Support Electro Motive Workers
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On New Year's Day, more than 465 CAW Local 27 members were locked out of their jobs at Electro-Motive in London, Ontario. Six weeks later, Caterpillar announced it would be closing the facility... forever.
Caterpillar, who purchased Electro-Motive in June 2010, provoked a labour dispute after walking away from negotiations. The company tabled a take-it-or-leave it offer that would slash wages and benefits in half and eliminate the pension plan.
Caterpillar purchased Electro-Motive under the Investment Canada Act without scrutiny or full review by the federal government. And the federal government has failed to disclose the terms of the purchase, despite repeated calls for full public disclosure.
Check out the Solidarity with CAW Local 27 Electro-Motive workers facebook page
What needs to be done:
-Strengthening the Investment Canada Act for Canadian Jobs and Canadian Workers
Letters:
- Solidarity Letter from the International Metalworkers Federation
- Solidarity Letter from Los Mineros Union
- Solidarity Letter from Sindicato dos Metalurgicos de Piracicaba Estado de São Paulo - Brasil
- CAW President Calls for Overhaul of Investment Canada Act - February 9, 2012
- CAW President Calls for Overhaul of Investment Canada Act - FRENCH - February 9, 2012
- Caterpillar Action Letter from CAW President Ken Lewenza
- Caterpillar Action Letter from CAW President Ken Lewenza - FRENCH
- CAW President Calls for Review of Electro-Motive Purchase
- Solidarity Letter issued by Belgian, French and Italian unions representing workers at EU Caterpillar facilities
- Why We're Seeing the Ugly New Face of Capitalism, by Armine Yalnizyan (Globe & Mail - February 14, 2012)
- Caterpillar Case Symbolizes What's Wrong with our Corporate Culture, by Martin Regg Cohn (Toronto Star - February 14, 2012)
- The Caterpillar Crisis is Now Ontario's Crisis, by Martin Regg Cohn (Toronto Star - January 25, 2012)
- Information picket leaflet
- Information picket leaflet - French
- Download the leaflet for the January 21 rally!
- Visit the picket line - 2021 Oxford Street East, London Ontario
- How you can support locked-out Electro-Motive workers
- Social media graphics
Free trade with the European Union is a bad idea for Canada
The Harper government's relentless push to sign a new Canada-EU free trade deal would undermine the rights of federal, provincial and municipal governments to manage public spending over goods and services; it would privatize public services like drinking water, prevent us from adopting strong measures to combat climate change and wipe out up to 150,000 Canadian jobs, among a long list of additional concerns. CAW President Ken Lewenza says:
So far, all signs point to a free trade deal that is lopsided, unfair and would do more harm than good to Canadians. 
