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March 28, 2024
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President Mike Huerta Archive
Nov 30, 2020

September 2023

I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend and enjoyed the time off with family and friends. With summer behind us the UAW moves to our busy season…contract negotiations! During the next few weeks please check in on your UAW family. We are all anxious for the outcome of the negotiations and we can be very stressed so if you are able - drop a text, make a call or stop and visit each other just to make sure.

Unions are the last, best hope for working families to be able to demand fairness from giant multi-billion dollar corporations. With the big three contracts all set to expire on September 14th it seems that public opinion is in our favor. A recent poll of registered voters conducted by the AFL-CIO suggests voters across the board strongly see labor unions as beneficial, needed now more than ever and yet harder to join. Support transcends partisan groups, with Republicans and independents supporting unions, and younger voters particularly likely to support them. An overwhelming majority supports unions and strikes, even majorities of Republicans and independents. Seven-in-ten (71%) approve of labor unions, while less than a fifth (19%) disapprove. Labor union approval transcends party—with 91% of Democrats, along with more than two-thirds (69%) of independents and half of Republicans (52%) approving.  

Support for strikes further exceeds union approval. Three-fourths (75%) support “workers going on strike to negotiate for better wages, benefits, and working conditions” with nearly half (47%) strongly supporting doing so. Again, clear majorities of Democrats (93%), independents (73%), and Republicans (58%) support strikes. As far as the UAW; 75% of Americans sympathize more with the UAW than with the auto companies (19%) in their current negotiations.

It seems like the wind is at our back. In 2019, our community blessed us with a remarkable outpouring of support during our strike and I have already had dozens of calls asking how to help. Let’s hope the Auto companies understand that our communities and America has our backs and they want us to be fairly compensated for our labor. Our active members are ready, our retirees are ready and should we go on strike our communities are ready.

April 2023

It is great to finally see the start of Spring! It seemed like we had more snow in February and March than we did in November and December. Hopefully we can put the snow shovels away for the year finally!

I want to thank our Civil Rights Committee for an outstanding “taste of Black History” event that was held in February. We had a packed house with standing room only and the speakers, food and entertainment were fantastic! Great job Robert Wade and the entire committee!

In March, Local 602 Women’s committee held their International Women’s Day program “Petals and Progression”. I didn’t recognize the union hall when I walked in! It was great to hear from the March of Dimes Interim CEO Kathryn Johnson, UAW International Women’s Dept. Assistant Director Ashley Lewis and Senator Sarah Anthony. What a great program and celebration for International Women’s Day thank you 602 Women’s Committee!

UAW Local 602 elected delegates, Retiree Chair, Shop Chair and I just returned from the UAW International Special Bargaining Convention. During the Convention we heard from John Deere workers and what they went through during their 5 week-long strike. We also heard from CASE/New Holland workers as they described what they went through during their 260 day long strike. These stories were often emotional and familiar from our 40 day long strike back in 2019. The message was clear, we autoworkers need to be ready for anything during a contract year let us not get caught unprepared.

With the International leadership election finished and the UAW International Special Bargaining Convention over our local will now turn our attention to local elections. Please keep on eye open for election postings on our in-plant notice boards, local 602 website, social media and in this issue of the Lansing Labor News for more details.

Please remember that the Local 602 Union Meeting has been moved to May 7th so we can spend Mother’s day weekend with family. They make our days brighter, their smiles melt our hearts, and their love is second to nothing. Mothers have a special place in our lives, so this is a special day for everyone. Thank you to all Mothers and I hope everyone is able to celebrate Mother’s day with family.

In Solidarity,

Mike Huerta

February 2023

I hope you all enjoyed a much deserved holiday break and were able to enjoy some downtime with your families. Our extra two weeks off came with some headaches getting our Sub pay but I am so thankful for our Beneftis reps and our Unemployment rep that helped us navigate those systems.

