CEP strikers, C&A and the November Edge Delay

[walktheOACline]

The CEP union struck Ford last September, C&A hit Ford in October. Whose turn is it now?

 

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I have it on good authority that there is no official information available yet about the current status of the ongoing relations between those CEP workers and the company. It is understandable that Ford management is still feeling the effects of the strike by the CEP union workers last September. However, there does not appear to be any statement from the company that they have actually come to terms with the CEP union. Ford was clearly aware of their difficulties with the CEP, but there was no public acknowledgement until after the fact.

 

Some material has appeared online at the rebel worker website:

http://www.soldiersofsolidarity.com/files/...pany102006.html

 

The union has a long history of tenaciously holding employers to their end of the bargain. They seem get what they set out to obtain. When will Ford make an official statement about the CEP situation?

 

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Almost unbelievably, the huge parts supplier, Collins and Aiken took a page right out of the CEP union playbook. C&A has been following the CEP union's game plan almost word for word this fall. They hobbled the Fusion plant, completely shutting it down. Just like the Oakville powerhouse that sits opposite the Oakville Assembly Complex, the C&A parts facility across the way from the Hermosillo factory copied the worker's attack plan and shut down that Mexican plant last month. Ford was clearly aware of their difficulties with C&A, but there was no public acknowledgement until after the fact.

 

Here is a link to the C&A story from October: http://www.jalopnik.com/cars/news/collins-...lies-208373.php

 

The parts supplier has a long history of tenaciously holding customers to their end of the bargain. They seem get what they set out to obtain. When will Ford make an official statement about the C&A situation?

 

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From the news stories and Ford's reluctance to explain, it is impossible to tell whether there is a union problem or a supplier problem at Oakville.

[walktheOACline]

This November, will there be teething on a new process or seething at a supplier to the Oakville Assembly Plant?

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi...759,print.story

 

News bulletin

Ford seethes over supplier's stoppage

 

October 18, 2006

By TOM KRISHER

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Chicago Tribune

 

When auto parts supplier Collins & Aikman Corp. got into a pricing dispute with Ford Motor Co., it knew exactly how to hit the nation's second-largest automaker where it hurts.

 

On Friday night, the company stopped shipping carpet, instrument panels and other plastic parts to Ford's plant in Hermosillo, Mexico, forcing Ford to shut down assembly lines that make the hot-selling Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ mid-sized cars.

 

The stoppage lasted for only one shift, but a Ford spokesman said it irreparably harmed the company's relationship with Southfield-based Collins & Aikman, which is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

 

The stoppage, which Ford said was unprecedented conduct for a supplier, underscores the tension between parts manufacturers and automakers as the Big Three continue to press suppliers for cost cuts in the face of intense competition from Asian car companies.

 

It also cost Ford about 400 vehicles, which the company said it will be able to make up at the Hermosillo plant even though it currently is running 24 hours per day.

 

Collins & Aikman President and Chief Executive Paul Macher and Vice President of Engineering and Design Mary Ann Wright are both former Ford executives, and Ford spokesman Paul Wood said they should know the impact of the decision to stop shipments.

 

Given their decades of auto industry experience and their decades of experience at Ford, they know full well what happens to a relationship when a supplier disrupts a customer's production or even threatens to do so, Wood said Wednesday.

 

Ford had to shut down work on a shift that began at 11 p.m. Friday and ended at 6 a.m. Saturday, Wood said. Parts shipments resumed for the next shift and production was restarted after Ford gave Collins & Aikman the price increase it wanted.

 

Wood said the parts shutdown occurred even though Ford had reached agreement with Collins & Aikman on about 90 percent of the disagreement, including what Wood called a reasonable price increase.

 

Collins & Aikman spokesman David Youngman said the company would not comment on the dispute, which was reported Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal. But Youngman said the company hopes to continue supplying parts to Ford.

 

We value our long-standing relationship with Ford and look forward to building upon our relationship in the future once this issue is behind us, Youngman said. He would not comment on the possibility of losing Ford's business, which he said amounts to about 25 percent of Collins & Aikman's production.

 

Many parts suppliers, including Collins & Aikman, have plants on a campus next to Ford's Hermosillo plant, and they ship directly to the assembly plant in real time, Wood said.

 

The parts stoppage also forced other Hermosillo suppliers to stop production, Wood said.

 

Collins & Aikman, once led by former Reagan administration budget director David A. Stockman, filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2005. The company hopes to emerge from Chapter 11 by February.

