IUE-CWA President Jim Clark Opening Statement for GM National Negotiations

IUE-CWA has a long history of bargaining with General Motors.  We always say that negotiations will be difficult.  And all negotiations are difficult, but with this team I am confident that they will be done professionally and we will come out with what is best for our people and the business.

Recently, the UAW plowed the field.  Those were tough times.  The obstacle of health care bubbles up to the top in all negotiations.  We will have to deal with it here.  Our members enjoy a good health care plan, and they appreciate and value it.  Health care in the United States is in crisis.  IUE-CWA just completed negotiations with Behr Corporation, a German company.  They were taken back by the health care situation in the United States – taken back by the rising costs of health care.  The solution does not lie on the negotiation table. We will not allow this national problem be laid at the feet of the workers.  This work force has done everything we have asked of them through the years to make the Moraine plant competitive.  We need to fix the health care crisis legislatively and politically.  I ask that you continue to work with us.

The biggest question is what is the future of the Moraine plant.  That question is in the hearts and minds of every person, whether they are dues payers or salaried.  Moraine's future is very important to IUE-CWA and the workers, but is really important to the community as well.  Many families depend on this plant for their livelihoods.  Over last few years the Dayton area has been rocked.  Moraine is considered a flagship, a group that can make it and set the stage for the future.  I've been asked about the commitment made to the UAW for work and whether that means there is nothing left for us.  IUE-CWA is a part of the GM family and we plan to continue to be.  My concern does not lay with the commitments GM made to UAW; my real concern is GM's continued loss of market share. 

This local has a long history of being on the cutting edge.  We don't want this to become a situation of 'what have you done for me lately' where you forget what has been done all these years. Local 798 has embraced cost improvements throughout the years.  We can't change to a "what can you do now to survive."  Then you are telling our teams don't make continual improvements, we have to save them up to get something at negotiations.  That would be a recipe for disaster.

I have a lot of confidence in the union team, Conference Board Chairman Willie Thorpe, his staff, the local negotiators, and the local management team.  We have to get a plan that is acceptable for the members and the community, one that everyone feels gives them a fair shake.

We have to figure out what the package will look like.  Our plan is to leave negotiations with a commitment of what we will be producing for years out, what will replace what we have today.  Make no mistake about it.  We expect to have a clear vision and hope we can get it without a major disruption.  Our members' future needs to be clear.