February brings us Black History month and UAW local 602 will be joining with UAW local 2256 to hold our Taste of Black History program on Sunday February 19th with doors opening at 2:30 pm and program beginning at 3 pm. Our address is 2510 W. Michigan Ave. Lansing, MI 48917. This is the first time we have been able to have this event since prior to COVID and we hope you will be able to join us! We will have food, prizes, entertainment and speakers the event is free so bring your family and enjoy the afternoon with friends.

Next month our Women’s committee will be having their women’s international day event on March 25th. Please keep an eye on www.local602.org for more soon to come details.

I received a surprising phone call the other day. Rep. Elissa Slotkin called me to ask if I would like to be her guest at the State of the Union in Washington D.C., she said that she wanted to shine a light on supply chain issues and that I would be speaking media and elected officials about the chips shortage and our parts shortages. I was stunned but of course I accepted the offer. By the time you read this I will be back from Washington D.C. but I think its important that the country hears from us as often as possible that America needs to build things. Shipping manufacturing jobs outside of the United States for decades has eroded our stability and made us beholden to other parts of the world that may not have our best interest at heart. Rep. Slotkin told me that I wouldn’t be representing just local 602 but all autoworkers and working families that have been affected by this issue. It is an honor and I couldn’t be prouder to be the voice speaking for all of us!

In Solidarity,

Mike Huerta

December 2022

I would like to recap some of the events going on at UAW Local 602 in the past few months.

Thank you to our Citizenship & Legislative Committee for help producing the wins during this election cycle. Thanks to everyone that helped UAW endorsed candidates this year! Whether you knocked on doors, made phone calls or voted as a family, you helped our candidates get across the finish line and we won big!

Shortly after the elections, our Veterans Committee put together another wonderful event at the plant. We gave our Veterans shoes, other gifts and important information regarding their service and benefits. Thank you Veterans committee and to all who served!

Many members were able to enjoy Thanksgiving with a good meal this year as our Community Service Committee was able to provide holiday meals for families in need.

The LDT gate collection on November 3rd raised more than $8,500 for Toys for tots.

The Local 602 Women’s Committee held a “Holiday Expo” at the union hall to raise money for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. They were able to raise $2,300.

The LDT gate collection on December 1st raised $6,300 for Old Newsboys.

In the span 28 days our unbelievably generous members, and our amazing standing committees raised over $17,000. The money will help make sure kids have presents at Christmas, help to find a cure for cancer, and to make sure kids in our community have boots this winter. Thank you to everyone that donated, volunteered, or helped organize these events - Amazing job 602!

On Dec. 2nd two full trailers, and two full truckloads of toys, gifts and bicycles were loaded up from LDT GA, Body and Paint shops. They were taken to the Toys for Tots building where the toys will meet their new owners! 

We had to wait for nearly 3 years, but we finally were able to hold our UAW Local 602 Children’s Christmas party on December 4th! Thank you to the Women’s Committee, Santa AND the Grinch for helping make this event an enormous success!

Every year I am left speechless when I witness the enormous amount of generosity, kindness and caring that our membership produces for our community.

To all, I wish the gifts of love, of joy and of peace during this holiday season and always.

September 2022

The year has really flown by! I hope this article finds you all in good health and spirit. I want to thank everyone that attended Lansing Delta Townships recent Open House. We had over 4,300 visitors and by all accounts, it was wildly successful. I also want to recognize local 602’s Conservation and Recreation Committee. This year our local 602 golf outing donations went to Footprints of Michigan. Footprints of Michigan donates shoes to those in need, Veterans and homeless across the state. Thank you Paulina Rodriguez, all of your committee and all who participated for the generous $3,100 donation.

As fall approaches, I hope you all take the time to participate in two very important elections this year.

