Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Well, summer is almost over and the kids are back in school. The Cruze production is moving forward, slow, but sure. Our regular union membership meetings will start back up this month. November elections are just around the corner and we are having elections for some of our local union positions.

First of all for those that are running for Trustee, Committeeperson, or Alternate Committeeperson, I want to thank you for taking an interest in the Local Union. UAW 1714 needs her members to be active and involved. The good news is that we do have lots of dedicated folks that understand how important this union is to our livelihood. The bad news is there are still some out there that don’t get it. We are only as strong as our members. We should all be proud UAW members and brag about all the good things the Union has done for us and our communities. Perfect we are not, but the benefits we do enjoy and the benefits that many working people enjoy were bargained and fought for by our great Union. If we stop fighting for what is right, then things will surely go wrong.
One way to fight is to VOTE. If you are new in Ohio, please register to vote. We have a good slate of labor supporting politicos that are running in Ohio. It all starts with our Governor, Ted Strickland. Ted Strickland Will Protect American Jobs. Ted Strickland voted against open trading with China and he voted against NAFTA and CAFTA. He stated, "I felt they take jobs out of Ohio and out of America." (H.R. 4444, Vote 251, 9/19/00; H.R. 3450, Vote 575, 11/17/93; H.R. 3045, Vote 443, 7/27/05; Huber Heights Courier, 7/20/10). Ted Strickland also Strongly Opposes Privatizing Social Security. He says he is against "risking America’s retirement security on stock market fickleness." (Press statement, 2/2/05). His opponent, John Kasich, wants to systematically reduce benefits and privatize Social Security, essentially gambling away our retirement in the stock market. (The New York Times, 1/24/05). We have a very labor friendly Governor at the State House today, lets work hard and keep it that way.
Hard work is what it takes, don’t let anyone fool you. It all starts with coming to union meetings. Believe it or not, your leadership does not stand in front of the membership just to hear their own voices. We stand there and give this membership the best information that we have at the time on whatever the topic is. So, please come to your union meetings. I ask you – Is one hour a month too much to ask? We all have "other" priorities in our lives, I understand that. BUT, is your job not one of your most important priorities? If you never come, then you’ll never know.
Finally, I would like to say a bit about Cruze production. Just because we started off slow, real slow, the fact is GM is doing the right thing by holding up until the car is right. The last thing we need is to get cars out on the market that are not 100 percent. I know our members have been doing more with less for some time now, and we are doing the right thing by making a quality product at a competitive price. I also believe that GM will become the most profitable automaker in the world and we will be a part of that. That said, we have given up some benefits that we will need to bargain back. I have faith that the UAW will restore what we have lost and then some. My whole point is we need to be patient, work hard, and good things will happen. If we can focus more on where we’re going, as opposed to where we’ve been, our future will be bright. Believe It!