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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2007)
Freightliner building new manufacturing plant in Mexico Freightliner LLC announced last month that it will construct a new $300 million truck manufacturing plant in Saltillo, Coahuila, in northern Mexico. The 1-million-square-foot facility will produce Freightliner and Sterling brand trucks. The plant could produce up to 30,000 trucks annually, and em- ploy up to 1,600 production and man- agement personnel. Groundbreaking is set for the second quarter of 2007, with start of production planned for early 2009. The Saltillo plant is the second Freightliner manufacturing facility to be located in Mexico, joining the San- tiago Tianguistenco plant, which pro- duces Freightliner-brand heavy- and medium-duty trucks. At the same time it was announcing expansion in Mexico, Freightliner warned its unionized employees at Portland’s Swan Island facility of a major layoff this spring. “It’s at least 500 employees, and possibly as many as 800,” said Joe Kear, a business rep- resentative of Machinists District Lodge 24. IAM Lodge 1005 repre- sents approximately 1,400 of the 1,700 unionized workers in Portland, where they build Class 8 Freightliner trucks, Western Star trucks and military vehi- cles. Other unions at the Portland facil- Unions in global fight against Alcoa Trade unions from four nations are mounting a combined campaign against U.S. aluminum giant Alcoa as part of an emerging cooperation among unions. Union officials from Brazil, the U.S. and Britain met in Melbourne just be- fore Christmas to discuss the campaign with colleagues from the Australian Workers Union (AWU) and the Interna- tional Metalworkers Federation (IMF). “Our plan is to start bargaining with Alcoa on a global basis,” said AWU Vice President Paul Howes. He said that when the AWU, which has unionized all of Alcoa’s plants in Australia, sought to discuss the implementation of a new Alcoa policy on working hours; it was told the policy had been decided at its U.S. headquarters and could not be ne- gotiated locally. “The biggest effect will be when they start using their clout in one coun- try to affect an outcome in another,” Howes said. One of the major difficulties unions face in dealing with multinationals is that they operate in countries that have different economies and labor stan- dards. Alcoa, for example, is fully unionized in Australia, compared with only half of its plants in the U.S. Conditions in Alcoa’s Mexican and Guyana plants are way below stan- dards in Australia or the U.S. ity include the Sign Painters and Paint Makers Local 1094, Teamsters Local 305, and Service Employees Local 49. Their labor agreement expires July 1. In October, nonunion white-collar employees at the Portland headquar- ters were offered voluntary buyouts. There are about 1,900 employees there. It is not known how many em- ployees volunteered. Eight hundred employees — mem- bers of the Canadian Auto Workers — at a St. Thomas, Ontario, plant already have been told that they will be laid off starting in March. That plant manufac- tures Sterling brand heavy- and medium-duty trucks. Freightliner officials say as many as 4,000 production and related workers could be laid off companywide. The downsizing has further ramifi- cations for the Machinists Union. Con- solidated Metco’s (ConMet) Rivergate and Clackamas, Oregon, plants have laid off approximately 170 Machinists (85 at each location), due in part to the Freightliner slowdown. ConMet man- ufactures aluminum hubs and spring brackets for Class 8 trucks. A Freightliner press release said the expansion in Mexico is not connected to the layoffs. Freightliner said the job cuts stem from an industry-wide de- cline in new trucks redesigned to meet federal emissions standards. The new trucks, because of their added technol- ogy, cost more than those sold in pre- vious years. Kear confirmed that new Environ- mental Protection Agency standards will add about $10,000 to the cost of building a truck engine. The new envi- ronmental regulations are meant to re- duce pollutants from diesel engines. Kear also said that Freightliner plans to yank production of all Freightliner brand trucks from Port- land. “They can build trucks cheaper in Mexico,” he said. That will leave production of the Western Star brand truck and military vehicles in Portland. Workers currently turn out 32 Western Star trucks a day and nine military trucks a day. Freightliner has five plants in North and South Carolina. Some are union, represented by the United Auto Work- ers. And some are nonunion. Freightliner President and CEO Chris Patterson in a press release said the new facility in Mexico “under- scores our confidence in the NAFTA truck market, and our bullish mid-term outlook for industry recovery post- 2007. Frankly, we were not able to produce what we could have sold in 2006 due to capacity constraints. We expect another surge in customer de- mand in 2009 prior to the next round of EPA emissions regulations, and the construction of this new plant will en- sure that we are fully prepared.” Freightliner LLC is the leading medium- and heavy-duty truck manu- facturer in North America. Freightliner Electricians, Carpenters, Laborers, Glaziers, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofer, Asbestos Workers, Family, Mill Wrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers Electricians, Carpenters, Laborers, Glaziers, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofer, Asbestos Workers, Family, Mill Wrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers Carpenters, Electricians, Laborers, Glaziers, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofers, Asbestos Workers, Family, Mill Wrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers Struggling to take control of your finances? Overwhelmed with your holiday spending? Your Credit Union can help! We offer home equity lines of credit that allow you to consolidate your credit card bills into one easy monthly payment with possible tax advantages. Personal lines of credit are available for those smaller bills. PO Box 16877 9955 SE Washington St Portland, Oregon 97292 www.ibewuwfcu.com Contact the lending center today 800-356-6507 or 503-253-8193 ext 340 produces and markets Class 5-8 vehi- cles and is part of DaimlerChrysler’s Truck Group, the world’s largest com- mercial vehicle manufacturer. The company’s truck operations, which include Portland, Oregon-based Freightliner, turned a record profit of $705 million in the third quarter, up from $449 million a year earlier. Global giant formed by British, German and two U.S. unions British, German and American unions are working to forge a pact that will create an international union with more than six million members. Amicus, the U.K.’s largest private- sector union, has signed agreements with the German engineering union, IG-Metall, and the United States’ United Steelworkers and Machinists Union in an effort to prevent companies playing off their workforces in different countries against each other. The move is seen by union leaders as the first step toward creating a single union that can present a united front to multinational companies. Amicus is it- self planning to merge with the Trans- port & General Workers Union in May to create a two-million-member labor organization. Between IG-Metall’s 2.4 million, the USW’s 1.2 million and 730,000 at the Machinists, a merger would create an organization with some 6.3 million members. Derek Simpson, general secretary of Amicus, said: “Our aim is to create a powerful single union that can tran- scend borders to challenge the global forces of capital.” Bureau of Labor & Industries Wage & Hour Compliance Specialist Salary: $2,771-$4,032/month This full-time, limited-duration po- sition is located in Portland. This person will investigate allegations of violations of prevailing wage rate law on public works projects through interviews, on-site inspec- tions, evidence evaluation, and fact- finding; prepare investigative reports and enforcement remedies; negoti- ate settlements; work with Depart- ment of Justice to prepare cases for administrative hearing or court of law; and provide technical informa- tion/interpretation of laws, rules, and regulations governing wages and working conditions to individu- als and groups. A construction re- lated background is preferred, but not required. For announcement #LE060397A and application mate- rials, call 971-673-0783 or visit www.oregonjobs.org. Closing date for all applications is Jan. 22, 2007. Glaziers, Carpenters, Laborers, Electricians, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofers, Asbestos Workers, Family, Mill Wrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers JANUARY 19, 2007 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS PAGE 3