2022 is an important election year for our state. The Capital Area CAP Council did a screening of local candidates and decided what candidates we would recommend to endorse.  UAW endorsed candidates were very successful in the August primaries. We all have a lot of hard work ahead of us to get our endorsed candidates elected on November 8th. You will find a list of our UAW endorsed candidates in this issue of the Labor News; you can also find it on the UAW local 602 website. These candidates were endorsed based on their voting records, knowledge of issues that pertain to our membership and their willingness to communicate with us so that they know what we expect from them. Please consider supporting these candidates. “What the union fights for and wins at the bargaining table can be taken away in the legislative halls.” - Walter Reuther

This is also an important election year for our union. Our top officers will be elected by mail in ballot. All members in good standing, active and retired, are eligible to vote. In order for our members to receive their ballot they must have current mailing addresses at their local union halls, from the UAW monitors election notice:

“PLEASE PROVIDE YOUR UPDATED MAILING AND E-MAIL ADDRESS INFORMATION TO YOUR LOCAL UNION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND ADVISE YOUR FELLOW MEMBERS TO DO THE SAME.  IF YOU ARE A NEW MEMBER WHO HAS RECENTLY JOINED THE UAW, YOU MUST MAKE SURE YOUR LOCAL UNION HAS YOUR INFORMATION.”

Please update your address with the union hall if necessary and if you know someone that has moved recently please remind them to take a few minutes to call us with the updated info.

In Solidarity,
Mike

April 2022

Ryan Eding is the Production Zone Committee person for UAW local 602. While many may think Ryan is quiet and doesn’t have much to say I would point out that being thoughtful about what someone says is very different than not having much to say. Ryan recently shared with me his thoughts on the upcoming elections at our local. I think this message applies to all locals so I asked if I could share it in the Lansing Labor News, he agreed.

Brothers and Sisters

Election season is upon us. This is the time you see new faces that want to get involved. That is great news! The question I will ask is why? I say why because I want to know if they want to make the union better or are they doing it for themselves? I will always invite members to help make our union better! We have a great union…...and new faces can only help make our union stronger again. With that being said that doesn’t mean we need to burn the house down or start over from scratch! We all know that we had a bad few but let that not define me and you! The foundation that this union started on was perfect and we let a few get us away from that. So I won’t sit here and tell you OUR union is weak or messed up because that is far from the truth. We need to continue to guide our union back to the way we started! That starts with elections and member involvement! When we elect our districts and con con delegates ask them the question why are you running? I got started because I wanted to help our union grow and get stronger. At times this union may seem like everything is bad. But we can not let a few bad apples define us! I’m proud of every one of our elected officials! It’s rough and anyone of them could have threw their hands up and walk away but they didn’t! They stand in the fire and continue to fight every day to try and make this union stronger! I was born union and I love this union. I would die for this union. You should settle for nothing less!

Solidarity!

4th generation union member,

Ryan Eding

Thank you Brother Eding!

March 2022

I was proud to represent local 602 at the State Capitol for the news of GM investing $7 Billion in Michigan. Portions of the investment are specifically for LDT and LGR. A more significant portion is for a brand new battery plant in Delta Township. There have not been many details released about this facility other than its location. Over the course of the last year, we in the auto industry have been screaming from the rooftops that if our parts were built in the United States we would not be having supply chain issues. I hope that this announcement and investment is the start of GM keeping some of its investments here at home in Michigan. Too often, we have seen these investments go overseas or to southern states which are often not union friendly.

This investment was ushered in by something that is not seen too often these days, a series of bi-partisan agreements in Lansing. Governor Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan State House, the Michigan State Senate, Lansing City Council, Lansing Board of Water and Light and Delta Township officials all agreed to a package of bills that cleared the way for GM to announce its largest investment ever. Of course, not everyone supported bringing and keeping jobs in the Lansing area. Michigan State Senator Tom Barrett, whose district is home to the GM Lansing Delta Township Assembly plant and where the new battery plant will be built, voted against it. Now he plans on running for congress in a district that would represent Lansing Grand River, Lansing Delta Township and local 1753’s GM customer care center as well as many of the supplier plants along Canal road. As we all know when a new plant comes in, every full-time factory job also brings several more jobs in the area along with it, I think it’s a huge problem for Tom Barrett to be against that. Autoworkers are an important part of Michigan’s history and I am glad that most of our elected officials recognize that. Thank you to all of the elected officials from both sides of the aisle that supported Michigan autoworkers and shame on those that did not.

