March 27, 2009
Volume 39, No. 12
CAW in Contract Talks With Chrysler
As CONTACT went to press the CAW was in contract talks with Chrysler, pushing to reach a tentative agreement with the company.
Both Chrysler and General Motors must reach cost cutting agreements with all stakeholders before the fast approaching March 31 deadline, required by the Ontario and federal government to qualify for financial support.
The CAW represents approximately 8,000 workers at Chrysler in Brampton, Windsor, Etobicoke (Toronto) in assembly, auto parts and the office, security, and clerical units.
The new agreement between the CAW and General Motors was reached on March 8 and ratified on March 11.
Protect Severence Pay for Workers, Ontario Liberals Told
The Save Our Severance Campaign hit the steps of Queen's Park in Ontario March 25 to demand the McGuinty government establish a fund to protect workers' severance pay following a lay off, closure or
bankruptcy.
Waving flags and placards and chanting Save Our Severance, 500 CAW members, Steelworkers, CEP members, Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation members, as well as workers from unorganized workplaces that have closed, such as PMP in Toronto, took part.
Speaker after speaker demanded that the Liberal government take action to help workers and their families who suffer a double whammy when their workplace closes and they are told they won't be getting the severance pay they are owed under the law.
CAW President Ken Lewenza called for a provincial wage earner protection program. Lewenza blasted Ontario Labour Minister Peter Fonseca for calling the severance issue a federal responsibility. Lewenza urged Fonseca to act like the Minister of Labour instead of the "Minister of Corporate Concern."
The province can't walk away from its commitments to workers, Lewenza said. He also said both unionized and non-unionized workers are suffering through hardship and the insecurity of the reeling economy. He called on workers and their families to pull together with a "collective heart" and push for changes in severance legislation.
Other guest speakers included Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath, OFL President Wayne Samuelson, John Cartwright of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, Winnie Ng, co-chair of the Good Jobs Coalition, CAW Local 195 President Gerry Farnham, and Marie Kelly of the Steelworkers.
CAW Members Ratify Agreement at Windsor Parts Makers
After an occupation, blockade and rally, CAW Local 195 members who work at parts makers Aradco and Aramco in Windsor have ratified an agreement that will provide a significant portion of the severance, termination and vacation pay owed them.
In an emotional, boisterous meeting on March 19, workers voted unanimously in favour of the agreement.
Workers had occupied the Aradco Management Ltd. auto parts plant on March 17 to prevent Chrysler from removing parts and tooling until workers received termination and severance pay.
Catalina Precision Products, a U.S.-based company, owns both Aradco and Aramco (a sister plant to Aradco), which are Windsor auto parts makers that primarily supplied Chrysler. Chrysler abruptly ended its contracts with Catalina and as a result the two Windsor plants were closed.
Jerry Dias, assistant to the CAW President, said the solidarity of the workers was key in getting an agreement. But Dias said too many other workers in plants across the country are facing these same problems.
"Unless government strengthens the law, the depth of the current recession means more workers and their families will be forced to grapple with the injustice of companies refusing to pay severance, vacation and termination monies owed," said Dias.
CAW Local 195 President Gerry Farnham said it's a shame that this type of action was needed to get an agreement.
"More needs to be done at the government level to ensure workers get what they are legally entitled to. We must ensure that workers go to the top of the list of creditors during a bankruptcy."
CAW Members at Minacs Approve New Agreement
CAW Local 222 members working at Aditya Birla Minacs in Oshawa have voted 89 per cent in favour of a new three-year collective agreement that provides gains in wages and working conditions.
The company had been demanding massive concessions from this small group of CAW members, who are support technicians providing information to GM dealerships on warranty issues. They work in offices within GM's Canadian headquarters in Oshawa, Ontario.
CAW national representative Keith Osborne said the membership unanimously rejected the company forced final offer, which was supervised by the Ministry of Labour.
Osborne said it was a unique set of bargaining in which the company forced a final offer. He said the reality is that the ratification vote proves that collective bargaining works and forced votes should not be used. "Fighting back makes a difference," he said.
Supply Vessel to be Built in Halifax Shipyard
The Halifax Shipyard has landed a $60 million contract to build a supply vessel to support the EnCana Corp. offshore Deep Panuke gas project.
The contract will create 200 new jobs and employ up to 800 workers with delivery of the vessel scheduled for late 2010.
The announcement is good news for CAW/Marine Workers Federation Local 1, which represents workers at the Halifax shipyard.
CAW Atlantic area director Les Holloway said the contract means work for hundreds of members and added that the contract will provide a bridge until a number of navy shipbuilding contracts get started in a few years.
"The CAW has worked hard to ensure this contract went to a Canadian owned shipyard, ensuring Canadian workers and the Canadian shipbuilding industry benefited from the project," Holloway said. Construction of the vessel is expected to generate an estimated payroll of more than $20 million and about $14 million in the purchase of goods and services from roughly 50 Nova Scotia companies.
Jamie Vaslet, business agent for CAW/MWF Local 1, is encouraging workers to contact MPs to lobby against a tentative deal with the European Free Trade Association that would include the elimination of a tariff on foreign-built vessels being brought into Canada.
"We do not need a European free trade agreement that is going to undermine all this work that we can do here in Canada and send to places like Norway," he told the Halifax Chronicle Herald newspaper.
