By: Jack Terrill

Greetings from NAETC,

Workload has moved to the top of the priority list. It was announced in Shop Committee that the corporation has either canceled or delayed all work for the upcoming year. This appears to be the most significant change I have seen in the 30 years I’ve been in Flint.

There appears to be approximately 30 programs that have been canceled and about the same number that have been delayed. At this point, we’re doing our diligence to sort out exactly what this will mean for the rest of the year and our schedule.

There are some enhancement programs out there that haven’t been allocated yet and we’re doing our best to supplement the work that we lost. This won’t be easy and most likely we won’t recoup exactly what we lost. However, as changes are made, we’ll do our best to keep everyone apprised of the situation.

The SAP numbers are in, and we have 25 members who have elected to participate in the program. We canvassed the individuals for the dates that people would like to leave, and the plant manager has agreed to do his best to honor the dates that people would like. This would have remained stable, but the workload announcement will change some of the dates of people working in the front end of the organization.

At this point, it looks like assembly and machines will be affected by this the most. There will also be some dates that will be pushed back due to training replacements, etc. The breakdown as of now stands: 48% are getting their 1st choice (12 people), 20% are getting within 1 month of their 1st or 2nd choice (5 people), and 32% are greater than 1 month difference from their choice (8 people).

Most plants aren’t even entertaining the opportunity of allowing dates to be picked. I greatly appreciate the effort made to allow people the option.

We are receiving 3 new apprentices that will be indentured on February 17, 2025. We had asked for eight, but will only receive the three. This falls in line with the article from last month where we’re not getting the interest from apprentice candidates for Diemaker that we would expect.

There is great opportunity if you know someone who is interested in a Skilled Trades job at General Motors. They must complete the Stark classes before they make the list and they must score 85% or above to enter an Engineering Trade, which we are considered. They could be placed into another facility such as Metal Fab, with a lesser score, but not here.

That’s if for January. The days are getting longer, the month is half over and February is short. We’ll be walking in sunshine and warm weather before you know it.