Financial Secretary Report
Lary Greenhalgh

E Mail Larry Greenhalgh
Union Hall Office: 905-682-2611 ext 227

Links and Forms

Canadian Auto Workers National Union Website
E.I. Calendar 2010- 2011

June, 2011

PORT ELGIN EDUCATION CENTRE:

I have had numerous calls and applications to attend courses for education in Port Elgin. Due to our funding and loss of membership the past few years, the amount of members eligible to attend these courses has been reduced. We currently have enough funding to send approximately 60 members to a one week course during the next 12 months. This is for the General Motors unit only. Some of our other units have limited funding as well and if you would like to go, please call me at the hall and we will inform you if you have enough funding to send members.

We will send as many brothers and sisters as possible. We will track all members who go to Port Elgin and hope they are willing to help out in our many campaigns (Labour Day, elections, organizing, etc.)

Port Elgin is a great opportunity for all of our members to access education programs and meet other brothers and sisters in the greatest union and facility in the world today.

If you have any questions or need training in certain courses, please call and we will try to accommodate all.

The Local Union offers a variety of courses through our Education Committee for all to attend.

UNION HALL:

When I am out and meet fellow brothers and sisters, they still ask the same question: Is our hall for sale and is it sold? The answer is; yes it's for sale and no, it is not sold as of writing this article.

The reason for the sale of our building is simple:

1) Our banquet facility is not being booked by our members, even though they do receive a discount. I have heard many reasons why the members do not rent the building;

2) The decline in membership in the past years;

3) We do realize that today most members want their weddings booked in a different type of hall (outdoors, wineries and a more up to date facility).

These are the reasons for the sale of our existing hall. The Executive has decided to be pro-active on this and feel with the memberships' approval, we need to build the proper sized hall to best suit our retirees and active members.

Your President, Wayne Gates has been very open and honest and is willing to talk to all on this issue.

To end on another note, this summer try the recipe below. It was given to me by a good friend from Port Elgin and if you do try it, I think you will enjoy:

Bacon Dip:

One 8 oz. package Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1/2cup Miracle Whip
1/2cup grated cheddar cheese
2 tblsp. chopped green onion
1/2 cup crushed Breton crackers
10 pieces of fried chopped bacon
Breton crackers

Mix cream cheese and Miracle whip in blender.
Stir in 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese and 2 tblsp. chopped green onion and spread into oven safe dish.
Mix 10 pieces of fried chopped bacon with 1/2 cup of crushed Breton Crackers. Spread over above mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 mins.
Serve with Breton crackers.

In closing, we would like to wish all a safe and enjoyable vacation with your family and friends.

Issued by, CAW Local 199
Wayne Gates, President
Bruce Allen, Vice-President
Larry Greenhalgh, Financial Sec-Treasurer
Mark Roy, Recording Secretary

75th Anniversary Shirts

We have a selection of new shirts, mens and ladies with a 75th anniversary logo. If you would like to order one please contact the union hall

Black Shirts larger image

Red Shirts larger image

Larry

Pension Report

I was reading The Guardian, CAW Local 444 Newsletter at CAW council last week. There was a very interesting article about pensions by Dina Chiodo. I contacted Dino and asked if we could post it on our website.

Read the Article "Pension Report"

Larry

CAW Apparel For Sale

We have a variety of union made clothes, male and female, shirts and jackets available for purchase, the purchase price is our cost. Drop by the Union Hall to check these out.

Tough Duck Canvas Jacket CAW Logo - $80 (black, Dark Brown)

Microfibre crew neck Shirt -$25 (Black,Blue, White)

Mens & Womens Long Sleeve Performance Shirts - $30

Women's Shirts Larger Image
Men's Shirts Larger Image

Hall Rentals

The Union Hall has three function rooms available for rent, our members receive a discounted rate call Linda Johnston for more information 905-682-7616.

Insurance Maximum Insurable Earnings

Changes to Employment Insurance Maximum Insurable Earnings and Benefit Rate for 2011

We are writing to inform you of changes to the 2011 maximum insurable earnings and benefit rate set for Employment Insurance, which were announced on November 12, 2010, by the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board (CEIFB).

Effective January 1, 2011, the annual maximum insurable earnings will increase to $44,200 from the existing $43,200. As a result, the maximum weekly EI benefit rate will increase to $468 from the current amount of $457.

As expected, the EI premium rate for workers will increase to $1.78 for every $100 of salary up to $44,200. The corresponding employer rate will also increase to $2.49. For Quebec, the EI premium rate will be set at $1.41 for workers and $1.97 for employers. This lower premium rate is due to Quebec's delivery of its own parental benefits since January 2006.

Just pick one thing today

My Son wrote this article which was printed in the Standard, I thought you would find it very interesting Read More

Financial Report - March 2010

C.A.W. Local 199 has an Adjustment Centre at our hall. This is open to assist our laid off members in times of layoffs. This Centre is funded by government assistance and negotiated by your leadership to help our members with the difficult challenges with job loss. There are many programs and services that are available to you as a laid off worker.

The Adjustment Centre is a place where you can go to explore your options and to find direction to the programs that best suit your needs. Adjustment services include; helping workers gain access to training and services, job search assistances, resume preparation, access to counselling and personal support and advocating for problem solving when dealing with Employment Insurance, WSIB, pensions and more. Bottom line, they are there to help. These services are available at no cost to you. Watch for upcoming initiatives on line.

