GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Well, here we go. The lockout affecting shipping on the west coast will undoubtedly affect Nummi's production plans, and increase the already outrageous wait time for our Pontiac Vibes. Leave it to an irrational labour dispute to enflame an already unacceptable situation. Does anyone have any information on the direct effect on the Nummi plant and if they have developed other streams to get the parts through? Obviously a lot of the parts in these vehicles come from Japan, and it only takes one missing part to stall production. Any GenVibe users with access to the news in the Freemont area, please pass on any information you can find in the local media, so we can adjust our expectations. Thank you so much.

remember UPS in 97???

I wok in internation transportation, and in the loop for info.I will keep you informed of any changes.Note that this also affects Canada because most vessels pass throught the US first before coming to Canada, so this may apply to the Matrix as well.

Indeed. It will affect more than just the Matrix in Cambridge. I work at a Suzuki/GM joint venture plant in Canada (much like Nummi) and we depend heavily on shipping from the west coast. Most of if comes through Vancouver but I'm sure some boats are tied up in U.S. ports. Thanks for any info you or anyone else can offer.

Saw a news report that they will be closed by Thursday morning. Will take a day or two to get back up running once the lockout is over.

Hi...I live in Fremont, CA, home of NUMMI (and therefore the birthplace of all your Vibes).Any event, the local papers are reporting that as of last Friday, NUMMI had approximately 9 days worth of parts on hand. After that, they'd be shut down. The threat of something at the ports has been there for a while, and NUMMI had increased their inventory on hand.Bummer for me, as they are supposed to be building my Vibe this week. I hope they aren't scrounging in the cafeteria and under sofa cushions for spare parts. "I know there's another rear seat around here somewhere.....Now where did I put it?"

quote:Saw a news report that they will be closed by Thursday morning. Will take a day or two to get back up running once the lockout is over.Damn! Time for the government to do the right thing and order the 2 sides back to the table and the workers back to work, immediately. The entire continent can't be held hostage by a labour dispute. What are the longshoremen demanding?

One of the main complaints by ILWU is the new technology the PMA wants to bring into the ports. They are afraid it will cause job cuts. There are also salary and benefits issues. They only make around $150,000/year. The Gov't has already asked both sides to come to Washington for Federal mediation but the ILWU refused. There was also a meeting scheduled with a Federal mediator and the ILWU reps walked out before the meeting started. The PMA will keep the ports closed until the ILWU signs an extension to the current contract (they did this in July and August) or until a new contract is negotiated. Right now there are no scheduled meetings between any of the parties so who knows how long it will take. I handle exports for my company and currently have around 100 vehicles and a container full of motorcycles sitting in California waiting to be shipped. Been watching this closely.

OK, a late Wednesday (Pacific time) update. The local news is reporting that truck (Toyota Tacoma) production at NUMMI already stopped and that Vibe producion will stop early Thursday (ie 2am).The news reports that NUMMI has chartered some air cargo flights to bring in Vibe parts from Japan, but they won't be here until early next week. Truck production will be stopped indefinitely.There you go. Sadness but some hope.I was supposed to get a build this week, I will call my dealer tomorrow and see what they've heard and report back.

This morning, CNN Headline News has been running a report filmed in the NUMMI plant, including interviews with plant employees. They contend that they had built up production parts inventory to 6 days from the normal 2 days in anticipation of the strike. Didn't say when the plant would run out, but did mention the expensive air shipment option. Racks of engines and transmissions played a featured role. Point of interest: they said that the Freemont plant is the only auto plant west of the Mississippi.

I read that Vibe production stops at midnight today. Seems rather un-patiotic to cost the economy 1 billion per day; that's like destroying a Sears Tower in Chicago each day.Has the price gone up yet for Vibes on the dealer lots?