[walktheOACline]

Can the lack of disclosure on the impact back then clarify the impact on operations now?

 

http://ca.news.finance.yahoo.com/02102006/...ive-strike.html

 

 

Tiny Ford union local OKs contract after disruptive strike in Oakville

Mon Oct 2, 4:36 PM

Yahoo! Finance

 

 

OAKVILLE, Ont. (CP) - Sixteen Ford of Canada (F) workers whose strike caused delays last week at the company's Oakville plant west of Toronto have ratified a collective agreement.

 

The employees at a powerhouse and water-treatment facility adjacent to the factory are represented by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union, which said their job action led to "an improved collective agreement, a more respectful employer and a more united workforce."

 

Their picket line last Monday and Tuesday had tangled traffic and disrupted shift changes for more than 2,000 members of the Canadian Auto Workers. The action stopped as bargaining resumed on Wednesday.

 

CEP regional vice-president Cec Makowski said the contract settlement included an undertaking by Ford to consider building a power co-generation facility in Oakville.

 

The automaker did not disclose the impact of the CEP tie-up on its plant, which has a capacity of about 1,000 vehicles per day assembling the Ford Freestar minivan and new Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossover vehicles.

 

Ford has invested $1 billion in making the plant a flexible manufacturing facility and said one result was a shift to electric tools instead of equipment powered by compressed air from the power plant. The automaker sought to eliminate four jobs, saying it was offering $70,000 retirement incentives and "generous" pension provisions.

[walktheOACline]

Is it a supplier problem, a worker problem or a process problem?

 

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...d=1163631018785

 

Ford delays new models

Glitches found in processes at plant

Edge, Lincoln MKX set for December

Nov. 16, 2006. 07:33 AM

TONY VAN ALPHEN

BUSINESS REPORTER

Toronto Star

 

 

Ford is delaying delivery of its "game-changer" crossover utility vehicles because of glitches in processes at the company's assembly plant in Oakville and some problems with suppliers.

 

Joe Hinrichs, vice-president of manufacturing for parent Ford Motor Co., disclosed yesterday that the Ford Edge and luxury Lincoln MKX crossover utility vehicles won't be in showrooms across the continent until some time in December.

 

"We've had disruptions," Hinrichs said in an interview. "The product is ready and looking great but we want to make sure our processes are equally ready."

 

The struggling auto giant had said earlier that the new models, which are key products in the company's recovery plan, would be in showrooms this month.

 

But Hinrichs said Ford is holding "several thousand" vehicles around the Oakville complex for inspections again before delivery.

 

Hinrichs and other Ford officials would not disclose the problems with its processes on assembly lines or what parts with suppliers are affecting production. "We want to make sure that our processes are ready to provide, on a consistent basis, the quality and timeliness of deliveries that our dealers and customers expect," Hinrichs said.

 

The company has check points at hundreds of line work stations and wants consistency at all of them before releasing any models to dealers, he said.

 

"We're not yet at that level," added Hinrichs, who was Ford of Canada's president for 10 months before the parent company promoted him last year.

 

A picket line and strike by a group of workers who operate the company's powerhouse in late September slowed progress because production employees could not report to their jobs inside the plant, he added.

 

Ford began accelerating production in mid-October at the plant after working on prototypes since the spring. It followed a $1 billion reconstruction of the Oakville complex into a flexible manufacturing operation that can build up to four or five models on the same line.

 

Ford is phasing out the slow-moving Freestar minivan next year in Oakville and will replace it with a "people mover" model.

 

Company officials have said the Edge and MKX models will shake up the cross-over utility segment, the fastest growing category in the auto industry.

 

The Oakville plant is the sole source of the models. Ford has already received advance orders of more than 20,000. Hinrichs said the delay is nothing unusual for a product launch and will result in backing up delivery times by only a few weeks.

 

John Arnone, a Ford of Canada spokesperson, said the plant is taking the extra time to make sure the models achieve the same high standards that allowed the company's Fusion mid-size car to top the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord in recent reliability surveys.

 

Although Ford has no Edge and MKX models in showrooms, the company launched a major marketing campaign recently including unusual television vignettes during popular programs such as Prison Break, House and Las Vegas. The background environment in each commercial leads viewers to momentarily believe they are actually watching the program.

[Frank IdontKnow]

One of the biggest problems is misappropriation of funds by the current plant manager Frank G.

 

Frank G has taken money that was allocated by Detroit for Plant maintenance and used it on other things or returned it to Detroit so that he could collect a nice bonus. All the while he has been lying to Detroit saying everything is going great. This lie was spread over the course of a couple of years.

