GM CHAIRPERSONS REPORT January 14, 2022
Welcome back and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Hopefully you were able to take advantage of the time off work and enjoy the holiday break!
What’s up for 2022? The Auto Industry is trying to rebound from the unprecedented year that was 2021. The New Year has kicked off on a positive note for our plant and looks to continue that trend towards the summer. The Semi-conductor supply has gotten healthier which is strengthening our volumes with overtime coming back into the schedule. This provides us with a great opportunity to showcase the awesome work ethic our membership has and our ability to produce world class engines and transmissions that we are known for!
We are also hiring TPT’s! The family and friend’s referral program is being used again. Starting wage for TPT’s is $23.96. Paper copies of the referral forms can be found in the West Clock house by the benefits office, Communication Boards in both Clock houses and in Human Resources Department. Paper referrals can be returned to the Union Office or Human Resources Department.
We are hiring Electrical Apprentices again! The application deadline has been extended until January 31st. If you have some questions or need help with applying through Workday then reach out to Skilled Trades Rep ken.naldjieff@gm.com for assistance.
We have hired 8 IM’s. 2 Red Seal from the outside and 6 apprentices from the Shop Floor! Welcome to your new roles in GM and congratulations to Ryan, Shane, Chris, Tobin, Clavin and Greg for being the first Mechanical Apprentices in over 25years!
Transfers – Transfers are up for renewal. Last year’s transfers become null and void January 24, 2022. The Company will accept new transfers for 2022 starting Monday January 17 2022, and they will become valid January 31, 2022. If you are submitting your own transfers through the QR-Code system, then you should know you can only submit one entry at a time. Each transfer entry should be entered consecutively up to a maximum of 4 entries. For example, if you enter 3 entries this week and 1 entry next week the system will honor the latest entry of 1 and erase the previous 3 from the week earlier. That is why we recommend when you do your own entries to enter your 4 selections consecutively. Any questions, put a call in for you committeeperson for assistance.
Transfers are available to full time seniority members with at least 1 year of seniority. TPT’s are not eligible.
COVID – Reminder of the Covid reporting protocol.
1st call – should be to the GM Canada Medical Central Line at 519-425-3105
The 2nd call should be to your supervisor before the start of your shift.
The 3rd call to in-plant medical to get clearance before returning to work 905-641-6564. The 3 Government Covid paid days have been extended to July 31st for those that haven’t used all 3 yet.
VPAG – stands for Vacation Pay As You Go – it can now be seen on your paystubs. It is part of the 2nd phase of the transition to the Kronos System and it deals with our vacation/paa hours.
The way it works is this, employees that worked 500 hours between July 1st 2021 to December 31st will be provided ½ of their contractual vacation time in January to be used before June 30th 2022. Any unused PAA hours will roll over and be added to the vacation hours in January to also be used by June 30th, 2022.
Legacy Member example – You have 188 total vacation hours available plus 52 PAA’s totaling 240hrs.
500 hours worked (July-Dec 2021) 188 + 52 = 240hrs 188 / 2 = 96hrs plus 52 paa hrs = 146hrs.
On your pay stub under the ‘Balance’ column is where Legacy members should see the 146hrs. (If members worked less than 500hrs then this number will be less.) If some vacation or paa hours were used between July-Dec 2021 that should show up in the used column. The number in the used column added to the balance column should total 146hrs. If not then put a call in for your Union rep.
New Hire example – those hired in 2016 full time should have 120hrs of vacation entitlement. ½ of their contractual vacation time is 60hrs. This should show up under the balance column.
The purpose of this part of the transition is to line up the 2 separate ‘vacation pay’ and ‘vacation time’ calendars from the TKS system into one, creating a new vacation calendar beginning July 1st and ending June 30th.
For legacy members not much changes other than all your vacation and paa hours will be combined in one bucket. After July 1st 2022 it will no longer be 188 vacation and 52 paa hours, it will show as VPAG 240 total hours.
For New Hires – they will now gain the benefit and the flexibility of using their vacation time like the legacy members used their paa’s.
Some VPAG Highlights
- Get paid when you use it
- The Company will no longer hold back 80 hours for the first 2 weeks of July. Members will have the ability to advance to weeks of their choosing
- If you want vacation time off during shutdown you will need to apply for it.
- Vacation time can be taken in increments as small as 1 hour if needed.
- Eventually vacation time will be done through WORKDAY but for now it’s still the paper system.
- Members can realize greater vacation pay by strategically using vacation during shift premium weeks
- Defer up to 40 hours to be paid at the end of the vacation year to lessen taxes on the lump sum
- Request to be paid while you are at work to reduce your balance in you want
Click here for printable report: Chairpersons Report – January 14, 2022
Issued by,
Trevor Longpre, GM Unit Plant Chairperson
On behalf of the Shop Committee, Ken Naldjieff, Glenn Currie, Kevan Anderson, Bill Newburgh
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