March 5, 2010

Volume 40, No. 9

Community Forums Highlight Need for Pension Reform

Thousands of retirees, union members and activists have taken part in recent pension forums held in communities across Ontario and Manitoba.

Retirees have outlined fear of their pensions being cut because of insolvent or bankrupt employers, while active workers have expressed deep concern about the security of their pensions when they reach retirement.

Federal and provincial politicians have been invited to these community forums with a number of NDP and Liberal politicians attending. No Conservatives attended the forums held in Brampton, Toronto, Oshawa, Sudbury, London, Winnipeg or Brandon. Others are scheduled.

CAW President Ken Lewenza said the community forums, organized in conjunction with the Canadian Labour Congress, highlight the immediate need to fight for pension reform for all Canadians.

"More than 60 per cent of Canadians don't have a private pension plan, so we need to work hard to reform both the private pension system and also the Canada Pension Plan," Lewenza said. "We're determined to build a better pension system for all workers."

"We need both the federal government and provincial politicians to understand how concerned those retirees, their families and active workers who are looking ahead to retirement are about this issue," said Jenny Ahn, CAW director of membership mobilization and campaigns.

One of the keys to creating more pension security is reform of the CPP, said Ahn. Here are some priorities raised in the community forums:

- Double benefits for the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) over a seven-year period. This would increase CPP earnings to a maximum of $1,635 per month;

- Increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) to Old Age Security pensions;

- Introduce a federal system of pension insurance. This would protect pensions to a maximum of $2,500 a month when an employer enters bankruptcy proceedings and cannot pay out pension benefits. The insurance system would also adopt pension plans when an employer declares bankruptcy and shuts down permanently.

For more information on the pension forums or to find one in your area, please visit: www.caw.ca/en/7978.htm.

Workers Reject Concession Demands At Westcast

CAW Local 504 members who work at auto parts maker Westcast Industries in Strathroy, Ontario have rejected a company offer loaded with concession demands.

The CAW and company had been in contract talks since mid-December when the company presented a final offer on February 18 that included more than $10 per hour in wage, benefit and pension cuts. It also introduced a two-tier wage system for new hires and a $1000 signing bonus.

Workers voted 75 per cent against the company offer. The existing collective agreement has been extended for one month.

CAW Local 504 President Randy Smith said "that the workers have voted and clearly want our CAW bargaining committee to renew talks with the company. It's time the company got back to the bargaining table and negotiated a fair and equitable settlement." 

There are 75 active workers at the plant, located northwest of London, Ontario. The workers produce exhaust manifolds. Three years ago the plant had 250 workers.

CAW Calls for Job Investments and Income Supports for Unemployed and Pensioners

CAW President Ken Lewenza called for job creation to be a central part of the March 4 federal budget, especially in developing and promoting clean energy sources, greener infrastructure and manufacturing.

This budget needs to take major steps to better position the country and the economy to deal with climate change and its impact on jobs, said Lewenza. "Our country has an important opportunity to become a leader in green technology, which would deliver a badly needed economic boost. Instead though, as we saw during the UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen, our government is content to let the country stagnate and pull Canadians back when we want to move forward."

In a news release prior to the budget, Lewenza said that part of a longer term economic plan must include reducing the country's reliance on the tar sands as an economic driver - widely recognized as an environmental catastrophe.

The country has high expectations of the upcoming federal budget, given that it took the government more than two months off to write it, said Lewenza.

"We need a budget that invests in Canadians and our future," said Lewenza. This should include an indication the government intends to address the looming pension crisis, along with the provinces, as well as income and training supports for workers who have lost their jobs.

Approximately 500,000 unemployed Canadians will lose their Employment Insurance benefits in the months to come. Lewenza called for an extension of EI benefits and improving the qualifying rules, so that more workers are covered by EI, instead of falling through the cracks in the country's social safety net.

Lewenza also cautioned against cutting programs and public services when the country is only beginning to recover from the recession, and only in some regions. "Conservative-leaning critics would have us believe that paying down the deficit must be the number one priority of the government. But Canadians understand that the deficit cannot be reduced if massive unemployment and underemployment continues."