 

The end result is a Paint Shop thats on life support and the final area is literly falling apart.

 

The good news is that this is all very fixable. The bad news is that Frang G just layed of 25% of the maintenance force becuase he has a stone to grind with them.

 

The Edge is an outstanding vehicle and there were very few minor bugs with it that are ironed out.

the problem is we can't paint more then 100 a shift and when we do, the assembly area is down becuase it has not been maintained like it was supposed to be.

 

Oakville had one of the finest maintenance programs in the Ford Empire, They were leaders in virtualy every Ford benchmark. All this changed when Frank G arrived with his personal vendetta against Skilled Trades.

He virtually eliminated FPS and PM programs, cut all funding and misappropriated funds that were intended for plant upkeep. Now he has decided to take it a step further and layed off 25% of the skilled trades during Fords very critical launch while the plant is in shambles.

 

Frank G has stated that he does not want to be in Canada and that this vehicle does not deserve to be in Canada. he is very determined to make this launch fail.

[robertlane]

Can this Frank guy actually take this product out without Ford corporate taking notice and stepping it? Kinda hard to believe.

[Frank IdontKnow]

Frank G is the plant manager. The damage was done over the coarse of a few years. It was done at a time when only the Freestar was running and preperations were being done for the Flex plant and the Edge.

 

If Ford allocates x amount of dollars to shut down the old truck plant paint shop. ( which was to become the new Edge paint shop ) and all Frank does is shut the lights off on his way out and spend the money elswhere or send it back, how is Detroit to know? The assume that the money was spent on the Paint Shop. Now we struggle to paint 100 per shift.

 

When Ford allocates money for a Maintenance program and the money goes elswhere and the maintenance isnt done how is Ford going to know? Upper managment has beem falsifying reports of work getting done when it actually hasnt. Recently one of the top guys got canned for falsifying safety reports when an outsider from Detroit noticed. Unfortunatley they only got Franks fall guy.

 

Maintenance is unfortunatley a necessary evil. You either pay for it now with regular PMs , inspections and repairs when problems are 1st noticed or you pay for it later when a conveyor falls from the ceiling for example. ( happened this week. ). Loss of two shifts of production.

 

Frank G is a very incopetant individual. Seven years ago this was made very apparent when he was incharge of body in the Freestar plant. Both Trades and managment made him look very incompetant ( becuase he is, thats why he has a stone to grind with Skilled Trades ). In any event he was "promoted" out of the plant to an US plant where he wreaked more havoc ( Just ask the US plant, KC I think ) until he was "Promoted" again to PM of Oakville. Franks 1st job was to fire certain managers that new how incompetant he was and then he turned his attention to dismantling one of Fords finest maintenance programs.

 

Franks Daddy owns many Ford Dealerships, Thats how Frank got into Ford.

[walktheOACline]

The 3 'TIME 2002 Persons of the Year' displayed immense intestinal fortitude to nut up and bring their stories forth. They knew that there was more than just one bad apple spoiling the barrel. They named names, all of the names.

 

"They took huge professional and personal risks to blow the whistle on what went wrong at WorldCom, Enron and the FBI—and in so doing helped remind us what American courage and American values are all about."

 

http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/person...2/poyintro.html

 

 

Many insiders have deep suspicions, and a few have the where with all to step up with what they know.

Some play their hand close to the vest, biding their time. Some come forth when pushed too far. Others simply tell their story when asked.

 

Cards can't be dealt to you here, nor can this forum shove you around, but you can be asked to tell the part of the story that needs to be heard.

 

We need to hear more from you and more from others like you!

[porciniman]

Frank G is the plant manager. The damage was done over the coarse of a few years. It was done at a time when only the Freestar was running and preperations were being done for the Flex plant and the Edge.

 

If Ford allocates x amount of dollars to shut down the old truck plant paint shop. ( which was to become the new Edge paint shop ) and all Frank does is shut the lights off on his way out and spend the money elswhere or send it back, how is Detroit to know? The assume that the money was spent on the Paint Shop. Now we struggle to paint 100 per shift.

 

When Ford allocates money for a Maintenance program and the money goes elswhere and the maintenance isnt done how is Ford going to know? Upper managment has beem falsifying reports of work getting done when it actually hasnt. Recently one of the top guys got canned for falsifying safety reports when an outsider from Detroit noticed. Unfortunatley they only got Franks fall guy.

