By: Kevin Burns

Greetings from NAETC,

UAW Vice President Mike Booth and his staff visited our location on March 27th. Jack Terrill and I would talk to Mike any chance we could, when we ran into him around our facility. Jack was relentless until the end to get him in our facility and glad to get the call that Mike was going to pay us a visit before Jack retired.

It’s been some time since we’ve had a VP at our location. It went well, with Mike getting a better understanding of who we are and what we do. He met some people on the floor, saw some of our new equipment, and was shown some of our roadblocks. He understood the current state of the facility with all the uncertainty in the industry. We highlighted our struggles with workload, headcount, and equipment and gave them more detailed information for them to keep. Our Shop Committee will keep them in the loop and continue to dialogue with our Leadership.

We lost two-fifths of the Shop Committee at the beginning of April.

I’d like to congratulate Jack Terrill and Gary Boehnlein on their recent retirements. Jack wore a lot of hats throughout his tenure here and his name is on a lot of documents. He put in 30 years at this location and it wasn’t an easy decision for him. This facility and the people meant the world to him. I’ve learned a lot from Jack and like the others that I’ve worked with since being on Committee since 2005. I’ll do my best to continue on.

Gary was on the Committee since 2017. He was relentless on any task in front of him and he remembered details like nobody I’ve ever met. Thanks for your service, fellas!

The rest of the retirement crew for the month of April includes Brian Bauer, Larry Buhagiar, Michael Bushman, Mike Lee, Jack Merrifield, and David Thompson. That puts us at 16 retirees, year to date, and the headcount is down to 213.

With the recent retirements and more to come this year, there will be opportunities for the rest of the Membership to step up in these roles. It is never too late to get involved. It is what you make of our Union, whether it is attending Union meetings, applying for appointed positions, or running for an elected position.

With that said, I would like to wish those who are putting their name in the hat for an election the best of luck and thanks for stepping up!

We have 20 Die Makers on temporary layoff, due to the delays/cancellation of programs. The Shop Committee has been engaged with Management on workload, and Management is continuously looking for work to fill these holes. Hopefully, the Company figures out which direction we are going with all the noise coming out of D.C. sooner rather than later. Once that happens, I anticipate it getting busier around here.

If you have any family members or friends who are looking for work, please inform they of the STARC classes to get on the apprentice list. We are struggling with Trades as a nation, and we could use all the help we can get. We must continue to get the word out to the next generation of these great opportunities, with great-paying jobs and benefits- debt free!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! If your Mom is still around, spend some time with her, or give her a call. If she is not, reflect on her love for you and continue to make her proud.

As we gather for the unofficial start of summer, Memorial Day, let’s stop and reflect on the heroes we lost while serving this great country.

“There is a YOU in Union”