Our meeting in Davenport was productive. Chris Ayers updated us on the company’s outlook for next year and it seems they anticipate the market softening will continue through the third quarter of 2025. They’re hopeful that business will start rebounding in the fourth quarter of 2025 into the first quarter of 2026. Chris also committed that of the five issues we brought to the meeting (contracting out, apprenticeships/craft shortages, employee training, cleaning the facilities, and equipment shortages), four would be completed and the fifth would be in process by the time we reconvene in six months.
The company hasn’t met with us in the last couple of weeks, so the projected reduction of 40-50 employees remains the same. They plan to meet with us around mid-week next week. As soon as we have more information, I will send it out. They did tell us last Friday that they are aggressively pursuing new business. Hopefully, they will secure this and it will help our situation.
This past Wednesday, the International Education Department gave us training on FMLA. The information we received was very beneficial and will help us navigate the issues we are having with FMLA leave. If you have any FMLA-related issues, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your department chair. If they don’t have the answers, they can escalate the issue to the bargaining committee or Jennifer Myers.
We had a group perform a good stop this week as well. The graveyard shift on the TCM stopped for quality! They did exactly what we’ve been discussing and didn’t run product that wasn’t up to our standards. Focusing on producing good product on time is crucial. Great work, folks!
Please remember to ask your supervisor at the start of every shift for the safety callouts sent out after every event. Ensure we follow the SWIs, and if they don’t have them for a job, request the proper personnel to create one. Above all, if it’s not safe, STOP and get help! If you face any pushback when attempting a Safety Stop, inform your Department Chair, Plant Chair, or contact me directly ASAP, and we will address the issue.
We must remain focused on quality and stop when something is not up to our standards. If it’s not up to how you were trained and a foreman asks you to proceed anyway, contact someone in the Union Leadership immediately, and we will get it addressed.
Please promote and share the link to this update. I do my best to share it on all platforms, but I can easily miss one. Thank you for all that you do and stay safe!