quote:
GM Canada adds 1,000 jobs in Oshawa, CAW calls for government action
DAVID PADDON
Canadian Press
Monday, May 06, 2002
TORONTO (CP) - Even though General Motors of Canada is adding 1,000 jobs at one of its plants, union leader Buzz Hargrove warned Monday that government must protect Canada's auto sector - a view rejected by industry watchers as a self-serving response to competition from Japanese automakers.
After days of speculation in the media, GM Canada president Michael Grimaldi confirmed Monday that the automaker is adding a third shift at its No. 1 car assembly plant in Oshawa, Ont., to keep up with demand for the Impala, a mid-sized sedan sold in Canada and the United States.
Sales of the Impala were up nearly 20 per cent in the United States and 24 per cent in Canada last year, forcing General Motors to run two shifts at maximum overtime to keep up with demand, said Grimaldi.
"The Impala has clearly become a leader in the mid-size passenger car segment. And we plan to leverage this momentum to gain further GM market share," Grimaldi said at a news conference.
Hargrove, president of the Canadian Auto Workers union, said his members will have first chance at the 1,000 jobs announced Monday. With more CAW members already laid off than there are jobs "there'll be no new hiring coming out of this," he predicted.
In addition to 500 laid-off GM workers in Oshawa, there are another 1,000 in St. Catharines.
A further 750 St. Catharines jobs are slated to go later this year and 2,500 more GM employees will be out of work when the St-Therese, Que. assembly plant closes in September, he said.
The CAW is gearing up to negotiate contracts for 45,000 GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler workers later this year. It has prepared a discussion paper that calls for government to step in and help the Canadian auto sector.
"What we're asking is that the government recognize the changing environment in the most critical industry to the economy in Canada, and that environment is now without any kind of government policy to ensure that Canada gets a fair share of investment and jobs," Hargrove said Monday.
The CAW, which opens a pre-negotiation conference in Toronto on Tuesday, is calling for:
- Companies to pay into a fund if they lay off 500 or more employees in a community. The amounts would vary from $2,500 to $5,000 per employee.
-A $1 billion Ontario-Ottawa infrastructure fund that would finance a new bridge across the Detroit River at Windsor and other transportation improvements.
- Federal intervention to target countries that maintain a surplus in automotive trade with Canada.
Auto industry analyst Dennis Desrosiers rejected the CAW's call for government to step into the auto market, saying Canada's domestic auto industry is doing well, if production at Honda and Toyota's non-unionized plants in Ontario is counted.
Over 30 per cent of North American vehicle and parts production is now done by workers who don't belong to either the CAW or its American counterpart, the United Auto Workers union, Desrosiers said.
"The non-union produced vehicles are growing and growing rapidly. And union produced vehicles are declining and declining rapidly," Desrosiers said.
The Big Three need more competitive products, not more government, he said.
The Chevy Impala is evidence of GM's success with a good car. But it has taken market share from Ford and DaimlerChrysler, not the Japanese automakers, Desrosiers said.
Bernie Wolf, an economics professor at York University's Schulich School of Business, said he agrees that there is a role for government spending on transportation, education and other infrastructure.
"But I'm not supportive of any type of bailout for the industry," Wolf said.
It would also be a mistake for governments to force employers to compensate communities with a per-worker fee when there are layoffs, he added.
That would likely backfire because if it's expensive for to lay off workers "you don't hire them in the first place. So I don't think that's a smart thing to do," Wolf said.
A spokesman for Jim Flaherty, the Ontario minister for enterprise and innovation, said the Ontario government plans to organize a round-table discussion later this month to address the issues facing the auto industry.
Craig Alexander, senior economist at the TD Bank, said demand for cars and trucks has been higher than expected because of a stronger economy, an improved job market, low interest rates and incentives from automakers.
On the other hand, he said, the Big Three automakers - GM, Ford and the Chrysler division of DaimlerChrysler - have been losing market share to rivals from Japan and Europe, and more production is coming from Mexico since it signed the North American Free Trade Agreement.
© Copyright 2002 The Canadian Press
CAW calls for heavy government intervention
quote:
CAW calls on government
By GREG KEENAN
From Monday's Globe and Mail
The Canadian Auto Workers union, battered by thousands of job cuts in the auto industry, will unveil a prescription for the industry this week that calls for heavy government intervention to attract new automotive investment, ease the plight of laid-off workers and bolster struggling parts makers.
"We need a genuine effort to focus the attention of industry and political leaders on the scale of the crisis facing the Canadian auto industry," the union says in a policy paper called Getting Back In Gear, which will be presented at the CAW's Big Three bargaining convention in Toronto this week.
