Chrysler Minivan Plant Hiring, Outsiders Need Not Apply
August 19th, 2014 10:03 AM
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Chrysler will hire 60 workers at its Windsor, Ontario minivan plant, but only candidates referred by current union workers will be considered for the jobs.
The Globe and Mail is reporting that only current Windsor employees can refer potential candidates for the open positions, which will be subject to a lower tier wage for the first 10 years. After that point, pay will rise from around $20 an hour, to the full rate of over $30 per hour.
Currently, the Windsor plant is running flat out at three shifts per day, plus overtime shifts on weekends. With minivan sales up 17 percent year to date, the extra workers will help Chrysler keep production up, and prepare for the next-generation minivan due out in 2017.
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This will empty the bars.
I'm sure it would be stepped up rates of pay until 10 years of service you would reach the highest rate per hour. A probation period would probably apply for some months after initial hire...after that they can't just automatically fire someone just so they don't have to pay full rate.
The most interesting thing about the article is that they're building as many minivans as they can. Is demand really that high?
I'm surprised and yet not surprised at this. GM plants operate in the exact same fashion with a referral system for all applicants (referred to as "The Lottery"), but I was not aware it was a universal UAW thing. Keeping all new talent referrals/applicants limited to those who are "vouched for" is really a poor and dated tactic. I'm truly surprised the EEOC and DOJ Civil Rights division still allows for this. I mean think about it, lets say I live in Bowling Green, KY, and I want to work at the GM plant there. The demographics of Bowling Green are 75% white, 13.9% black, 4.2% Asian, 6.5% Latino, and the rest fitting into other categories. I'm not sure what the demographics of the plant are, but if it matches the population and I can only refer one candidate a year, the odds of the referred candidates being white vs non-white are high. The lottery selects a number of candidates based on a ratio to how many requisitions are given (say ten candidates to one req). The odds of the ten candidates being white is at least 7 of 10, and of those 500 candidates, what are the odds of whites vs non-whites in getting the job outside of pure token-ism? If any private firm in the nation conducted hiring practices in this way, they would quickly be in court with EEOC or their state equivalent. Funny how that doesn't happen here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Green,_Kentucky