CAW Prez Buzz Hargrove Says No to Two-Tier Wages. Again. Still.
Stop me when this sounds familiar. Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) boss Buzz Hargrove says his brotherhood is "committed to get at the costs" that Canada one of the the world's most expensive places to build cars. Yes, well weakening Canada's currency is quite an ambitious undertaking. And "getting at" costs is one thing; reducing them another. The Globe and Mail reaffirms that Hargrove's legendary intransigence tough stance continues. Buzz' boyz won't agree to the North American template, that sees significant wage and benefits reductions for car assembling newbies. Buzz figures "It's my last set of negotiations and my legacy is not going to be that the sons and daughters of current workers that were hired over 20 years ago are going to come in at the same rate in 2008 as their parents did in '86 or '87." To that end AOL Money Canada reports Buzz' boyz are strike-ready if the two-tiered wage thang becomes a sticking point. Did I say "if?"
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"There is no way the tooling is ever leaving Oakville, Oshawa, or Brampton, so the company will have to start completely from scratch." Mike: why is this so? Why can't they pack up the tooling and make the vehicles in USA?
I'm thinking they would just move the tooling. they own the plants, they own the tooling there is no problem here. It would just be moved to an idle plant in Detroit. Only so many straws you can put on the camel.
In thinking about recent strikes at smaller companies in Ontario I can't remember a single one in which the strikers were not passively enabled by the Province to disrupt the business far beyond the scope of the legally permitted strike lines. I just can't envision the Ontario Provincial Police forcing open a CAW picket line so that a fleet of semi's can come in and move out tooling and other equipment - and that's after lawsuits and other legal actions which would be used to delay any attempt to unload the plant. Remember, the objective is to make moving a plant so expensive that the cheaper thing to do is to just pay off the workers (again). Yes, eventually you reach a tipping point in which the long term cost so far exceeds the short term costs the company just pulls the plug (Hello Buffalo!). Buzz is betting that we're not at that point yet - I suspect that Buzz and I could not agree upon much more then the time of day and that Sleeman's makes a fine beer - I got to admit: I think that he's right on this one. The CAW is both politically and media savvy. They know how to run a picket line and to appear to be 'victims' at a pay scale that is the envy of most Canadian workers.
I actually think the UAW should be doing this. I believe the two tiered wage system is bad for the union overall. It defeats the whole purpose of solidarity. That being said, I still think they need to cut wages but the rest of the union members need to stop selling out their younger replacements.