The paper paints a gloomy portrait of a struggling industry and catalogues a litany of plant closings and layoffs - by both vehicle assemblers and parts makers - that has eliminated several thousand jobs.
It comes as the CAW gears up to begin negotiations for new contracts with DaimlerChrysler Canada Inc., Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd., and General Motors of Canada Ltd., each of which is preparing to close an assembly plant in Canada.
The negotiations cover more than 45,000 workers at the three companies, and for the first time in anyone's memory, they will take centre stage in the North American industry because Big Three contracts with the United Auto Workers south of the border don't expire until the fall of 2003.
The paper has several recommendations for federal and provincial governments, including:
The establishment of a community adjustment fund, into which any company that lays off 1,000 or more employees in a community would be required to pay, with the compensation at $5,000 per employee. The fee for companies laying off between 500 and 1,000 employees would be $2,500.
A $1-billion Ontario-Ottawa infrastructure fund that would finance a new bridge across the Detroit River at Windsor and other transportation improvements.
Federal intervention to target countries that maintain a surplus in automotive trade with Canada - Japan, Mexico and European nations.
The downturn facing the industry is not a cyclical crunch, the report warns.
"The current crisis, rather, is a deeper and longer-lasting downturn which could leave Canada's most important manufacturing and export industry unable to meet the economic responsibilities we have become accustomed to it fulfilling."
Although the CAW is worried about the health of the industry, president Buzz Hargrove said the union will not shrink from making its traditional demands for improvements in wages, benefits and working conditions.
"The industry has made a lot of money since we were last at the table," Mr. Hargrove said in an interview. "It's not like they're at the food banks."
Industry analyst Michael Robinet, director of forecast services at consulting firm CSM Worldwide Inc., rates the chances of a strike at one of the three companies this fall at about 30 per cent.
The most likely candidate is Ford Canada, Mr. Robinet said in a report to clients.
"Ford is in the CAW's doghouse and has the most to lose if a strike is taken," he said in the memo.
All three companies appear to be weak, said Sean McAlinden, an analyst at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., and a veteran observer of labour battles on both sides of the border.
But if economic forecasts are correct and the three auto makers are going to be in much better shape by next year when the UAW contracts expire, then the CAW negotiations may represent the best chance for the companies to cut costs.
For that reason, Mr. McAlinden suggested the CAW sign a one-year agreement with the Big Three instead of the traditional three-year deal.
"Not a chance," Mr. Hargrove responded. "We will not bargain a one-year agreement."
Mr. Robinet and Mr. McAlinden agree that two key plants provide the strongest pressure points for the CAW.
The most important of those two is Ford's engine operations in Windsor, Ont. The engine facilities cranked out 1.19 million Triton engines annually for such profit-spinning Ford vehicles as the Expedition and Excursion sport utility vehicles, F-series Super-Duty pickup trucks and Windstar minivans.
"Ford is least able to withstand a strike of any measure," Mr. Robinet said.
Shutting down the Ford engine plant would have immense ripple effects across the company's assembly plants throughout North America at a time when it's losing money and a fierce competitive battle with GM.
"A threat to that Triton line would be out of this world," Mr. McAlinden said.
The other key plant is GM's profitable, three-shift truck plant in Oshawa, Ont. Shutting down that operation would throttle a major source of the auto maker's full-sized pickup trucks, which so far this year have helped pull GM's market share higher in both Canada and the United States, largely at the expense of Ford.
"The battle between Ford and GM is a real war and a bad place for a union to be in," Mr. McAlinden said.
Unlike Mr. McAlinden, Mr. Hargrove sees the clear field for the CAW this year as a positive development, because the companies will focus all their attention on his union, instead of waiting for the outcome of negotiations in Detroit.
"We had a strike with Ford in 1990 because Ford did not want to bargain while the UAW was still negotiating with GM," Mr. Hargrove said.
Mr. Hargrove said he hopes to negotiate an agreement with GM regarding the closing of its plant in Ste-Therese, Que., before beginning bargaining on the new contract.
GM is also the only one of the three companies profitable at the moment and is so bullish on the rest of the year that it will announce Monday it is adding a third shift of workers and 1,000 jobs at a car assembly plant in Oshawa.
But tough bargaining is ahead with Ford Canada because the CAW is looking for ways to get that auto maker to reverse its decision to close a pickup truck assembly plant in Oakville, Ont., a move that will eliminate 1,500 jobs.
"Our fight is about the work we have and the replacement for the F-150 [pickup]," Mr. Hargrove said. "If we could get the F-150 replacement we could get back to two shifts there."