 

Maintenance is unfortunatley a necessary evil. You either pay for it now with regular PMs , inspections and repairs when problems are 1st noticed or you pay for it later when a conveyor falls from the ceiling for example. ( happened this week. ). Loss of two shifts of production.

 

Frank G is a very incopetant individual. Seven years ago this was made very apparent when he was incharge of body in the Freestar plant. Both Trades and managment made him look very incompetant ( becuase he is, thats why he has a stone to grind with Skilled Trades ). In any event he was "promoted" out of the plant to an US plant where he wreaked more havoc ( Just ask the US plant, KC I think ) until he was "Promoted" again to PM of Oakville. Franks 1st job was to fire certain managers that new how incompetant he was and then he turned his attention to dismantling one of Fords finest maintenance programs.

 

Franks Daddy owns many Ford Dealerships, Thats how Frank got into Ford.

 

 

Incompetence seems to be the norm rather than the exception.

 

It's swept under the rug, people get fired/transfered, ignored, or, as you pointed out..PROMOTED!!!!

WTF is that all about??!!!

 

The message in the movie "WallStreet"..."Greed is good", seems to be coming to fruition!!!!!!

 

My feeling is, that within 50 years, America will not be a leader in the world!!

 

When China can build a MagLev train in Shanghai in 3 years, build most of the worlds electronics, cheaper and better than the rest of the world...... and soon..........cars!!!.........how long will it be before we fall??

 

Kinda like, when the emperor Honorius saw the Visigoths coming over the 7th hill to sack Rome.

Just another page in history.

 

Turn the page..see what happened next!!!

 

TaTa

[robertlane]

The message in the movie "WallStreet"..."Greed is good", seems to be coming to fruition!!!!!!

 

My feeling is, that within 50 years, America will not be a leader in the world!!

 

50 YEARS! Who are you kidding! I'd give it LESS than 20 years.

[porciniman]

50 YEARS! Who are you kidding! I'd give it LESS than 20 years.

 

robertlane, I think you got a point there!!!

 

I was trying to be optomistic LOL!

[robertlane]

robertlane, I think you got a point there!!!

 

I was trying to be optomistic LOL!

We're on the same page. Americans live for short term perosnal gratification. Chinese society, on the other hand has long term national goals that go behind the life span of generations.

 

We're so adamantly opposed to oppressive governments, but we are borrowing billions of dollars from China? Sorry, but the ticker is on and the game is over As some say, the Chinese have the eye of the tiger and we have lost it long ago. We are now just riding off of the backs of the last of the WWII generation.

 

Hail to Wal-Mart and all of those $1.00 stores packed with everything - that's NOT made in North America. :titanic:

[walktheOACline]

You don't need to be afraid of the future any longer! Let's clean up the rest of the rot togther!

 

We all just heard about the November 17th, 2006 Ford Edge plant management employment changes:

http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index...?showtopic=8365

and for a moment or two we think about the remaining chain-of-command changes that still need to be done. We have questions about this recent incident - Is this all? Are there more corrections to be made. Weren't they listenng to what I said? Should I have said more, much more?

 

It's clear that your continued silence is leaving your own employment future in jeopardy. Sheilding these perpetrators will only result in more corrosive divisions between your ranks. Did you choose that side you are on, or have you been forced onto it? How many teams can they force you to play on? Why is there all this mystery?

 

You know that they must be stopped, but you don't want to do it alone. You can share just a little of what you know with us! You are an important part of this community. After reading your post, others like you can be more at ease. We will all feel safer too. They can add to your offering. More will join in too, telling what they know. Together the whole story will be laid bare and we'll all know where we stand.

 

Lately, behind closed doors, in private, some of you have made mention of management shortcomings. After the interview, you realised that there was more that you might have included. You felt that, in a couple of days, you would send off some additional details and clarifying points, but you never got around to it. Now, you see what's happened and you are toubled with pangs of guilt. You could have said more, much more during that first go round, but didn't. You should have spoken up then, but't couldn't. This part of the forum gives you a place to make it right. Here is where you can clear things up. All of us here still need the details you know about to be publicly presented.

 

There are many lurkers, like you, on this board who know much more than the typical contributor. You read the posts and bide your time. We need to hear from you from this point forward. Please tell us what you know about those sweepings under the rug, those circumstances where people got inappropriately fired / transfered / ignored / promoted. Tell us about the incompetance, the fraud, and the misappropriations.