I read in the National Post (Canada) that the 'new technology' the PMA wants to introduce into the ports is simply to put more computers at terminals , to help speed cargo flow. The ILWU won't agree unless it gets control over more of those jobs (read, more union dues). So the continent is being held hostage for a few thousand dollars in union dues. Typical. A reality check is desperately needed here. The nation is on the verge of war, and dockworkers making 150,000 a year bleed a billion + a day from the economy. Saddam is smiling.

. Point of interest: they said that the Freemont plant is the only auto plant west of the Mississippi.[/QUOTE]Point of interst (courtesy http://media.gm.com ), GM has assembly plants in Wentzville, Missouri; Fairfax, Kansas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Arlington, Texas. Although none of them are probably supplied from the west coast.And besides the high cost of the air shipments, would be the logistics nightmare. Parts not on the water would be for cars scheduled for production weeks from now.Toyota has been so desperate for Corollas, they may fly things in to build them. But GM may let things take their course and use the downtime to lower dealer inventory levels.

quote: . Toyota has been so desperate for Corollas, they may fly things in to build them. But GM may let things take their course and use the downtime to lower dealer inventory levels.Finding a Vibe in Canada would be like finding Osama bin Laden sipping on a hot mug of Jo at your Starbucks. A 6 month wait is not unusual to obtain your Vibe. Now we may be looking at the next model year to get one. Unacceptable.

Saddam is happy and lots of people in my neighborhood are out of work. Truck drivers mostly. But the LOF plant where NUMMI gets the glass, Arvin Meritor plant for exhaust system and fuel tank, Dana for axles, and even the POSCO steel plant are going to be closing doors soon. With California rolling blackouts, high taxes, and expensive land, I wouldn't be surprised to see NUMMI stay closed and the Vibe backlog and assembly line moved to Japan.

quote:Saddam is happy and lots of people in my neighborhood are out of work......., I wouldn't be surprised to see NUMMI stay closed and the Vibe backlog and assembly line moved to Japan. Holy smokes Mr. Campbell! Are you ok? I think you need to lie down for a little while. I doubt that anyone wants the NUMMI plant to close. They are doing a great job (they sure did a great job on my car). Everything will work out. Be cool. This too will pass.

I think Mr. Campbell echos the sentiment most of us feel right now - frustration (especially if you're waiting for a Vibe). Nummi is certainly a long way from being shut down - it is a world class plant with numerous awards other plants only dream of. But labour instability such as this is just one more reason NOT to build or expand a plant in North America. The job action on the west coast is irrational and selfish. C'mon, let's get it together for the good of the nation. This is 2002 and computer technology is a big part of every job. Adapt or die. Nobody is going to lose a job. The 'computers and technology cost jobs' argument has been used by the labour movement for decades, wrongly. Technology SAVES jobs. The volume of goods throught these ports continues to grow at breakneck rates. Updated technology is a must to maintain efficiency and competitiveness with the rest of the world. Indeed, this work stoppage is already forcing manufacturers to rethink their streams and find other ways to move products. THAT will cost jobs, not technology. Everyone involved, especially the unions, should give their collective heads a shake.

I haven't hear much news from the Steamship lines but it doesn't look good. If this continues I imagine that Mr. Bush will have to intervine. THe lockout is affecting not only American commerce but also Canadian.Hopefully this will be resolved by next week. For the Nummi plant don't worry to much. I imagine that most of the needed materials, engines and what not are on the vessels that are waiting to dock and also on the water.California has the best operating port in North America so they will be able to recover quickly.

I was just watching the NBC Nightly News and they were doing a story about the strike and one of the places they mentioned and showed was the NUMMI plant. They even showed a half assembled Vibe sitting on the line. Sad.

I'm OK. Yes, I am frustrated. Where I live, there are people out of work because of the guys who think $150,000 is not enough. And I would really like to get more automotive engineering projects (I'm a mechanical engineer making ALOT less than 150k). I've been to NUMMI a few times, and I've done some proposal work for them. In a negative economic local environment, the NUMMI factory will stop planning for long term payback engineering projects, so that's bad for me personally.

quote:I'm OK. Sorry man Hope everything works out for you and your community very soon. We are rooting for you. Let us know.