The Centre is staffed with 9 peer helpers. There is one lead peer helper and one co-ordinator. They have all been trained to assist you with your needs. They are CAW members just like you and know what you are going through and where you are coming from. The peer helpers work up to 12 hrs per week . The lead peer helper and co-ordinator work 30 hrs per week.

The Adjustment Centre is open from 9 am to 3 pm Monday to Friday . You can contact the Centre by calling 905-687-6776 or fax them at 905-687-9797. All correspondence is confidential.

If you need assistance and feel you are not receiving proper assistance, call your union hall at 905-682-2611

This is your Adjustment Centre - take advantage.

In Solidarity
Larry Greenhalgh

CAW Legal Service Plan

On November 17, 2009, the CAW Legal Services Plan Administrative Committee, which includes an equal number of Company and Union representatives, agreed to a policy change that will attempt to fairly and reasonably allocate the costs of the CAW Legal Services Plan to all eligible plan members.

When the Plan was first established in 1985, the Canada Revenue Agency advised that the allocation of taxable income had to be done on a "reasonable" basis. At that time, the Committee members agreed that it would be "reasonable” to allocate the taxable income to active employees only, given the usage patterns and given the number of active compared to the number of retirees and surviving spouses. The Canada Revenue Agency agreed that this was a reasonable method of allocation at that time.

This resulted in "active" employees incurring higher benefit costs to cover those incurred by Retirees/Surviving Spouses. GM Canada's current retiree to active ratio has sharply increased whereby it is no longer "reasonable" to allocate overall plan costs solely to "active" employees.

Effective with the 2009 tax year, Retirees/Surviving Spouses will receive a T4A for Legal Services on a proportional cost basis. Retirees/Surviving Spouses eligible for 12 months of Legal Services in 2009 will be allocated $87.15, which will be included on a T4A. Only a portion of that amount will be subject to tax, depending on each individual's marginal tax rate.

The Legal Services amount allocated to each Retiree/Surviving Spouse will vary based on the number of months of eligibility.

Financial Report

Recession won't end until people go back to work

We've heard an awful lot in the last couple of months that the recession is now behind us. But I don't agree. We may have come out of a paper recession but a job recession we have not. Early in January, we had yet another plant closure, CAW Dana brothers and sisters in Brantford, who have been there a long time. This news just sickens me.

We have government spokespeople going all over the world telling everyone we're in great shape, yet we literally have hundreds of thousands of people out of work; the unofficial jobless rate is over 17%! What's even sadder is that many of these people are now finding out that their pensions are in jeopardy too. Nortel sent that message loud and clear. These were people who thought they were going to have something at the end of the rainbow and it's not there. At the same time, Nortel gave fat bonuses to their executives while the workers' pensions were being reduced. Clearly there's something wrong here and we have to do something to address these problems.

If there's anything we need in this country, it's pension reform, to ensure that folks who have contributed to a pension plan are going to receive something when they stop working and it's not going to be only 50% of what they put in. These people were not the investors in their company, they were people who went to work every day and did everything right and at the end of the day the company put them at risk through no fault of their own. There's something wrong with that picture!

What we need is a national pension insurance plan. The government needs to ensure that if companies go bankrupt, the pension plans of these people are protected. How do we pay for it? Through the pension plans themselves, by a premium! Think of it: we pay a premium for car insurance, for house insurance, for life insurance. We need this protection now!

For those of us without a pension plan, we need real changes in old age security and in CPP. We need this in order to keep up with the rising cost of living so that as we get older we don't slip into poverty. But instead of increasing these benefits, many government are now saying that it's okay to work beyond your 65th birthday. This is crazy - we've got to open up those job markets to our young people. We've done our bit and we've got to step aside and the only way we can do that is with some dignity. Just how do we get that dignity? It means not having to go to food banks. It's having the means to enjoy our retirement and look after ourselves. To make that possible, the government has to ensure that our pensions are looked after. We are in a crisis and this needs to occur now!

We need a government that will put in place a strategy to put Canadians back to work. We need to start manufacturing again. When we manufacture, we create employment and we create wealth for all Canadians.

We are coming into a very special time - elections! Is your government working for you?

Think before you vote!

Financial Report

Over the past year to keep our union hall financially sound the Executive board has had to make some hard decisions. I thought I would mention some of our decisions:

1. cancel 199 News
2. decrease delegates to all conferences and conventions
3. decreased amount of yearly councils
4. decreased donations made

These are a few examples,but we must do more to stay valuable.

One option is to go on direct deposit with FirstOntario Credit Union where all members receiving payment will have money deposited to FirstOntario and then they can transfer from there. This would mean everyone receiving a payment from your Local must sign up an account with FirstOntario. There would be a time frame for this to be done in.

We are also looking at paying bi-weekly. This would save time for staff and time saves money.

Office Hours

The union hall will be closed for the two week shutdown, same as General Motors. This allows our staff time to spend with their families and this is the least busy time at our hall.

Just For Fun

I thought I would share a recipe with everyone: French Onion Soup
4 cans Beef Broth (consomme) soup
4 tablespoons butter
4 large Spanish onions
2 teaspoons worchestire sauce
1/2 cup red wine

Thinly slice onions and place in large pot with butter. Cook onions until tender. Add soup, worchestire sauce and wine. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes, upto to 2 1/2 hours. Let sit.

Place croutons in soup bowls, fill bowls with soup and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes.

Let me know if you have a recipe you would like to share and I will add it to my article when space allows.

In Solidarity
Larry Greenhalgh