Hello again to you, our Union Sisters & Brothers!

Our update this week is really simple: We have passed over 90% of our initial contract language proposals to the company, and we are awaiting their responses. Taking the lead in writing all this saves a tremendous amount of time going forward.

This marks a new phase in the process where negotiations can begin in earnest. Almost everything has been laid out, talked about, and discussed top-to-bottom. Now the actual bargaining part happens. We know you’re impatient to see results (us too!), but we’ve never been closer. All the meetings and flyers and conversations and surveys have brought us to this point, and every day is one day closer to an agreement.

And this agreement has the potential to bring so many incredibly positive benefits to our jobs and enrichment to our lives. How many times in your life have you been able to look forward to something like that? Why does Ford or John Deere have a waiting list for a job there, but VW has a hard time keeping people?

Maybe, just maybe… A good contract?

Once we start seeing stacks of papers flying back and forth, it’s going to get crazy-busy for this committee, and we may have a harder time getting out to meetings. Because of that, we wanted to extend an invitation to each and every one of you: If you have a question, comment, concern, or if you just want to say hello, please feel free to stop by and visit us in the Academy, Room 10-510, from roughly 7:30am-4:30pm (some of us get here earlier, some stay later, depending on what’s going on that day). Bring some friends!

We are working for you, and the trust you showed by choosing us to do the job is not lost on any person in this group. Sometimes some (or all) of us will be in meetings, but anyone in the room would be happy to chat whenever you stop by. Don’t be shy!

In Solidarity, GOS,

Your Bargaining Committee