The positions of the companies are in stark contrast to 1999, when the North American automotive market was red hot and the Big Three would do just about anything to avoid a strike. They showed it by opening the coffers.
The CAW won 4.5-per-cent annual wage increases for three years, $1,000 signing bonuses, $1,200 Christmas bonuses and huge gains in pension payouts.
Unfortunately, it's been pretty much all downhill since then, said the union's policy paper, which was prepared by CAW economist Jim Stanford.
quote:
Canadian Auto Workers union holds Collective Bargaining Convention as it heads into Big Three bargaining
TORONTO, May 7 /CNW/ - CAW president Buzz Hargrove will give the opening
address to hundreds of delegates attending the CAW's upcoming Collective
Bargaining and Political Action Convention in Toronto on Tuesday, May 7.
More than 950 delegates and guests from across the country will attend
the conference where they will debate the union's bargaining agenda as it
heads into the next round of contract talks with the Big Three automakers this
fall. The union will also officially unveil its Auto Policy Campaign on
Thursday morning May 9 at 10:30 a.m. followed by a march to Queen's Park at
11:30 a.m. to press demands for a new auto policy strategy for Ontario and
Canada.
The conference will run Tuesday, May 7 to Friday, May 10, at the Toronto
Sheraton Centre, 123 Queen Street West in Toronto.
Here are some of the scheduled events and approximate times:
TUESDAY, MAY 7:
1:30 p.m. CAW president Buzz Hargrove, opening address
4:30 p.m. Libby Davies, NDP Member of Parliament
WEDNESDAY, MAY 8:
10:00 a.m. CLC president Ken Georgetti;
11:30 a.m. Tony Woodley, National Secretary, Transport and General
Workers Union of the United Kingdom
2:00 p.m. Henri Masse, Quebec Federation of Labour president
4:00 p.m. Cathy Crowe, Street Nurse, Toronto Disaster Relief
Committee
THURSDAY, MAY 9:
9:00 a.m. Report on the CAW Taskforce on Working Class Politics in
the 21st Century
10:00 a.m. Nancy Riche, CLC Secretary-Treasurer
10:30 a.m. Introduction of CAW Auto Policy Campaign
3:00 p.m. Hunter Akat Tootoo, Member for Iqaluit Centre, Legislative
Assembly of Nunavut.
Media are welcome to attend. newswire.ca
quote:
Hoy to fight for training funds
Byh Bob Boughner
Chatham Daily News
The MPP for Chatham-Kent Essex will meet this month with labour union representatives to discuss the need for skills training and upgrading.
Pat Hoy said Monday the two senior levels of government have an obligation to assist with the retraining of hundreds of unemployed men and women in Chatham-Kent.
"The situation is very serious,'' said Hoy. "My office is receiving calls daily from people who have lost their jobs or are laid off and uncertain about their future.''
Hoy said the problem appears to be more critical in his riding than in other areas of southwestern Ontario because of the heavy reliance on the automotive industry.
"Men and women in the 40-50 year age range are calling to report their jobs have been eliminated and they can't find work," he said.
"Unfortunately, many of them have less than a high school diploma and lack the skills to work in today's highly computerized society.''
Hoy said several calling his office are "in shock'' because they thought their jobs were secure.
The MPP is planning to meet in the coming weeks with representatives of labour unions as well as business leaders to help identify the kinds of retraining programs necessary for the area.
According to Hoy, there are various courses and programs available at colleges and universities for people in the job market.
"But I'm told that 40-50 year-old people don't like the idea of returning to the classroom with students less than half their age.''
Hoy said the senior levels of government have a responsibility to assist Canadians who have lost their jobs as a result of government programs and cutbacks that have led to the layoffs and the downturn in the economy.
"I can assure you from the number of calls being received by my office that the situation is serious,'' Hoy said. "There are many jobless people in the area. And the number is growing''
The MPP said that in addition to creating programs that will assist the jobless find new work, there is an urgent need for an upgrading of computer skills.
"There is also a high demand for skilled tradespeople in the area,'' he said.
"It's my understanding that a lot of highly trained people are being encouraged to the area from other countries.''
Hoy said he is also discovering that a growing number of workers are worried about the future of their careers.
"It's a big problem and a big concern for a growing number of people in my riding,'' he said. "And it's an issue that I plan to pursue with both the provincial and federal governments.''
Hoy said the Chatham-Kent and Essex region can lead the provincial economy by building the best workforce and attracting investment.