Alternative Federal Budget Targets Job Creation

Putting Canadians back to work is the best way to balance the federal government's budget.  That's the key message of the Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) project, recently released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

The AFB is produced each year by a broad coalition of community, labour, and environmental organizations, including the CAW.  This year's AFB, recognizing the continuing crisis in Canada's labour market, urged federal support to create and maintain 330,000 jobs, and to get the unemployment rate back down to pre-recession levels by 2011.  Its ambitious job-creation strategy includes support for manufacturing, job-creating environmental investments, and a dramatic improvement in EI qualifying rules (to help the more than 1 million unemployed Canadians who don't qualify for benefits).

By creating new jobs, the AFB strategy actually generates more government revenues that helps to bring down the government deficit.  Under the AFB plan, the federal debt burden starts shrinking (as a share of GDP) by 2011.

Full details of this year's AFB are available at http://www.policyalternatives.ca/

Cut Search and Rescue Response Times, FFAW Urges

FFAW/CAW President Earle McCurdy says an Inquiry Commissioner's decision to reduce response times for rescue helicopters in Newfoundland's offshore oil industry highlight the inadequacy of federal government search and rescue services.

McCurdy praised Commissioner Robert Wells' recent recommendation that response times for rescue helicopters in the offshore oil industry be reduced from the current one hour to 15-20 minutes to get in the air.

The federal government must adopt the same response time for its search and rescue service covering fishermen and others in the North Atlantic, he said.

The current search and rescue response standard is 30 minutes from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, which increases to two hours response time in other hours.

"Every minute counts during an emergency at sea," McCurdy said. "The North Atlantic is a harsh environment and our members who work in that environment deserve emergency response times that are second to none. Surely the lives of fish harvesters are worth no less than those of offshore oil workers," McCurdy said.

Since the offshore oil industry began off Newfoundland, more fish harvesters have lost their lives at sea than the combined total of the Ocean Ranger disaster in 1982 and the Cougar helicopter tragedy in 2009.

McCurdy said he fully supports Commissioner Wells' recommendation and the efforts of offshore oil workers, their union and families to improve response times. He said offshore oil workers deserve the best service that can be provided and that fish harvesters deserve no less.

The FFAW/CAW has about 15,000 members in Newfoundland and Labrador of which about 8,000 are fish harvesters.

Rich Northern Nations Must Pay Down Climate Debt, Urges Klein

Climate change is tantamount to a silent war being waged by the rich against the poor, says Naomi Klein. "Twenty per cent of the world's population is responsible for 75-80 per cent of historic emissions," Klein told the hundreds of people packed into a Toronto community church.

Klein's speech was the first of the David Lewis lecture series, sponsored by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives on February 25. In her speech, she addressed the issue of climate debt, namely the idea that rich countries should pay reparations to poor countries for the climate crisis and the severe damage it is causing.

Klein urged a return to the sense of historical responsibility, which was a key part of the Kyoto Accord, recognizing that rich countries have been responsible for high levels of carbon in the atmosphere, brought about through unsustainable industrialization and over-consumption.

To underline this point, Klein quoted Bolivia President Evo Morales, who said, "the earth does not have enough for the North to live better and better, but it does have enough for us all to live well."

David Lewis (1909-1981) was a leading labour lawyer, life-long social democrat, a founder of the NDP and its national leader from 1970 to 1975. The lecture series will focus on issues of social democracy, organized labour, and income inequality. To watch the entire speech, please visit: http://www.rabble.ca/rabbletv/program-guide/2010/03/features/naomi-klein-speaks-climate-debt-toronto. Photo: Mark Knudsen/Klimaforum09

Ontario to Invest $81 million in Ford Essex Engine

The government of Ontario announced it would invest up to $81 million in the Ford Essex Engine plant in Windsor, ON. The announcement came from Finance Minister Dwight Duncan and Sandra Pupatello, minister of economic development and trade on February 26. This means that several hundred laid off workers will be recalled. The workers are represented by CAW Local 200.

