Unifor May Follow UAW's Lead And Set Up "Voluntary" Local For Toyota

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

Canadian Toyota plant may be the next facilities to get a “voluntary” local, similar to what the UAW is proposing for Volkswagen’s Chattanooga factory.

According to the Windsor Star

Unifor president Jerry Dias said Friday the union may follow the lead of its American counterpart and establish a local for Toyota workers in Cambridge and Woodstock.

“It’s a good idea; it’s something we may very well do,” Dias said of the United Auto Workers’ decision to form a new local to be run by hourly workers employed at the Volkswagen assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Unifor made a big push to organize the two plants in Ontario, but their plans were disrupted after Unifor put the certification vote on hold due to an alleged discrepancy in the overall number of employees at the two plants, which had the potential to dilute the percentage of pro-union employees.

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Potemkin Potemkin on Jul 14, 2014

    Here we go again union bad, company good. Some people are talented enough to strike out on their own but for the vast majority they work for someone. How many grunts get into the military because they want too and how many just need a pay check. Unions have their good and bad points but if the crash of 2008 taught us anything its that the employers don't give a sh*t about their employees. The first rule of business is to make money so if you can get away with paying less you will. Anyone who thinks that their employer would pay them what they currently earn or give them the benefits they enjoy if not for the unions establishing a base line is in for an awakening. No collective bargaining and you get screwed, just look at the history of labor in North America.

    • Redav Redav on Jul 14, 2014

      Anyone who thinks that all employers are the same, or that many (not all) don't recognize people for what they are really worth and honestly believe in doing the right thing because it's the right thing isn't qualified to have an intelligent conversation on the topic. Also, there are entire industries that have no history of unions, so it's folly to think that everyone's wages are based on unions.

  • Psarhjinian Psarhjinian on Jul 14, 2014

    "Canadian Toyota plant may be the next facilities to get a “voluntary” local" I assume you mean "plants". Man, the force is not strong with TTAC's copy-editing today.

  • Xeranar Xeranar on Jul 14, 2014

    Collective bargaining requires collective dues. But this voluntary local is a good way for the powerful unions to spend some time and win a war of attrition because once you're ingrained in the community it's far easier to win the battle over the corporate forces. I'm not happy we have to battle so hard in the US & Canada when so many other countries are pro-union, but then again we're stubborn corporatists who love to be ruled by the business elites who resent us for breathing their precious air...

    • See 1 previous
    • Xeranar Xeranar on Jul 15, 2014

      @redav Anecdotal retort, basic argument of individualism, a dash of libertarian ideology of Horatio Alger variety. Does that sum it for you or would you like to claim something else? Honestly, I hear your remarks but they're coming from such a well-worn path of angry right-wing faux populism that I can't help but ignore it because the economics and historical journals are full of responses to counter the whole argument. Even if you want to point fingers at back room dealings amongst the largest unions in the country I can point hundreds more at the Fortune 1000 and not even touch the medium size companies that fight tooth and nail against the threat of their profit margin. The argument is of where profits should go. Unions say to the workers, corporations say to themselves. You can feel however you want about the administration of individual unions and their overall track record but your ideological position is abundantly clear.

  • Potemkin Potemkin on Jul 14, 2014

    redav. In every company I've worked for it all boils down to money, yours and theirs. If a company can get away with it replacing expensive labor with equally qualified cheaper labor is just good business. Non union shops pay union wages because they need to attract qualified workers who would otherwise go to the union shops. There were no unions at the turn of the 20th century, how'd that work out for the 99%.

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