I don't know where you're getting your info, ie, dock workers making 150,000 bucks a year, but I will remind you, it takes two to tango !! Having been on both sides of the table, there is always a lot of finger pointing, and a whole of of mis-information that abounds. Take it all with a grain of salt. This is temporary. Life will go on !

I stated in an earlier post that they make $150000/year. I just read that their average salary is actually around $115000/year. I do agree that their are both sides to the story but the ILWU is not saying anything, they just keep increasing what they want. The PMA has offered an increase in averange salary to $137000, full medical benifits with no deductible at no cost to the workers, and a decent pension. They have also offered job protection guarantees to all workers who may be impacted by the introduction of new technology. This doesn't sound like a bad offer to me, why won't the ILWU accept it? I am not on either side but have been following this as it affects my job. Maybe if the ILWU would come out and explain to the public why this offer isn't acceptable, they wouldn't look like the bad guys to every one.

With the latest offer, they would be the highest paid blue collar workers in North America. The base salary quoted does not include overtime, which I'm sure they get lots of. 150,000 bucks a year is totally within reach. Sure there are 2 sides to every story, but the facts are the facts. The offer basically has caved in to every demand. These workers are greedy and selfish. They should all be fired and replaced, like the air traffic controllers. This could push the world into recession.

Is it a salary dispute ? Read excerpt from the news below..."The sticking point in negotiations is whether jobs created by new technology will be unionized. The average full-time dockworker in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union makes $80,000 a year. The most experienced foremen can earn $167,000.

They have also been guaranteed jobs, nobody will lose their job because of new the technology, that is urgently needed just to keep up with volume. All their benefits are fully paid, no employee paid fees at all. Pension improvments etc, etc, etc. This is about union dues. The union wants to make sure that any new jobs created by the new technology will be unionized, so they can continue to reap more union dues. They've been offered a wage package that makes them the highest paid blue collar workers on the planet. They've been guaranteed jobs for life. Free benefit package, that amounts to over 40,000 bucks a year for the average employee. Generous pensions, most of us can only dream about, yet they refuse to go back to work. Geesh, what more could they possibly want? Fire them all! I'll work for half that.

The westcoast lockout is still having a lingering effect on manufacturing across North America. I work at an automotive assembly plant in Southwestern Ontario and we were just told today that our plant will have to shut down for one week in November. The reason given was the West Coast Port labour dispute. All parts shipments have been delayed. Any news regarding production at the NUMMI plant and if they are up to full production, with overtime yet?

Here is a link to a story about a partial tentative deal at the ports. The technology issue has been settled.http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ... port_labor

The dispute has been settled. A 6 year agreement.WASHINGTON (AP) - West Coast dockworkers and shipping companies reached a tentative six-year contract agreement early Sunday, potentially ending a long, caustic labor dispute that closed the ports and prompted presidential intervention. Chief federal mediator Peter Hurtgen praised both sides, saying lead negotiators "demonstrated statesmenlike leadership, which made this agreement possible." Hurtgen, head of the Federal Mediation and Concilation Service, would not offer details of the tentative agreement, but characterized it as "historic." Hurtgen said the tentative agreement provides "substantial improvements in wages and benefits for union members and also provides the necessary technology and dispute-resolution improvements needed to ensure that America's West Coast ports continue to modernize and increase both efficiency and productivity." The agreement still must be ratified by the entire membership of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in a vote likely to take place after the Thanksgiving holiday, Hurtgen said. President Bush, in a statement issued by the White House early Sunday, said: "This agreement is good for workers, good for employers and it's good for the American economy. I congratulate labor and management for working together to successfully resolve their disagreement."

Good thing I took one out of dealer stock and didn't special order one, I might still be waiting.

As much as custom ordering sounds tempting, for many years I've just bought off the lot. If I can't find the exact one I want at the time, the dealer does a search, and every time has been able to find one within close enough proximity. Beats waiting months for a car, that's for sure.;