December 2021

Let me take this opportunity to wish all the membership of UAW Local 602, active and retired, a happy and safe holiday season.
This is the year-end edition of the Labor News, and I sure am glad to see this year ending. The last couple of years have thrown some rough terrain at us! Global pandemic, microchip shortage and worldwide supply chain issues. January 2022 finally brings some great news for us; we will see 3 weeks of downtime for retooling and the start of bringing the GMC Acadia back home to LDT. This is the realization of an investment announced in 2020 and is starting to become a reality. With all of the doom and gloom of the last couple years it may have been easy to forget that this was on the horizon but as the old saying goes – “when the sky gets dark enough, you can see the stars”. Thanks to the incredible membership of UAW local 602 we have been chosen to usher in the next generation GMC Acadia.
With all of the ups and downs during the last couple of years one thing has never wavered! The membership of UAW local 602 is unbelievably generous! Over this holiday season our membership donated nearly $20,000 in total to Toys for Tots, Old Newsboys and towards breast cancer awareness in cash donations as well as several truckloads of toys, bikes and gifts for kids. 11 weeks of downtime did not stop the membership from also contributing through our Community Service Committee pop bottle collection program; donations went out to the Capital Area Walk for Warmth, Mystic Lake Camp, Ronald McDonald House of Lansing, Woldumar Nature Center, and VFW post 6132. Our Community Service committee, chaired by Nicki Jones, put together and delivered Thanksgiving meals for local 602 members in need. The Women’s Committee, chaired by Keri Hall, raised over $4,000 in donations that went to EVE Domestic Violence Shelter. They also helped construct a playground at EVE and made sure to make the day a bit better than it would have otherwise have been for the families at the shelter during Mother’s Day with a special menu, flowers and presents. Our Veterans were well taken care of by our Veterans Committee, chaired by Bernadine Ross, with tokens of appreciation at the LDT Veterans Wall. A big thank you to everyone that helped at a gate collection, taking back bottles, serving food at a shelter, delivering presents or food, or helping out in anyway. Our community is better off because of your generosity local 602! We are reminded of a quote by Walter Reuther: “There is no greater calling than to serve your fellow men. There is no greater contribution than to help the weak. There is no greater satisfaction than to have done it well.”

September 2021

When will we learn?

In the May issue of the Lansing Labor News I wrote, “Please keep our brothers and sisters that are experiencing long periods of layoff in your thoughts. The global microchip shortage has dramatically affected production of many industries. those of us in the U.S. labor movement have been demanding the millions of jobs that have been outsourced or moved to countries with questionable environmental and labor standards be brought back to the United States so that this type of supply chain issue would never happen.” Now it’s local 602’s turn. As you are reading this local 602 active members will be in their 2nd month of Layoff due to microchip supply issues.
In 2017 members of UAW local 292 in Kokomo Indiana stopped building Microchips. Our Brothers and Sisters in Kokomo had built Microchips since the 1980’s. just like many things that were formerly built in the U.S. they are now built wherever they can be made cheapest. UAW local 292 was in the headlines last year as they quickly pivoted from building parts to building ventilators to help during the COVID peak last year.  Local 292 officials expressed their frustration,
"At what point does 'investing' in American jobs, in local jobs become a worthy venture?” … “Are we not worth some of the tax incentives, and breaks that are possible to entice GM to care about American — KOKOMO — jobs?"
It was just a matter of time until other countries, where former American jobs have been moved, determined whether or not we could work. What’s left of American manufacturing work is now being destroyed by corporate greed and we all hold some of the responsibility as well. If we continue to be indifferent to buying American made goods we will continue to see the demise of American manufacturing.
As Labor day approaches please take the time to look at the label and look for American made goods wherever and whenever you can. The American middle class is counting on us!

