Clerical & Technical
Ted Cummings

The PT lab is undergoing a much needed expansion project that will allow Kaiser to do most of its fracture testing prep in house and save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Part of this project is new CNC equipment that will help us keep up with an increasing demand for fracture testing. Against the advice of operators who actually do the work, Kaiser management has chosen to go with a different vendor and build a custom machine. I look at this decision this way, say you own a NASCAR team and at an important race the driver of the car radioed that he was having trouble controlling the car. The crew chief radios back to come in for a pit stop and based on their extensive experience they say they will put on two tires and fuel the car. Now say that the owner radios in and gives an order that the pit crew will put on four tires and skip the fuel mistakenly believing in the fantasy that keeping the weight down will allow the car to go faster. I'm no NASCAR expert but I'm pretty sure ignoring the seasoned advice of the crew chief will result in the car not handling efficiently when it gets back on the track, not that it will matter since the car will run out of fuel many laps before the finish line. After several decisions like this from the team owner, I'm sure fans, think shareholders, will take their money and support to another car. believing in fantasy is okay if your company is named Disney and you make cartoons for a living. Believing in fantasy isn't okay or funny when your company is named Kaiser and you make aluminum plate. The Union has done all it can to argue for a reasoned approach. All we can do now is buy a ticket, sit back and watch the show.

I remain your brother,
Ted Cummings—C&T Unit Chair