April 1, 2010
Volume 40, No 13
GM Recall of Oshawa Shift Good News, CAW Says
| CAW Local 222 President Chris Buckley (centre), Shop Committee Chairperson Greg Moffatt (left) and Skilled Trades Area Chairperson Ron Svajlenko (right) address the media following news that GM will recall 600 laid-off workers in Oshawa. |
GM's announcement of the recall of more than 600 laid-off auto workers is great news for the hard-hit industrial communities of Oshawa and Ingersoll, Ontario, CAW President Ken Lewenza says.
"The auto industry has been on a roller-coaster ride in recent years and it's the workers who have absorbed most of the shock," Lewenza said. Job losses, shift reductions and plant closures have hit autoworkers hard from all major automakers in Canada and around the world in recent years.
He stressed that the recall of these laid off workers is also positive for auto parts manufacturers and others who supply GM's auto assembly operations.
The addition of a third shift of production at the Oshawa car plant and increased production at the GM CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario signals a big boost to GM's market woes.
"Today's announcement is finally some long awaited good news for workers, their families and these communities which have been so hard hit," said Lewenza
New Agreement at Wescast Provides Greater Job Security
CAW members who work at auto parts maker Wescast Industries in Strathroy, Ontario have voted in favour of a new collective agreement after pushing back company demands for massive wage and pension concessions.
The group of Local 504 members at Wescast had earlier rejected the company offer loaded with concessions and the two sides had returned to the bargaining table. After a week of tough contract negotiations the new agreement was hammered out. Production workers voted 71 per cent and skilled trades 100 per cent in favour.
The new agreement provides improved job security, said Jerry Dias, assistant to the CAW president. "A key principle achieved in this contract is the company's commitment that the plant won't close and existing work won't be moved out during the life of the agreement," Dias said.
"The new agreement maintains wages and pensions," said CAW Local 504 President Randy Smith. "This provides the company with a cost effective agreement that should position us with new business and greater job security," said Smith.
The CAW represents 75 active workers at the plant, located northwest of London, Ontario. The workers produce exhaust manifolds.
Ontario Budget Positive on Child Care but Workers Still Insecure
The Ontario budget commitment to pick up over $63 million in outstanding child care costs is a positive and long-overdue move. But the government needs to provide greater help to laid-off workers, says CAW President Ken Lewenza.
Reacting to the March 25 provincial budget Lewenza commended the government's move to fill the major funding hole for daycare created by the Harper Conservatives, who put an end to a proposed national child care program in 2006. Although this new funding allows thousands of subsidized day care spaces to continue operating, the McGuinty government must continue advocating for a national plan, Lewenza said.
He also highlighted concerns with a slow down in health care spending in coming years that will mean a greater strain on the health system, especially with hospitals receiving an increase of 1.5 per cent, down from the already low 2.1 per cent in the current year.
Plans to slow major transit expansion projects in Toronto are also a concern, especially at a time when public infrastructure projects are playing such an important role in providing greater balance and stability during the economic downturn that has thrown so many out of work, he said.
The CAW welcomes the budget's commitment to extend the Second Career skills training program to another 30,000 laid off workers as well as the modest increase in funding on a per trainee basis.
It's critical that these funds are actually used to meet workers' needs. Too many of the unemployed have been told they must contribute to their tuition and survive on a living allowance that's sometimes only $37 per week or sometimes nothing at all.
Outside of the additional commitment to Second Career skills training, the budget offers inadequate support for an increasing number of workers faced with insecurity and job loss, especially in the area of severance protection, he said.
"We had hoped that the voices of Ontario's workers who have lost their jobs and who continue to fight for outstanding wage and severance entitlements would have resonated with the provincial government," Lewenza said.
Lewenza said that he was concerned that the government is freezing compensation for non-union government staff and is already flagging an inability to negotiate public sector wage increases in coming rounds of contract talks.
Halt Canada-Colombia Free Trade, CAW Says
The CAW is calling for an immediate halt to any federal government plans to finalize a Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement without the guarantee of an independent human rights impact assessment in Colombia.
"Ongoing human rights violations in Colombia including intimidation, attacks and murder of trade union leaders mean that our MPs should abandon these talks immediately," said CAW President Ken Lewenza.
The recent move by the federal Liberals to support Canada-Colombia Free Trade without the guarantee of independent human rights assessment prior to signing a deal is a shocking betrayal of Canadians expectation that we don't negotiate with human rights abusers, Lewenza said.
A Liberal party amendment to the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement introduced on March 24 doesn't come close to meeting the standard of an independent human rights assessment being conducted before any deal is signed. Instead it gives each country the annual option of assessing human rights after a deal is reached and without any clear mechanism for the ongoing monitoring of the effects of free trade.
"This is a real disappointment because the Liberal party committed in June 2008 to the all-party Commons Committee on International Trade that the free trade agreement would not be ratified until an independent human rights impact assessment is conducted," said Peggy Nash, Assistant to the CAW President.
For more than 10 years the CAW has been calling on the Canadian government to investigate human rights atrocities in Colombia, including the continued intimidation, physical threats and murder of trade union leaders. Despite these demands, very little has changed over the last decade. In 2009 alone 45 trade union leaders were murdered. Colombia continues to be the most dangerous place to be a labour activist in the world.
The CAW has supported trade union leaders and their families forced into exile because of threats upon their lives for doing nothing more than carrying out normal everyday activities on behalf of Colombian workers.
CAW Welcomes New Members
* PLI - Pacific Language Institute Inc., Toronto, ON - 33 new members in Local 40
* R. Lackey Specialized Transportation Ltd., Hastings, ON - 6 new members in Local 1090
* Elk Court (Shannex Inc), Brookfield, NS- 38 new members in Local 4606
* Ka-Na-Chi-Hih Specialized Solvent Abuse Treatment Centre, Thunder Bay,ON, - 26 new members in Local 229
* Oakwood Seniors Home (The Village of Glendale Crossing), London, ON, - 175 new members in Local 302