May 2021

Please keep our brothers and sisters that are experiencing long periods of layoff in your thoughts. The global microchip shortage has dramatically affected production of many industries. Those of us in the U.S. labor movement have been demanding the millions of jobs that have been outsourced or moved to countries with questionable environmental and labor standards be brought back to the United States so that this type of supply chain issue would never happen. If International Labor Standards and/or Trade Agreements were enforced the world would likely not crash to a stop when a ship gets stuck in a canal or a fire occurs in a manufacturing facility in Japan. Decades of allowing Corporations to write disastrous legislation, Trade Agreements and put their political puppets in key governing bodies has weakened the middle class. Recently President Biden appointed Thea Lee head of the Labor Department's Bureau of International Labor Affairs, which enforces trade commitments and investigates forced labor and child labor around the world. If you are unfamiliar with Thea Lee – last year weeks before the world shut down due to COVID she spoke to the UAW CAP conference in Washington D.C.:

Thea Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute shared a message that connected economic inequality with the past three decades of injustice and crippling inequalities for working families. “The economy is less fair… not morally fair,” Lee said. “CEO pay at the top firms have risen 1,000% since 1979, while working families have seen a 12% increase and some families are working two or three jobs to afford health care, education and housing.

“Ninety percent of the people in this country are working harder. This is not a healthy economy for working families and it’s our job to figure out what to do next,” Lee said.

Taking her decades of experience working for the AFL-CIO, the Economic Policy Institute and with the Obama Administration she will now be in a position to be the voice of working families in the United States. Hopefully she will be able to help fix decades of misguided policy across the globe.

Lastly, as summer nears it may seem like we are ready to have backyard BBQ’s, camping trips and vacations. Please remember that COVID is still with us and taking the few moments of extra precaution can save a life or prevent hospitalization/long term illness and if you have not yet been vaccinated please consider doing so.



February 2021

Happy new year and good riddance to 2020! I hope you are all healthy and safe and looking forward to a better year! We may have started the year off a bit rocky but followed it up with an amazing Inauguration highlighted by wisdom from a young poet named Amanda Gorman:
“We've seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy
And this effort very nearly succeeded
But while democracy can be periodically delayed
it can never be permanently defeated
In this truth
in this faith we trust
For while we have our eyes on the future
history has its eyes on us
This is the era of just redemption
We feared at its inception
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter”

History is more than just dates and names. It can and should tell a story about what a society is capable of both good and bad. We should use history as a measuring stick to gauge our continued improvement and also to make sure we aren’t heading in the wrong direction. Black History Month is important for many reasons including educating ourselves about people and events that may have been left out of History books, providing context and perspective to history, and it gives us that very important measuring stick to let us know if we are continuing on the right path.
This year I urge you to make an effort to learn about some of our great African-American leaders. Even with COVID making it more difficult to attend events or to go visit places you can still celebrate Virtually:
The Detroit Institute of Arts invites you to celebrate Black History Month at home with free online programs including music, films, art talks and art-making, events for foodies, seniors, and kids of all ages. https://www.dia.org/blackhistorymonth
The Library of Congress is hosting the site called African American History month. http://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/about.html
PBS has some fantastic programing and online content available. https://www.pbs.org/articles/2021/02/celebrate-black-history-month-2021/


December 2020

With the election season behind us we can turn our attention towards the holidays. Brothers and Sisters, I would like to wish each and every one of you a wonderful holiday season and a prosperous 2021.

While COVID prevented us from having a Veterans day event at the union hall that did not stop our Veterans Chair Bernadine Ross from honoring our Veterans at the plant. Thank you Bernadine for organizing a chance for us to thank our active Veterans for their service with some small tokens of appreciation.

I would like to send special holiday wishes to our retirees. This year has brought many challenges and one of them was not being able to see many of you for our normal holiday luncheons. I hope you are safe and well and I look forward to seeing you next year.

It may be easy to reflect on the things that we are missing during this holiday season, but please be sure to remember the meaning of these holidays. We are coming through one of the most difficult periods of our country’s history. We should take a moment to reflect on all that we have to be thankful for, how blessed our families are, and that we may soon have a vaccine for this virus that has shaken the world so horribly. While COVID may force us to change how we celebrate it cannot change who we are. In grim times it is most important to be our best selves. For those that hunger we can offer a meal. For those that are lonely we can offer our voice. Circumstances may separate us physically, but they cannot separate us in other ways. This holiday season many will need more than they ever have, please find a way to be the light of hope during dark days.

