General Motors National Retiree Association
Over
The Hill Car People
Established 2003
Summary of our Meeting in Washington with the Auto Task Force
April 24, 2009
Hello to the members of Over The Hill Car People, LLC - General Motors National Retiree Association and all GM retirees!
We did attend a meeting with President Obama's Auto Task Force Team in Washington on April 24, 2009. Mr. Ron Bloom, a senior executive on the Federal Automotive Task Force, was present for this meeting. He is one of the leaders of the Presidential Auto Task Force Team selected by President Obama to assist with the restructuring of the American Auto Industry. He has spent 25 years of his career helping reorganize companies near bankruptcy.
The Presidents of four salaried retiree organizations attended this meeting:
Don
Whitehouse, President
FAIR Alliance Inc.
Ford Actions Impacting Retirees
Den Black, Interim Chair
DSRA (Delphi)
Jack Dickinson, President
Over The Hill Car People, LLC
General Motors National Retiree Group
www.overthehillcarpeople.com
Chuck Austin, President
National Chrysler Retirement Organization
This was a ground-breaking effort by the Presidents of these four retiree groups to form a united effort to represent the concerns of the salaried retirees from all of the retiree associations listed above. We have agreed to continue our united efforts to represent the concerns of our respective salaried retirees. Click here to learn more about the details of our meeting: Auto Task Force Meeting Minutes
Update: April 22, 2009
We are happy to advise we have been granted an audience with the Auto Task Force on Friday, April 24, 2009, in Washington at the Treasury building. We are very appreciative of this opportunity to address our salaried retiree concerns to such an elite team. We will advise some of the details of our meeting when we return from Washington. Our thanks again to all who assisted with this meeting and to the Auto Task Force Team for their time and support!
To All GM Retirees:
As many of you are already aware, Over The Hill Car People has joined forces with the retiree associations of Delphi, Chrysler and Ford in an effort to unite the 200,000+ salaried retirees of our American OWNED Auto Industry. On March 24, 2009, the presidents of these four groups sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, President Obama's Auto Task Force, and Larry Summers, Director of the National Economic Council, requesting a meeting with them to address the concerns of the salaried retirees.
To date, salaried retirees have not been represented in any of the discussions involving the auto industry and its current financial status. The hourly retirees, however, have been included in the entire restructuring process. We feel the salaried retirees should be given equal opportunity to have input in the decisions being made concerning their health benefits, pensions, and futures.
Please click on the link below to read the letter this team sent; and, also, to read media articles and endorsements concerning our request. *** Auto Task Force Letter Updated 4-20-09
After reading the above information, please click this link http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt to urge the President and your Congressional Leaders to send a letter to the Auto Task Force as Senator Levin has already done. It will help speed up the process. You can use a sample letter that you can copy and paste by clicking here: Sample Letter To Copy & Paste
We must present a strong, united voice in Washington. To do this, we need to get all GM retirees united in one association. As President of GM National Retiree Association – Over The Hill Car People, I am proud to be a GM salaried retiree working with the team of Delphi and the Detroit Three! It is our hope that this groundbreaking effort will not only bring to light the sacrifices that have already been made by this group of salaried retirees, but that it will also set forth possible means of protecting our and our companies financial futures.
We need your help in bringing about this unity! If you are already a member of another GM group, please get this message out to all of the members of your group, encouraging them to join our GM retiree association. Then, contact every GM retiree you know and ask them to become active in our efforts to protect retiree health benefits and pensions. Encourage them to join and then pass this information along to all of their retired GM friends. With a little effort from each of you, we could get 100% GM participation in this American OWNED Auto Industry team effort!
It is easy to join. Just click on this link and follow the instructions: Join The General Motors National Retiree Association – Over The Hill Car People.
Our membership dues are very reasonable. We only ask a one-time $25 lifetime membership fee. Our Association has been devoted to all GM folks for 7 years and we intend to maintain this tradition as long as there is a need and we feel we can make a difference for retirees without annual dues/fees!
There is strength in numbers and strength is what we need RIGHT NOW! We are committed to fighting for the benefits we earned and were promised! Please help us help you in this united American OWNED Auto Industry effort. I am proud to be a GM salaried retiree working on this team in joint effort with Ford, Chrysler and Delphi.
"Teamwork is the fuel that allows ordinary people to achieve extraordinary results!"
Best Regards,
Jack Dickinson, President
Over The Hill Car People
General Motors National Retiree Association
www.overthehillcarpeople.com
E-mail:
spoacdc1@aol.com
***My purpose in co-authoring the letter to the Auto Task Force, along with the Delphi, Chrysler and Ford groups, was to bring to light the sacrifices the GM salaried retirees have already made. For most of our retirees 65 years of age and up, the health benefits were terminated effective January 1, 2009. Most media coverage of the plight of the American auto industry appeared to indicate that no health benefits had been lost. This may be true for the hourly retirees but not for the salaried retirees. It was our goal to highlight this distinction to the Auto Task Force and to ask that the salaried retirees be given the same opportunities/considerations as have been given to the hourly retirees.
In no way do I claim to have any authority to bargain or represent the salaried retiree other than to present the known facts about how the decisions have affected me as a GM salaried retiree above the age of 65 or others who were willing to share their stories.
The main goal was to have the Auto Task Force recognize the salaried retiree and to ask the Auto Task Force to help us to find ways to change the public’s perception of the American OWNED Auto Industry, so that people would continue to buy our vehicles. We not only want our companies to survive but, also, to thrive and it is our feeling that this was a way we could help save our companies and our benefits.
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