The Virginian-Pilot(Norfolk, VA.), June 12, 2007, Tuesday

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The Virginian-Pilot(Norfolk, VA.)

June 12, 2007 Tuesday

The Virginian-Pilot Edition

SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. D1

HEADLINE:

BYLINE: PHILIP WALZER

BODY:

By Philip Walzer

The Virginian-Pilot

NORFOLK

A retiree frustrated by a shift in health insurance knocked on the union official's door last week , wanting answers. "I just called that hot line," he complained, "and it wasn't worth a hill of beans."

Ed Hay , chairman of United Auto Workers Local 919 , which represents workers at the Ford Motor Co. plant, offered reassurance.

Yes, Ford was switching from Optima to another provider next month . "It looks like it's going to be a washout" in terms of cost, Hay said. As for the phone line, "they should have it up by the middle of the week."

For Hay and the local's president, Chris Kimmons , the insurance switch is the latest bump in an unrelenting 14-month assembly line of crises.

First, the announcement to close the Norfolk Assembly Plant and the uphill battle to keep it alive. When that failed, the personal struggles: helping members choose retirement packages, find new jobs, negotiate early exits from Ford.

After the plant closes at the end of June, Kimmons and Hay will still be working in the union hall, just a few yards from the plant's entrance. They expect to get their salaries, paid by Ford , at least through 2007 as they help dozens of workers find jobs at Ford plants and others solve benefits questions.

Kimmons, the local's top official, hopes it doesn't end there.

Although 919 will have lost virtually all of its active members, Kimmons said he's recruiting new members from mostly non automotive fields - he wouldn't identify his targets - to keep the local alive.

Kimmons put his odds at 50-50. Wishful thinking? "It could very well be," he said, "but we can't stop trying. I believe every American should be represented against the big boys. It's as simple as that."

Even Hay wonders about Kimmons' chances: "I applaud him for trying to do that. I'm not sure I'm as optimistic as he is that's going to happen."

Three labor researchers gave Kimmons generally tough odds.

"His local is caught in a cycle of decline because it's going to be very expensive and time-consuming to organize new members, and his primary source of income is his present members," said Gary Chaison , a professor at Clark University in Worcester , Mass., and author of "Unions in America."

"The question is, if there are these workers who are ready to join you, why haven't they joined you already?" he asked.

Lee Adler , who teaches employment law and labor classes at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., called it "a difficult road" in a right-to-work state such as Virginia, where union membership cannot be mandated.

Joseph McCartin , an associate professor of history at Georgetown University, was the most optimistic, calling Kimmons' plan "feasible."

"For about 20 years or more, the UAW has tried to branch out of the auto industry, organizing clerical workers on college campuses and, in some cases, workers in the public sector," McCartin said. "It's not inconceivable that this local could survive by doing that."

The UAW has more than 800 locals, said Roger Kerson , a spokesman in Detroit. Active membership has fallen 27 percent in the past decade, from 794,000 in 1996 to 580,000 last year , reflecting a nationwide drop in union enrollment.

He predicted that Local 919 would "stay in operation for a while" helping former employees sort through problems and chart their futures.

As for it recruiting new members, Kerson said, "We want to assist that process in any way possible. " He declined to say whether that would include money.

Kerson said UAW locals outside Atlanta and St. Louis, where Ford closed plants in 2006 , are still in existence, though he did not know how long that would last.

UAW Local 919 was chartered in 1941 , Kimmons said.

At its peak, he said, it had 2,900 members. That's down to about 1,400 , who work at Ford or suppliers such as TDS/US and Johnson Controls Inc. . All will close by summer's end.

Dues are two hours of pay per month. A 2006 report submitted to the U.S. Labor Department listed $1.7 million in "dues and agency fees" collected by the local last year.

The report also identified about $1.1 million in assets - $744,000 in cash and $379,000 in fixed assets. It said the local's one-story brick building on Springfield Avenue and the surrounding land were worth $219,000 and the office furniture and equipment $160,000 .

The city real estate assessor's office lists the value of the building and land at $346,900 .

If the local closes, Kimmons said, the local's assets will go to the UAW. And Kimmons will begin the retirement he has delayed.

He planned to step down in 2006 . But when Ford announced it would shut the plant, "I felt I needed to be here till the place closed," said Kimmons, who lives on the south end of Virginia Beach.

"I'm going to ride the horse up to the barn now," he said.

Hay hopes to start his own business. He lives with his wife and grandmother in Suffolk and has ruled out relocating. "To move for Ford - I don't think that's something you can count on anymore."

In his understated way, Hay said, "Both of us have been frustrated to a degree. I wish I could do more and find every person a job at the rate we get paid here."

The plant's final day of operation will be sometime during the last week of June.

Kimmons and Hay don't know if they'll go inside that day.

"That sure isn't going to be a celebration," Kimmons said. "It's more like going to a damn funeral. There won't be no smiling faces at the end of that line."

Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com Ed Hay and Chris Kimmons are comrades but once were contestants. Kimmons served as local president from 1978 to 1999, when he lost - to Hay - and returned to the plant as a custodian ("the best job"). Three years later, they won election as part of a team - Kimmons back as president, Hay as chairman.

Hay focuses on the internal workings of the plant, such as safety and health issues. Kimmons deals with external matters, such as the local's budget and hall, and its members working at Ford suppliers.

Both are local boys - Kimmons grew up in Norfolk's Ocean View and Fairmount Park, Hay in Deep Creek in Chesapeake. They're a generation apart. Hay is 41; Kimmons will turn 66 in October. Kimmons is more colorful in attire and demeanor, sporting Hawaiian shirts, a gold necklace and stud earring. Hay looks more at home in a T-shirt.

Hay likes working behind the scenes; Kimmons gravitates to the spotlight with vivid language that sometimes piques the target. Referring to UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, Kimmons said: "He got up the ladder. Of course, my ladder kept breaking. I have too much mouth."

- Philip Walzer

on a mission

GRAPHIC: stephen m. katz | the virginian-pilot UAW Local 919's union hall is just yards from the Ford plant. If the local folds, the building and other assets will be turned over to the national United Auto Workers. The Norfolk Assembly Plant closes at the end of June.