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Text Box: 10-26-06 Text Box: Volume 2, Issue 1  Text Box: UAW Local 5287 Text Box: buses in all of Region 8 which covers Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Now that is free advertisement!!! This is all because Freightliner Thomas Built Buses is a union made product which is produced by UAW represented  employees. SOLIDARITY FOREVER!!!    Story Submitted by Rev. Niels Chapman, Jr. President/ Benefits Rep UAW Local 5287                 Text Box: Words from the President   State of the Union Text Box: It is a very trying time for the labor movement all over this country. We have seen laws repealed and decimated that have protected the rights of workers in this country to organize and earn a decent living wage for their families. The President of the UAW Ron Gettlefinger recently said “NO” to the Daimler/Chrysler suggestion at slashing our healthcare coverage. While Ford and GM are in a restructuring mode, Daimler/Chrysler has enjoyed a profit like none of the others. This turn around was partly due to the UAW executive leadership stepping and assisting Daimler/ Chrysler to keep its employees on the job and the company profitable. Make no mistake and let us face the reality that companies are in business to provide goods and services to make a profit. It is totally within  a company’s right to make a profit but not at the expense of  its workers being under insured/ or safety issues over looked.   I submit to you that there are those who are looking at us as thorns in their side, as Text Box: antagonist who have stirred the pot, as those who challenge a ”good thing”, and even to the point of calling us “bushwhackers”. But I appeal to  their sense of decency and ask, “ Is it wrong to want better working conditions? Is it wrong to want better healthcare coverage for our families? Is it wrong to ask of a company that there is a just system in place to protect the rights of those who might be terminated, promoted, compensated, or discriminated? Is it wrong to be able to sit down with a company and have a voice in the affairs of the company as it affects the workers?”   This country was built on differences of opinion but it is also governed by the majority rule and the majority of the workers have stated that they wanted to be represented by the UAW and under a contract. Now that Freightliner Thomas Built Buses is a Union shop let us come together to continue to build the best buses in the world.                                            The UAW Region 8 has committed to promoting our

 

Text Box: The VOICE Vision Ownership Involvement Commitment Expectation   Text Box: More than 40 states are destroying jobs by contracting out state-funded work to companies that ship the jobs overseas. According to a recent study by University of California-Berkeley, the United States could lose as many as 14 million white-collar jobs as a result of the new outsourcing trend, and workers fortunate enough to hold on to their jobs will see decreasing wages and benefits as companies try to keep pace with low-wage countries. In New Jersey, Acting-Gov. Richard J. Codey (D) signed into law May 5 legislation that ensures taxpayers’ dollars are used to create jobs by requiring contractors who win state service contracts to do that work in the United States.

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Text Box: Puzzle

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Text Box: Leaders Local 5287

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Local 5287 and United Way Days of Caring

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Local 5287 marches in support of Smithfield Food workers

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Committee of the Highlight of the Month

 

 

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Profile of UAW Local 5287 members– It’s a Family Affair

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A Call To Action

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From the Shop Committee

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UAW donates to campaign

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The Exporting of American Jobs                                          continued on page 3