"I believe in positive solutions, by offering hope with investment in people through education and training, including a new tax credit for companies that train employees, and a prepaid tuition plan for families, enabling them to pay off tomorrow's university or college education at today's rates.''
Hoy said the Tory government believes that cutbacks to home care, dental care for seniors, 128-per-cent increases to tuition, municipal downloading and a $2.2-billion corporate tax cut are the solutions.
"I happen to disagree,'' Hoy said. "I will be working with local union and business leaders to develop innovative policies on training and investment that will strengthen the agricultural and manufacturing economy.''
Hoy said he would like to see the establishment of a rapid re-employment training system, to get unemployed workers back into the workforce as quickly as possible.
© Copyright 2002 Chatham Daily News
About the Chatham-Kent Essex Constituency
The riding of Chatham-Kent Essex, located in south western Ontario, is composed of the southern half of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent from the Thames River to the shores of Lake Erie, and the Municipality of Leamington.
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent was created in January, 1998, uniting the City of Chatham with the County of Kent. The name of the riding was changed from Kent-Essex to Chatham-Kent Essex following the passage of Bill C-410 (An Act to change the names of certain electoral districts) in June, 1998 to reflect the creation of Chatham-Kent, Canada's largest Municipality.
The riding of Chatham-Kent Essex covers 1,923.1 square kilometres and, according to the 1996 census, has a population of 105,174.
Chatham-Kent Essex has both an urban and rural base. Many automotive support and manufacturing industries, such as the world renowned International Truck assembly plant, provide an important economic foundation for the riding. The recent addition of several new Call Centre operations, coupled with the expanding Telecommunications industry, are helping to establish greater economic diversity in the riding.
Agriculture and agriculture support industries continue to be one of the area's economic mainstays. Leamington, for example, is home to Heinz, the food processing giant, and is known as "the tomato capital of Canada". Commercial Alcohols Inc. of Chatham-Kent, which is Canada's largest producer and distributor of fuel ethanol and industrial alcohol, has also made a significant mark on the local economy and is providing a boost to the agriculture industry through a new market for regional corn producers. Highly productive greenhouse operations based in Chatham-Kent Essex provide fresh vegetables and produce to all of Canada from year round operations. Commercial fisheries harvest perch, pickerel and smelt from Lake Erie.
The beautiful beaches of Lake Erie and the area's abundant natural resources -- including the oldest primary growth Southern Carolinian forest in Ontario -- attract many visitors and tourists every year. The Best Western Wheels Inn, located in Chatham, is internationally renowned as a family vacation getaway destination.
The fertile lands of Chatham-Kent Essex were officially opened up for settlement by the United Empire Loyalists in the 1790s. The Delaware First Nation "Moravian of the Thames" live on their long-settled lands along the Thames River, and many members of the Caldwell First Nation also live in the riding. Over the last 200 years, Chatham-Kent Essex has become home to people from many rich and diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Fugitive slaves who escaped north to freedom on the Underground Railroad made new lives for themselves in Chatham-Kent Essex, and many of their descendents still call Chatham-Kent Essex their home.
Thanks about unions 
:thumb
This talk about where I'm from CAW and Windsor
is nervewracking but insightful. Thanks for this input
apart from Maplegrove this is my most interesting
studies and I encourage you to keep fillin' us youngsters
with our Canadian Labour Issues and thanks MFD
for giving us this Educational avenue CHEERS TO Y'all
iwannabeCAW aka JohnErickson:
quote:
WEDNESDAY, MAY 8:
10:00 a.m. CLC president Ken Georgetti;
11:30 a.m. Tony Woodley, National Secretary, Transport and General
Workers Union of the United Kingdom
2:00 p.m. Henri Masse, Quebec Federation of Labour president
4:00 p.m. Cathy Crowe, Street Nurse, Toronto Disaster Relief
Committee
Well fancy that. The National Secretary of the UK Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) is coming to address a Canadian union convention.
Small world isn't it. We were just talking about his union over on this thread: Sweetheart unionism knows no borders.
Apparently the T&G signed a "voluntary wreck" deal with British company MFI, cutting out the union chosen by a large number of its employees. Those workers are fighting back. They have a website at www.hystc.com, and they've been campaigning across the net for support.
Wannabe, this story ought to sound awfully familiar to you, considering everything you've gone through with the UFCW at Maplegrove. If you or anyone else you know is going to this CAW convention, perhaps you ought to raise this important question. Clearly, this sort of business-partner unionism isn't just a Canadian problem.
Thanks <RED> this information will be studied
and brought forth at the CLC convention for IT SHOULD!
Investigations from here started ,,,,,,good work <RED> 