The new investment is in addition to an earlier $168 million investment by the province, $80 million from the federal government and $590 million from Ford, all of which helped re-open the shuttered plant. Photo: L-R Ford Windsor Site Operations Manager Alexandria Maciag, President of CAW Local 200 Dan Cassady, Windsor West MPP/Ontario's Minister of Economic Development and Trade Sandra Pupatello, CAW National President Ken Lewenza, Windsor/Tecumseh MPP/Ontario Minister of Finance Dwight Duncan and Ford Vice President of North American Manufacturing Operations Jim Tetreault.

Airline Workers' Voices Must be Heard on Canada-EU Deal

A coalition of Canadian and European air transport unions has issued a joint call to government officials demanding airline workers voices are heard on issues impacting employment under the new Canada-EU Air Transport Agreement, signed on December 18 2009.

In a February 10 letter addressed to chief negotiators Rob Ready (Canada) and Philippe Burghelle Vernet (European Union), Coalition members including the CAW demanded that civil aviation unions in each country be treated as stakeholders in ongoing joint committee work on issues relevant to employment and the working conditions of air transport employees.

"Airline workers in Canada have been effectively shut out of the negotiation process, even though they stand to suffer most from this deal," said Peggy Nash, Assistant to the CAW President. "Workers' voices must be heard when the Joint Committee first sits in April."

The Air Transport Agreement establishes a framework aimed at deregulating air travel between Canada and the 27-member EU state, including unrestricted access to both international and regional routes, abolishing limits on foreign ownership requirements and eroding workplace wage and benefit standards. The deal builds on similar 'Open Skies' agreements signed by Canada over the years, including a landmark 1995 agreement with the United States.

Open Skies agreements have been a key policy plank in successive governments' push to deregulate the Canadian air transport industry, which first gained traction under Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1984. Deregulation has contributed to the destabilization of the airline industry (over 25 airline bankruptcies in Canada alone), massive job losses and a deterioration of workplace standards.

For more information, visit: http://www.caw2002tca.ca/

Investment in Halifax Shipyard Creates New Jobs

The Nova Scotia government's decision to invest $20 million to modernize the Halifax shipyard will create jobs for marine workers and ensure the yard can successfully bid on future contracts, CAW Atlantic area director Les Holloway says.

"This is a tremendous step forward for marine workers and the local community that is the result of many years of hard work and the establishment of the CAW's shipbuilding campaign, which for years highlighted the importance of reinvigorating the Canadian shipbuilding industry," said Holloway.

Premier Darrell Dexter said the investment in the Irving owned yard is a repayable loan that will help secure a stronger future. New investment in wharves, cranes, fabrication areas and office upgrades will provide jobs for workers and suppliers across the province.

"This investment will not only improve infrastructure at the shipyard and create jobs during construction, it will help the shipyard modernize its facility so it will stay competitive and able to bid on more contracts in the future," Dexter said February 25.

"On behalf of the members of Local 1, I want to thank the province for its support of these important improvements," said Karl Risser, President of CAW/Marine Workers Federation Local 1. "There are many of us whose roots go deep at this shipyard and this news is the best signal to the next generations of shipyard workers."

In the fall of 2009, the Halifax Shipyard landed a contract worth $219 million to build nine mid-shore patrol vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard.


                                                
EDUCATION UPDATE!

New in Education - Building Strong Local Unions!

Having a strong local union is important in fighting back against some of the challenges currently facing CAW members across the country.

In this week-long program offered at the CAW's Family Education Centre in Port Elgin, Ontario a series of new and innovative approaches will be used to explore what makes a local union strong. We'll consider leadership, activism, membership engagement and building strong community links. We'll also look at the role technology can play in communication with members and our work on campaigns through hands-on activities.

This program uses new approaches to education that are designed to engage, challenge, motivate, inspire and educate new as well as seasoned activists, standing committee members and elected leadership - anyone who has an interest and commitment to strengthening their local union.

The next two offerings are: April 11-16 and June 20-25. Registration can be made directly through the Family Education Centre. For more information about the course contact CAW National Representative Kim Yardy at: kim.yardy@caw.ca or 1-800-268-5763 ext 6550.



CALM/LABOUR TECH CONFERENCE

Want to find new ways of reaching out to members?

Check out two great training conferences for labour communicators and networkers - Windsor, Ontario, May 13-16.

CALM May 13-15 http://www.calm.ca/
LabourTech May 14-16 http://www.labourtech.ca/

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