Alex Santana—Shop Chairman • Mike Haineault—1st Shift Zone • Jeff Hall—2nd & 3rd Shift Zone
Kevin Sautter • Colie Lynch • Erin Schumacher • Luther Page • David Blackwell • Billy Flynn
John Hanning • Greg Hill • Jerry Gray • Stan Bowers • George Mellinger
Doug McKeithen • Kevin McCray • Darrell Shanklin • Dwayne Hawkins • Turnage Corr • Quinten Bowens
Larry Garrison • Howard Newson • Stephen Ying • B.J. Hutto • James Hunter

Volume III, No. 18 • May 22nd, 2008

Educate Yourself
History

Memorial Day

Following the end of the Civil War, many communities set aside a day to mark the end of the war or as a memorial to those who had died. Some of the places creating an early memorial day include Charleston, South Carolina; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; Richmond, Virginia; Carbondale, Illinois; Columbus, Mississippi; many communities in Vermont; and some two dozen other cities and towns. These observances eventually coalesced around Decoration Day, honoring the Union dead, and the several Confederate Memorial Days.

According to Professor David Blight of the Yale University History Department, the first Memorial Day was observed in 1865 by liberated slaves at the historic race track in Charleston. The site was a former Confederate prison camp as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who had died while captive. A parade with thousands of freed blacks and Union soldiers was followed by patriotic singing and a picnic.

The official birthplace of Memorial Day is Waterloo, New York. The village was credited with being the birthplace because it observed the day on May 5, 1866, and each year thereafter, and because it is likely that the friendship of General John Murray, a distinguished citizen of Waterloo, and General John A. Logan, who led the call for the day to be observed each year and helped spread the event nationwide, was a key factor in its growth.

General Logan had been impressed by the way the South honored their dead with a special day and decided the Union needed a similar day. Reportedly, Logan said that it was most fitting; that the ancients, especially the Greeks, had honored their dead, particularly their heroes, by chaplets of laurel and flowers, and that he intended to issue an order designating a day for decorating the grave of every soldier in the land, and if he could he would have made it a holiday.

Logan had been the principal speaker in a citywide memorial observation on April 29, 1866, at a cemetery in Carbondale, Illinois, an event that likely gave him the idea to make it a national holiday. On May 5, 1868, in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, a veterans' organization, Logan issued a proclamation that "Decoration Day" be observed nationwide. It was observed for the first time on May 30 of the same year; the date was chosen because it was not the anniversary of a battle. The tombs of fallen Union soldiers were decorated in remembrance of this day.

Many of the states of the U.S. South refused to celebrate Decoration Day, due to lingering hostility towards the Union Army and also because there were very few veterans of the Union Army who lived in the South. A notable exception was Columbus, Mississippi, which on April 25, 1866 at its Decoration Day commemorated both the Union and Confederate casualties buried in its cemetery.

The alternative name of "Memorial Day" was first used in 1882, but did not become more common until after World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967. On June 28, 1968, the United States Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which moved three holidays from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend and for the first time recognized Columbus Day as a federal holiday. The holidays included Washington's Birthday (which evolved into Presidents' Day), Veterans Day, and Memorial Day. The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May. The law took effect at the federal level in 1971. After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply at the state level, all fifty states adopted the measure within a few years, although Veterans Day was eventually changed back to its traditional date. Ironically, most corporate businesses no longer close on Columbus Day or Veterans Day, and an increasing number are staying open on President's Day as well. The holiday has endured as one where most businesses stay closed because it marks the beginning of the "summer vacation season".

HAVE A SAFE AND ENJOYABLE HOLIDAY!

Shop Talk

The battle still continues...
Management will recognize the strong support of UAW Local 2166 membership. Your dedication and commitment has made us who we are today. Thank you to each and every one of you!!

Downtime: No downtime scheduled as of May 21, 2008.

Negotiations: Apparently upper management believes that we don’t get it - and that we won’t change for anything. But we do get that management has not changed. We are not the only ones negotiating at this pace, in fact, there are not many local Agreements settled around the country. We will continue to bargain in order to bring the membership a local Agreement. Your leadership will hold strong and we will make the best choices for Local 2166.

Holiday Pay: Use of VR hours will not be permitted, unless excused in advance for Thursday, May 22nd or Tuesday, May 27th prior to and following the Memorial Day holidays. If not excused, this would disqualify you to receive Holiday Pay and also fall under the guidelines of Document 8 of the National Agreement to be disciplined for attendance.

Laid Off Division I: As of Monday, May 12, 2008 all production employees have been returned from layoff.

Laid Off Division II: Currently in the skilled trades, there was approximately forty-three (43) skilled trades people cut out. Of those forty-three (43) there have been fifteen (15) returned from layoff. Of the nine (9) that chosen to go to Division I, there have been three (3) returned to their trade. Leaving nineteen (19) on indefinite layoff.

Cost of Living Adjustment: Effective June 2, 2008 employees will receive a twenty-four (24¢) cent per hour C.O.L.A. INCREASE. For a total of forty-six (46¢) cents Cost-of-Living Allowance that will be included in your paycheck for week ending June 8, 2008.

Environmental: Currently we are trying to work through exiting the environmental department. Several proposals have been given such as covering open jobs with people that have 63b transfers (on 63b list) in and to utilize the people that were recalled from layoff, allow premier to be able to hire former G.M. employees and to settle all grievances and appeal cases related to that department.

Management has refused and therefore has not filled any openings. In addition Management has chosen to close restrooms. Management has taken the position that they will move current environmental employees around to cover other jobs and not cover jobs that they feel are unimportant. In last weeks’ FYI we put OSHA’S standard on toilet facilities and included their telephone number.

Restrooms: OSHA office telephone number is (225) 298-5458.

Re-District: We are working through the total number of districts and appointments due to the population of the plant dictating the number of both elected and appointed positions allowed. As the total number of districts and appointments become available we will provide them to you.

American Axle:The UAW reached a tentative agreement with American Axle. Workers from American Axle are voting this week.

Red Shirt Day: Wear a red shirt on Friday to support our troops!!!

"Our labor unions are not narrow, self-seeking groups. They have raised wages, shortened hours, and provided supplemental benefits. Through collective bargaining and grievance procedures, they have brought justice and democracy to the shop floor." -- John F. Kennedy.

IN SOLIDARITY