General Membership Meeting
Sunday, December 10, 2023 at 1:00 pm
|
Tim Hauck, Chairman
Will Oginsky, Unit Chairperson , Unit Vice Chair , Unit Secretary , Unit Guide , Unit Sgt-At-Arms David Glaza, Committeeperson, District #2 Nicole Velasquez, Alt. Committee, District #2 |
Phone Numbers
Shop Chairman (810) 237-4253 Work Center (810) 237-4233 |
November Chairman's Report
Greetings Brothers and Sisters, I hope all is well.
Well, the leaves are turning, and temperatures are falling. We all know what that means. Winter is on its way. I’ve always considered turning back the clocks to end daylight savings time, also a sign of winter coming soon. I think the worst part is the fact that it gets dark so early. Seems like we go to work in the dark and go home the same way. They say we gain an extra hour of sleep, I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t seem that way to me. On the other hand, the good part is, this time of year, the holidays are just around the corner.
I want to apologize for missing a couple of articles. I’ve been very busy these past two months. There's been a lot going on between the strike, layoffs, PTL moving, and us moving back into the building.
As I write this article, the UAW and GM announced a tentative agreement. As GM workers at CCA go back to work, we will be calling back our drivers in seniority order, from top to bottom. I anticipate we will be very busy for the next few months playing catch up. I think with all the temporary drop lots we’ve been putting trailers in, it’s going to be challenging to figure out where all the loads are delivered and where the paperwork is for the loads. On top of that, I expect we will be picking up and delivering regularly scheduled loads as well. It’s been a long and painful strike, but I’m proud to say we all supported the strikers and not one of us ever crossed a picket line. I know for a fact, not all trucking companies that deliver to GMCCA can say that.
As most of you know, the PTL has moved to a new facility on Dort Hwy. Penske chose not to allow our Union brothers to follow their work over to the new place. As a result of that decision, our Local 659 has lost one of their units. We’ve shared the building with PTL for over 25 years. It’s a sad day when our Union brothers can be tossed away like trash and there’s nothing done about it. The move to Dort Hwy. means we will be taking our trucks over there for repairs and services. It’s an inconvenience and will involve a little more planning on our dispatchers to coordinate rides back from the new PTL. Unfortunately, the convenience of having a PTL in the same building is gone.
We are finally back in the building at the Flint terminal. It’s only been 15 months since we were forced to move into a temporary office trailer. Your Union office and the dispatch office are still in the same location. We’ve moved the drivers break room down the hall to the old Penske shuttle break room. It’s bigger and has more room. The vending machines, Union, and Company bulletin boards are also down in the new break room.
Our Operations Manager in Flint, Mark Wenglikowski, resigned last month. He moved on to a job outside of Penske. I wish him well in his new career path. Replacing Mark is Russ Hamilton; some of you may have seen him around the Flint location. Russ has been with Penske for over 37 years. He has been assigned several different accounts throughout his career with Penske. His most recent assignment was Operations Manager of our Saginaw terminal. I met Russ over 20 years ago when he was Operations Manager at our former Lansing terminal. It's been my experience in the past, working with Russ, that he is reasonable, fair, and easy going. I think Russ will be a good fit in Flint, and I look forward to working with him in the future.
ACC and Nexteer are still in ongoing negotiations to renew our contract to retain the work in Saginaw. As most of you know, it’s always about the money. I’m not privy to any details about negotiations, progress, or if they’re getting close to a deal. I will be keeping a close eye on their talks and will keep you up to date on any news.
Last month was breast cancer awareness month. We had another penny war as a fund raiser. I don’t have the exact amount of money raised but I’m sure it was a good amount. Thank you if you were one of the people that donated. It’s all for a great cause and hopefully, someday, we can rid the world of this terrible disease.
In closing, I wish you all well, and remember… always be safe out there!
Fraternally,
Tim Hauck
Chairman ACC
UAW local 659
Office 810-237-4253
Tim.hauck@penske.com
Well, the leaves are turning, and temperatures are falling. We all know what that means. Winter is on its way. I’ve always considered turning back the clocks to end daylight savings time, also a sign of winter coming soon. I think the worst part is the fact that it gets dark so early. Seems like we go to work in the dark and go home the same way. They say we gain an extra hour of sleep, I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t seem that way to me. On the other hand, the good part is, this time of year, the holidays are just around the corner.
I want to apologize for missing a couple of articles. I’ve been very busy these past two months. There's been a lot going on between the strike, layoffs, PTL moving, and us moving back into the building.
As I write this article, the UAW and GM announced a tentative agreement. As GM workers at CCA go back to work, we will be calling back our drivers in seniority order, from top to bottom. I anticipate we will be very busy for the next few months playing catch up. I think with all the temporary drop lots we’ve been putting trailers in, it’s going to be challenging to figure out where all the loads are delivered and where the paperwork is for the loads. On top of that, I expect we will be picking up and delivering regularly scheduled loads as well. It’s been a long and painful strike, but I’m proud to say we all supported the strikers and not one of us ever crossed a picket line. I know for a fact, not all trucking companies that deliver to GMCCA can say that.
As most of you know, the PTL has moved to a new facility on Dort Hwy. Penske chose not to allow our Union brothers to follow their work over to the new place. As a result of that decision, our Local 659 has lost one of their units. We’ve shared the building with PTL for over 25 years. It’s a sad day when our Union brothers can be tossed away like trash and there’s nothing done about it. The move to Dort Hwy. means we will be taking our trucks over there for repairs and services. It’s an inconvenience and will involve a little more planning on our dispatchers to coordinate rides back from the new PTL. Unfortunately, the convenience of having a PTL in the same building is gone.
We are finally back in the building at the Flint terminal. It’s only been 15 months since we were forced to move into a temporary office trailer. Your Union office and the dispatch office are still in the same location. We’ve moved the drivers break room down the hall to the old Penske shuttle break room. It’s bigger and has more room. The vending machines, Union, and Company bulletin boards are also down in the new break room.
Our Operations Manager in Flint, Mark Wenglikowski, resigned last month. He moved on to a job outside of Penske. I wish him well in his new career path. Replacing Mark is Russ Hamilton; some of you may have seen him around the Flint location. Russ has been with Penske for over 37 years. He has been assigned several different accounts throughout his career with Penske. His most recent assignment was Operations Manager of our Saginaw terminal. I met Russ over 20 years ago when he was Operations Manager at our former Lansing terminal. It's been my experience in the past, working with Russ, that he is reasonable, fair, and easy going. I think Russ will be a good fit in Flint, and I look forward to working with him in the future.
ACC and Nexteer are still in ongoing negotiations to renew our contract to retain the work in Saginaw. As most of you know, it’s always about the money. I’m not privy to any details about negotiations, progress, or if they’re getting close to a deal. I will be keeping a close eye on their talks and will keep you up to date on any news.
Last month was breast cancer awareness month. We had another penny war as a fund raiser. I don’t have the exact amount of money raised but I’m sure it was a good amount. Thank you if you were one of the people that donated. It’s all for a great cause and hopefully, someday, we can rid the world of this terrible disease.
In closing, I wish you all well, and remember… always be safe out there!
Fraternally,
Tim Hauck
Chairman ACC
UAW local 659
Office 810-237-4253
Tim.hauck@penske.com
