UTI Appoints Two New Directors
Universal Technical Institute (UTI) has appointed two new directors. Conrad Conrad and Kevin Knight will serve as members of UTI’s audit committee, with Conrad serving as chairman of the audit committee. These appointments bring the membership of UTI’s board of directors to seven.
Automotive Supplier ZF Lemforder Plans to Close Duncan, S.C., Plant
Automotive supplier ZF Lemforder will close one of its two Duncan, SC, plants within two years and will lay off an unspecified number of employees, officials confirmed last week. Frank Buscemi, public affairs director with ZF Group North America, said the company’s components plant would be closed by the end of 2005 because it cannot fill demand and cannot be expanded.
Auto Suppliers Under Pressure to Shift Production Abroad
A new study soon to be released by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) is showing that the pressure to move automotive manufacturing jobs abroad will continue, despite federal and local government efforts to maintain or increase industry employment levels in the U.S. The SAE will release the report at the 2004 SAE World Congress in Detroit next month. The study, which is still under development, will outline “best practices” for global automotive suppliers. The Odyssey study seeks to help suppliers understand how their global manufacturing operations will need to change and how best to make those changes to survive and thrive.
Modine Partners with Tennessee Department of Labor
Modine Manufacturing Co. has been selected as the first company to receive state funding for a new worker training program. The program, funded through the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development, has $1 million in funds available this year. Modine has been awarded a grant of $45,000. The company said it will invest an additional $34,000 in curriculum and training equipment for the project, which will include training on new technology for staff members and cross-training for the hourly workforce.
Herman Trend Alert: Overtime to Increase
Under ideal conditions, employers have just the right number of employees to perform the work that needs to be done. Overtime payroll costs are minimal, incurred only in those rare instances when there is some unusual circumstance or a critical employee is ill or on vacation. Over the past few years, companies have reduced employment to minimum staffing levels. People have been asked to work extra hours from time to time on an “as-needed” basis. This strategy has been a preferred alternative to hiring more people and increasing fixed payroll costs.
Lear Probe Looks for Nepotism
Auto-interiors supplier Lear Corp. said Tuesday the Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an informal investigation into its employment of corporate officers’ relatives and insider business transactions. The Southfield, Mich., parts maker said the SEC might look at several years of SEC filings that outline familial connections within the company, which include more than a dozen workers and upper-level executives. The latest filing, the company’s 2003 proxy statement, reveals that CEO Robert Rossiter had at least seven relatives working for Lear or for a company associated with Lear in 2002.
Deadline for 2004 GAAS Scholarship Is March 31; Applications Available Online
The deadline to apply for a Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS) scholarship – awarded to students planning an aftermarket career – is Wednesday, March 31. The scholarships are available to students in two-year technical college programs and vocational schools and four-year college programs.
Ex-Visteon Employees File Suit
More than 50 former employees of Visteon Corp. have filed a lawsuit against the $18-billion auto-parts supplier, claiming that the company conned them into signing non-negotiable separation agreements that they later learned were negotiable for more compensation. The multimillion-dollar suit, filed last week in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan, says that Visteon presented 54 workers with separation contracts in April 2001 after the Dearborn, Mich.-based company announced that it would cut its white-collar workforce.