Many Charitable organizations have had to change how they are proceeding due to COVID but we can still show our support online:

Toys for Tots Lansing -

https://marinetoysfortots.salsalabs.org/localdonationform/index.html?fun_local_campaign_designation=MI-Lansing&scf_unit_code_supporter=MI-Lansing

Old Newsboys Lansing –

https://www.lansingoldnewsboys.org/donate-now/

Greater Lansing area food bank –

https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E344133&id=13


September 2020

Brothers and Sisters I hope that you all are healthy and safe during these difficult times. I would like to thank the membership for giving me the honor of serving as Local 602 President. I would also like to thank Steve Delaney and Bill Reed for their years of service to our membership and making themselves available as a resource for any questions or issues that have come up.

As fall approaches we come upon another election cycle. Please take the time to review our UAW endorsed candidates and make sure to exercise your right to vote. Locally our Lansing area UAW CAP Council takes the time to screen dozens of candidates, both Democrats and Republicans, and makes endorsements based on the issues that support our members interests. Sometimes these choices are difficult and sometimes the choice is obvious. Often local elections have greater impact on our daily lives than those at the top of the ticket. This year more of us will vote absentee so please use this as an opportunity to sit down with your family and fill out your ballots together; I can’t tell you how many times I have been called asking “who should I support for County Commissioner?” or “I don’t know any of these names for City Council! Who should I vote for?” Whether it’s a spouse or voting age children having the endorsements from your UAW CAP Council may come in handy this year so please feel free to share with family, friends and neighbors. If you have friends and/or family that are in different parts of the state or country guide them to uawendorsements.org and they can see endorsements from the UAW across the entire country.

In the coming months, we will all be subjected to an onslaught of political marketing by the candidates in an attempt to secure our votes.  As a contrast, I leave you the words and actions of the two candidates:

Joe Biden – “We bet on the American worker and we won!”…”and I would do it again!” speaking on the Bridge loans that helped save the Auto industry.

Donald Trump - “He said U.S. automakers could shift production away from Michigan to communities where autoworkers would make less. “You can go to different parts of the United States and then ultimately you’d do full-circle — you’ll come back to Michigan because those guys are going to want their jobs back even if it is less,” Trump said. “We can do the rotation in the United States — it doesn’t have to be in Mexico.”

He said that after Michigan “loses a couple of plants — all of sudden you’ll make good deals in your own area.” (Detroit News Aug. 12, 2015)

The difference between these two candidates couldn’t be clearer for working families! Please support those that support us this November, Vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

This year we mourn the lives of 2 of Labors greatest allies. Congressman John Lewis and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In one of her recent dissenting opinions Justice Ginsburg gave a bit of a labor law lesson to the Conservative majority that had once again sided against working families and in favor of Corporations - “employees must have the capacity to act collectively in order to match their employers’ clout in setting terms and conditions of employment” – explaining that the law may not have the power to equalize bargaining power between workers and their bosses, but, by enabling those workers to join together, it could give them a fighting chance.

With the nomination process for a replacement for Justice Ginsburg already being rushed into place we must be more vigilant than ever to protect organized labor.

Congressman John Lewis was a personal hero to me. I had the opportunity to spend time with him and hear him speak. In his office in Washington D.C. he showed a small group of union activists pictures of “Bloody Sunday” during the March from Selma to Montgomery. He showed us the picture of a Sherriff fracturing his skull with a baton as the marchers were beaten and tear gassed. During a speech of his he said “the right to vote was not given. It was fought for and too many people died for us to ignore our responsibility. “Some of us have blood in the fight!” he shouted. Congressman John Lewis went jail over and over again, was beaten and hospitalized over and over again so that we could all have the right to vote. Please don’t let his effort be in vain.


 
 
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