News & Events Archived Newsletters CONTACT 2007 May 11, 2007CAW Takes Call for Action to Ottawa
Thousands of CAW members will make the trek to Ottawa on May 30th to participate in the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) rally on Parliament Hill, protesting manufacturing job loss and government inaction.
"We are asking every local union within reasonable driving distance to Ottawa to fully participate in this important protest rally to pressure the Harper government to start protecting Canadian jobs now and for the future," said CAW National President Buzz Hargrove.
The event is the culmination of the local leadership meetings and community forums that have been held across the country through out March, April and May as part of the Manufacturing Matters campaign.
For local unions that require buses, the National union will share bussing costs on a 50-50 basis. All members, including retirees, are encouraged to attend. The CAW will hold a lunch and pre-rally meeting at the Ottawa Congress Centre at 11:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m. Participants should arrive at the Congress Centre by 11:00 a.m. to be on time for lunch and to pick up their t-shirt and bandana. The CLC rally starts at 12:30 and ends at 2:00 p.m.
For more information or to confirm your bus numbers, contact Paul Forder, Director, Membership Mobilization & Campaigns: 1-800-268-5763 ext. 774 or paul.forder@caw.ca.
Good Enough To Work, Good Enough To Stay
Twelve CAW local unions took part in the 2000 person-strong No-One is Illegal demonstration in Toronto on Saturday, May 5. The march included a rally where community leaders called for full immigration status for undocumented workers.
CAW Local 252 chairperson Said Duale spoke of an incident where the Canada Border Services Agency came into his workplace and took away a co-worker and CAW member. This particular woman had worked in Canada for 13 years, fleeing here because of spousal abuse. She was held in a detention centre for six days before being deported.
Other participating unions were the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF), who along with the CAW, have helped No-One is Illegal secure progress on an Access Without Fear policy at the Toronto District School Board, ensuring children can go to school without fear of being asked their immigration status, which is their right by law.
CAW Family Education Centre Gets Wind Turbine
The CAW has won the right to install a wind turbine at the Family Education Centre in Port Elgin, after a 20-day hearing by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) ruled in favour of the project.
Initially turned down by the Town of Saugeen Shores, the OMB found that the wind turbine wouldn't have a significant impact on surrounding residents and would fit well with the province's renewable energy plan. The 100-foot, 600 kilowatt turbine is expected to produce enough electricity to offset the centre's power usage by 75 to 80 per cent.
"We want to demonstrate to other institutions such as schools and factories that this is a do-able project and is a worthwhile way to reduce emissions," said Dean Fowler, Director of the CAW Family Education Centre. "We also hope to use it as an education tool for our students to show them what is possible. Over 10,000 CAW delegates come to the centre every year."
The turbine will be set up on the field north of the centre's parking lot and may be completed as early as 2009.
Mobilizing Through Education
The 2007 Education Conference (May 4th - 6th) in Port Elgin brought together education activists and leadership from coast to coast to strategize around the theme of "Mobilizing through Education".
Carol Phillips, assistant to the president, opened the conference, urging education activists to step up their involvement in current union campaigns such as the Manufacturing Matters and Better Choice campaigns. "Building a movement to challenge the direction of our economy is a question for leadership, but I believe the answers lie with education," said Phillips.
Conference delegates explored concrete tools and strategies for engaging members in new and creative ways. They began the exciting work of forming regional education networks to carry out projects that will benefit from greater resources and pull in a broader group of members.
New Agreement Ratified at Lear Ajax
CAW Local 1090 members at the Lear auto parts plant in Ajax, Ontario have overwhelmingly ratified a new three-year agreement that provides increased job security, wage and benefit gains.
The CAW represents 600 members at the plant, which supplies seats to the GM truck assembly complex in Oshawa.
Production workers voted 91 per cent in favour of the agreement and skilled trades 100 per cent.
Wage and COLA improvements over the three year agreement are 7.4 per cent and the new contract also provides early retirement incentive packages that will create greater job security for many younger workers.
With the ongoing insecurity in the auto parts sector, the agreement includes an important commitment from Lear to keep truck work at the Ajax facility.
"At a time when workers live under a cloud of uncertainty, a strong agreement providing greater job security is a tremendous victory for our members in this plant," said Jerry Dias, assistant to the CAW president.
Frank Sutherland, Lear plant chair, said the committee truly appreciates the strong support shown by the national union during bargaining.
"I don't think we could have sat back any longer and watched the decimation of the parts sector and the slow erosion of the gains we have made over the years," Sutherland said. "The members demonstrated tremendous solidarity with their bargaining committee and that helped us achieve this strong agreement."
GM & Workers Settle Human Rights Claim
A tentative settlement was reached between General Motors and six workers for a human rights claim that occurred five years ago. In 2002, six GM workers who worked in GM's London, Ontario armoured vehicle plant were suspended from their jobs because of citizenship issues, prompting them to take the matter to the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
It began when GM obtained a contract to supply armoured vehicles to the U.S. army. However after many months, in compliance with a U.S. State Department demand, no dual citizens were permitted to continue to work in so-called sensitive positions in a plant supplying the U.S. military.
Tim Carrie president of CAW Local 27 said he is pleased with the outcome of the case. "Our members suffered no monetary loss, but we recognize the personal distress that the American governmental rules may have caused," said Carrie.
As a result of the settlement, GM apologized to the workers and returned their proper security clearance, as well as a monetary settlement. In December 2002 GM sold the London plant to General Dynamics Land Systems, a U.S. defence giant.
New Members Join the CAW Family
Twenty nine youth workers at the Aboriginal youth shelter Beendigan Inc. in Thunder Bay voted to join the CAW at Local 229
Workers at the Automobiles Donald Brassard, a Honda dealership in Terrebonne, Quebec, voted to join the TCA. Fifteen workers will now be members of Local 4511.
Forty five drivers at Des Chauffeurs des Transport in Jonquiere, Quebec signed a service agreement to join the TCA and will be members of Local 2004.
Eight drivers for Hutchison Cargo Terminals in Vancouver, B.C. will now be members of Local 2006 and they will join hundreds of other drivers that have recently joined the CAW.
