ORION ASSEMBLY; FACTORY OF THE FUTURE
It was a long time ago when many of us went to class at the Williams Lake School in Waterford to learn how to work in the “Factory of the Future” Orion Assembly. Most of us had been off for more than two years. Like many of my co-workers, I was working two and a half jobs to try and make ends meet when I got the call. Unbeknown to me, my local and the International UAW had been working every day to get me back to work. Many of our young members inside the plant today worry about coming back after the re-tool but the UAW has a long memory and our local leadership will not rest until you are all back.
Many cars have passed the pay-point at B-52 on the flat-track since we sat in those crowded classrooms near the end of a warm summer and were schooled in the basics of working in a “Team Concept” plant. A place where union folks had a say as to how things were done and a place where union and management worked together for a common goal, “Great Cars Built by Great People.” Believe me it wasn’t always perfect. The managers all wanted it to be like in the old plant where they were the ultimate authority and the committee wanted everyone to rely on them to solve every little issue. Come to find out we did have more of a say but we also had something else . . . responsibility. The members of UAW Local 5960 stepped up and accepted the responsibility of working in teams and Orion Assembly has been a leading GM plant ever since.
In the late eighties war broke out in the Middle East and Orion Assembly released soldiers to the conflict and then gave them a well deserved Hero’s welcome when they came safely home. In the 1990’s GM needed a plant and a workforce that could run five separate car lines and Orion stepped forward and did the job; winning a J.D. Power Award while doing it. When the events of 911 happened, the New York Police and Fire Departments needed new vehicles to replace the ones that had been destroyed during the attacks and Orion and UAW Local 5960 stepped up and built them . . . for free. Local 5960 even sent a one-man supply crew to New York to assist in the rescue and recovery efforts. Former Quality Network Rep. and recent retiree, Steve Thomson loaded his Chevy Blazer full with gloves, respirators and other supplies, donated from the plant, and spent two weeks helping the New York Fire Department. Local 5960 members are known for going above and beyond the call of duty.
Now General Motors has asked Orion to do what no other company or plant has been able to due for a long time, if ever, to build a small car inside America and make it for a profit. Make no doubt about this, Orion Assembly and UAW Local 5960 will step forward, like we always have, and blow the doors off this challenge. We can, and will make General Motors profitable making small cars inside this country. It’s not all about fewer people and cost cutting; a large part of it will be teamwork. Yes, we will need to be efficient and thrifty but we will also have to be smart and innovative. We have the workforce to do anything we want to do . . . if we work together as a team. Teamwork is magic; two plus two can equal five when you are really a team.
For all of us who sat in those classrooms at the Williams Lake School, so many years ago, this is our biggest challenge and will be our crowning achievement. You see we have been in training the past 25 years to prepare for just such an event and we will not fail. The company, the union and indeed the entire country is counting on us. The time is now and this is our 1937. Let’s kick the transplant’s asses back home to Japan starting in 2011.
The word came in recently like a bomb dropping. The deal to sell Saturn to Roger Penske had fallen through and the dream of “A new Kind of Company” was over. What a shame. The only concept that “perhaps” could have saved GM and the UAW from the humiliation of bankruptcy was tossed aside and then buried when no one could be found who wanted to build the cars for Penske. Say what? GM has plants setting idled, closed and in various stages of disrepair around the country. And the UAW has thousands of laid-off workers looking for something to. Michigan needs jobs in the worst way. It would seem to be a match made in heaven for our state.
The Saturn Corporation, as it was originally called, was the brainchild of the former CEO of General Motors, Roger Smith. You remember him as the star of Michael Moore’s first movie “Roger and Me” from the 1980’s. The idea was also fully supported by then UAW International Vice President, Don Ephlin. The inspiration began with 99 GM employees, company and union, who traveled the world in search of best practices in the world of car building. They studied the German’s and the Japanese and other companies, who weren’t necessarily auto builders, for the best ways to run a business. They came back with some radical (by our standards) ideas. To join the company, even as an hourly employee, you went through rigorous a three-day interview process, mostly to see how well you worked as part of a team. The original 99, as they were called, realized that team work and team building were one of the keys to the company’s success and all Saturn employees got 40 hours of team related training every year. If you passed the interview, the team, who you would be working with, would call to offer you a job. Once inside the plant, when you desired to move to a new team you went to that team with your resume and work record in your hand. The people that you would work beside every day made the call as to whether or not to bring you into the team. The company was full of good ideas and was an incubator for new processes that could be spread across the entire GM Corporation.
Unfortunately others viewed this new start up company as more of a threat than anything. People within the company and many others hated Saturn. Saturn was the new kid in town and they were yesterday’s news. They weren’t about to let that happen.
In the early nineties I helped the International UAW video tape a presentation on Modern Operating Agreements (MOA’s) and of course Saturn had one. The other presenters were the UAW President from the Ford Flatrock Plant that built the Mazda in a Ford facility and the President from the NUMMI Local in California that was a joint venture with General Motors and Toyota. The presenter from Saturn was the President of UAW Local 1857, Mike Bennett. To say I was impressed by his presentation would be an understatement. I left with the impression that he, some day, could rise to be the President of the International UAW. The Saturn local not only had a five year plan but a ten year plan as well. The only thing they didn’t have a plan for was their own parent company trying to slowly strangle them.
Even while being plotted against, the little company was able to build some of the finest cars ever built. Saturn buyers are easily the most dedicated customers that GM has . . .and GM just cut them all loose. Saturn dealers are easily the best dealers that GM has . . .and GM just cut them all loose. The Saturn dealer experience (another article on its own) is the best that I have ever had at GM and I have had many. Every UAW/GM employee, who has had the Saturn Experience that I talk to, feels the same way. If you want to make General Motors a better company overnight. Make all GM dealers just like Saturn Dealers.
Let’s get back to the original problem. Who can build Saturn’s for Mr. Penske? How about Pontiac Assembly? They are close to suppliers, have a seasoned work force and are in a location that really needs the work. Let’s start a “Bring Saturn to Pontiac” campaign. Pontiac, for many years, was the home to the Pontiac brand. With that gone, Saturn could be the next best thing. Pontiac could use a name change and a new beginning; how about Saturn, Michigan or Saturnac? Some how I don’t think Chief Pontiac would mind under the circumstances. Thanks for listening . . .Tony
