News & Events Archived Newsletters CONTACT 2007 May 18, 2007Meeting with Cerberus Positive, Hargrove says
CAW President Buzz Hargrove said a May 15 meeting with the head of Cerberus Capital Management and Chrysler officials at Chrysler headquarters in Michigan was positive and constructive.
Hargrove said the meeting between CAW leadership and Cerberus, the private equity company that is buying Chrysler, created a more positive and confident outlook that the new company plans to be involved for the long haul.
Hargrove said the union was provided with a written letter that pledges no layoffs of CAW members as a result of the ownership change.
Hargrove said the meeting with Cerberus head Stephen Feinberg was positive. He said Feinberg was knowledgeable about the auto industry and expressed interest in working with the CAW to build a stronger company rather than attempting to "slice and dice" it.
He also understands the issue of unfair trade in autos with Japan and Korea and the impact on North American auto manufacturers, Hargrove said. Cerberus will help lobby both the U.S. and Canadian governments to deal with unfair trade.
CLC Demands Action Over Job Loss Crisis
The Canadian Labour Congress is calling on government to work with labour and employers towards an action plan for the creation and protection of well-paying manufacturing jobs.
Federal Environment Minister John Baird stated that meeting the Kyoto carbon emissions targets would cause a recession for Canada. Baird claims by meeting the Kyoto accord Canadians can expect a spike in gasoline prices and a loss of 275,000 jobs.
"I am astounded to hear the Minister of the Environment describing the hypothetical loss of thousands of jobs in the manufacturing sectors as a looming crisis," said Ken Georgetti, President of the CLC. "Three weeks ago, the same number of job losses did not warrant any government concern."
Echoing the comments of the CAW President Buzz Hargrove, Georgetti confirmed that although the environment must be a priority, so must be the manufacturing crisis. An action plan should include realistic measures to deal with climate change while protecting workers.
Communications Conference - Images & Writing 
Delegates from across Canada joined together on May 4 to 6 for the 2007 Communications Conference in Port Elgin. The opening plenary featured renowned photographer Vince Pietropaolo who inspired the delegates with a photo slideshow and discussion on how to use images to create stories.
CAW Local Union Media Association (LUMA) advisory committee member Gord Lechner from CAW Local 2301 spoke about surfing the internet for resources to use in local union newsletters and websites. The conference also included Bob Carty from the CBC who gave a presentation on how to pitch to the media and David Climenhaga of the Alberta Union of Public Employees followed with basic news writing for union communicators.
At the Saturday evening session delegates celebrated the LUMA awards which were presented to locals for the best websites, photos and newsletters. The conference ended with Henderson bas giving an overview of the new CAW website that will be launched later this year.
CAW Auto Parts Leaders Call for Government Action
Hundreds of CAW leadership from the auto parts sector met in London, Ontario recently to take action on the growing crisis facing Canada's automotive industry.
Speaker after speaker blasted the lack of government action on this major crisis. They lamented the devastating impact on workers, their families and communities.
They passed a resolution which calls on elected representatives from all levels to endorse a program of action that will protect workers, safeguard auto jobs and strengthen domestic automotive production.
At the May 11 meeting, CAW auto parts leadership unanimously endorsed a program that includes:
1. Protection against surging imports. Canada should safeguard the industry against unfair subsidies and unequal trading practices from foreign producers.
2. A different approach to trade that commits the government to protect the auto sector in any proposed trade deals. This means that auto will not be traded-off against other commodity access. It means that reciprocal market access has to be demonstrated. And it means that foreign producers need to increase Canadian purchasing.
3. A new North American Auto Pact that will reduce the continental auto trade deficit with other parts of the world and will put in place internal guidelines to ensure fair domestic content in each of the NAFTA countries.
4. Action on currency that will protect domestic producers against a high and rapidly escalating dollar and protect workers against the 'low currency' strategies of foreign auto producers.
5. Stronger supports for workers in the area of wage protection, severance pay provisions, pension guarantees and EI benefits.
Plant Closure at MTD Products in Kitchener
CAW Local 1524 members working at MTD Products Canada were handed a letter at work on May 11 informing them that manufacturing operations in Kitchener will close for good on June 1.
Tim Mitchell, president of CAW Local 1524, said the company wanted drastic wage reductions from workers. The company also wanted to operate the plant eight months a year instead of year-round. 'It's dramatic,' Mitchell said. 'We thought it was absolutely unreasonable.'
The company's wage demands also included 180 job cuts. Mitchell also said he was surprised by the timing of the letter, since Local 1524's bargaining committee had three days of meetings with management scheduled for the next week.
MTD manufactures lawnmowers and snowblowers.
CAW Unemployment Insurance Conference
Devastating job losses in manufacturing and other sectors remind us how much we depend on a decent unemployment insurance system to see us through tough times. EI has been called one of Canada's most important economic stabilizers - for workers, their families and entire communities.
Be sure to attend the CAW Unemployment Insurance (EI) Conference, June 8 to 10, at the CAW Family Education Centre, Port Elgin, Ontario.
For more information, call Laurell Ritchie at 1-800-268-5763 x 443.
More New Members Join CAW
120 new members at Coca Cola in Hamilton, Ontario, voted to enter into a service agreement with the CAW after leaving their previous union (UFCW) and forming their own.
Another 62 workers at Haven & Ansel House, Kitchener, Ontario voted to join the CAW. This was a Labour Board ordered vote at two crisis shelters for women and children, where two bargaining units (CAW & CUPE) existed. Members voted 34 - 17 to join the CAW.
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