 

The overall management system needs to be repaired, bit-by-bit and piece-by-piece. Swapping one failed plan / manager / process for another one of comparable quality does not help us at all. To grow and prosper, many baby steps need to be taken in a positive direction. Having one shoe nailed to the floor keeps us trudging in circles getting back to that same old nowhere of despair and doubt. You can help us to clean out this rot and move to a more stable foundation upon which we will grow and prosper.

 

Please post the parts of the story you know about here, today.

[Frank IdontKnow]

I'm Happy to say that Franky G has been " promoted " out of the Oakville Assembly Complex effective Monday. Lets hope that the poisen is gone but there is still one left behind.

 

The head of Labour Relations and Franky G found a very nice bed to share. LR cozied up to Franky becuase they became more important and powerfull and Frank was all to happy to have another pion execute his shots.. You know... another person he could point a finger at when something went amiss.

 

There must of been some tap dancing going on when Mark Fields was there yesterday.

 

Hopefully the new PM will get a handle on whats really happening and not worry about the little things, like Frank going around and collecting all the picnic tables so that the lineworkers had nowhere to sit during their breaks, making sure that the water fountains were undrinkable in 90% of the plant and suspending people for not wearing safety glasses in every corner of the plant.

[walktheOACline]

THE CHANGES MADE AND THE CHANGES STILL TO COME

 

 

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

This round of leadership changes indicate that the enterprise is open to new dimensions of thought. As of today, nearly all the usual suspects have been swapped out, and a brilliant new beginning is in the offing, so foot-dragging at this late stage just won't do now. Nothing short of 'all new wires, sockets and bulbs' to light the way to a complete new, powerfilled, energized location. The purge is almost done.

 

 

A SEA CHANGE FOR ALL

The buying public, eager for travel and exploration is ready to be taken on a bigger ride than they've let themselves be taken for. They have a new found identity that casts off the 5 year old fear-mentality, and they welcome a new governing formula with an impact that will endure for at least 15 years.

 

 

WORKERS ON THEIR FEET READY FOR ACTION

Now that their futures have been made less dark and cloudy, the workers will become more optimistic and ambitious, and continue to be so even though, til now, their hopes were dashed. However, in order to function in such a gigantic manufacturing environment, each and every one of the the mass plant population needs to have strong, idealistic, goal-oriented natures. They are now prepared to be rebellious and will keep on the side of the underdog. They have taken to fight for the consumer. They believe that the company fortunes and their own are justly tied to a quality product that meets the needs of their customers, the vehicle drivers.

 

 

BOSSES BOW OUT

The admin driven culture of snubbing, scolding and shunning will now die. People on the floor, at the centre of the electro-mechanical gargantuan, will return to their intolerant adherence to ritual and conventional workrules, and their desire to reinstate their past practices will not dwindle, regardless of pressures from the opposite side. Perhaps in consolation, there will be something of a return to the in-plant Christmas meal, celebrated long ago, remembered in an almost impenetrable fog, that could signal a renewed sense of glory, success and prosperity, in something like a community of caring neighbors. Perhaps the sudden, unexpected arrival of warm, dry, subtropical winds from the far south will breath more air of hope for all, leading to a tremendous renaissance as newcomers from the near south west fill the many voids to come.

 

 

HELL HATH NO FURY

Having been jilted in the past, these workers are ever-the-more ready to get a strop on and begin to sulk if they are betrayed anew. I won't pretend that what this past management team has said and done wasn't deeply hurtful. This time, their rejection will be countered with sullen, and very angry outbursts and nearly inconsolable defiance. But by having a successfull product launch, both sides can ensure that together they protect and enhance the quality of life through providing efficient and effective customer-focused services.

 

 

 

THE FACTS OF THE MATTER ARE THESE:

- circumstances will better themselves as the mass of employees learn firsthand, on their own terms, what needs to be done;

- the new, all encompassing outreach must focus on cobbling together all disparate sections of the site personel;

- harmonious connections must be re-developed between the public, the plant, the suppliers, the government bureaucracies and the worker organisations;

- an allowance for many early successes in which some are encouraged to move much further ahead of the pack, to hit those faraway milestones well in advance of muddling middle, and subsequent heralding, with accolades and kudos, for their adeptness at blazing a trail to well and truly deserved win for all;

 

 

Please continue to include your comments of this facility in transition.

 

Best wishes to one and all!

[charly]

THE CHANGES MADE AND THE CHANGES STILL TO COME

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Please continue to include your comments of this facility in transition.

 

Best wishes to one and all!

 

 

Can you dumb it down a bit...we poor Autoworkers are having a difficult time following your thought processes..

 

Thanks in advance