.” It looks as if our voluntary layoff is finally over. Thirteen diemakers should get their call-back letters soon and return to work on the 22nd. As for work, the workload in the die room is still quite low, but the machine shop is seeing the the workload pickup and that should trickle down.

Our manpower issues (lack of) in the tool room, design, and engineering continue to be of great concern to myself and the rest of the Shop Committee, Hopefully, after the new year, Management can work on a “business plan” that includes a mass hiring in these areas.

The fight is ongoing around utilization and subcontracting, as usual. If there is enough work on all 3 floors of the building, these issues take care of themselves.

Please stay safe on these slippery winter roads and enjoy the holidays with friends and family.