Union Set to 'Waste General Motors' in Canada
It’s been roughly a month since General Motors announced it would be shuttering Oshawa Assembly, leaving the facility’s nearly 3,000 employees and Canada’s auto union more than a little annoyed. Unifor leadership has said it intends to meet with GM executives on December 20th and discuss the automaker’s plans for the Oshawa facility in Detroit. However, the rhetoric coming from union head Jerry Dias makes the upcoming meeting sound more like a mafia hit than a labor negotiation.
“GM is leaving Canada, and we’re not going to let them,” Dias told reporters. “We are going to waste General Motors over the next year. Waste them.”
Unifor has launched the “ Save Oshawa GM” campaign in an effort to use social pressure to keep the plant operating through next year’s intended shuttering. If it fails, Dias says he’s prepared for a prolonged and direct battle with the automaker through 2019 with Unifor’s Local 222 leading the charge.
The union claims that GM has a legal obligation to keep the Oshawa plant open until September 21st, 2020 as part of their existing agreement. It’s currently seeking help from federal and Ontario governments to convince the automaker to adhere to the “no closure” policy until then. However, GM is officially “idling” the plant, not closing it — though the affected workers probably aren’t all that concerned with semantics.
Oshawa Assembly is currently responsible for the Chevrolet Impala and Cadillac XTS, two models which General Motors plans to remove from its lineup soon. It also does final assembly on the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra bodies shipped in from Indiana. But that program is scheduled to end late next year.
Meanwhile, UAW bosses have said they’re similarly outraged with the automaker’s restructuring strategy and would likewise oppose GM’s plan to idle numerous U.S. facilities.
“This callous decision by GM to reduce or cease operations in American plants, while opening or increasing production in Mexico and China plants for sales to American consumers, is, in its implementation, profoundly damaging to our American workforce,” said Terry Dittes, UAW Vice President, Director GM Department. “GM’s production decisions, in light of employee concessions during the economic downturn and a taxpayer bailout from bankruptcy, puts profits before the working families of this country whose personal sacrifices stood with GM during those dark days. These decisions are a slap in the face to the memory and recall of that historical American made bailout.”
[Image: General Motors] [Source: Automotive News]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Recently the Canadian Postal Workers Union began a series of rotating strikes. Sheer genius: Strike a Corporation that has a shrinking market share and force its` customers to learn how to receive and pay bills online. Make them learn how much cheaper it is to ship packages via UPS or Fedex. So, go on strike, Unifor, I am sure all those customers will wait and not buy another brand of car until the strike is settled.
The US economy's strong performance is an illusion... Interested rates are low, and cheap money is bidding up the stock market. Many working people work several jobs to make ends meet. Working more than 40 hours a week in more than job tells me all is not well. When the cheap money ends, if it ends, the party will be over. The US govt is spending TWICE as much as it takes in. Good luck with that. As far as CAW, er Unifor, their big sin is that, unlike the UAW, they won't agree to two-tier wages (paying new hires about HALF of what veteran workers make). That seems principled to me. Unions, at least the UAW on a local level, can be a HUGE pain in the a**. However, without them, let's not kid ourselves, things like a 40-hour week, weekends off, vacations, health-care....a lot fewer people would have them. Also, when it comes to greed, what does one call CEO compensation? For Mary Barra, a CAREER GMer, who rose up the ranks in part by carrying Mr. Wagoner's bags, would she be CEO of such a large enterprise if the US/Canada govts didn't bail GM out? NO. Yet she's not shy about getting over $25 million in compensation. Instead of talking about US/Canda jobs going to cheaper labor, why doesn't anyone compare Mr. Toyoda's compensation to the Detroit Three? Maybe GM's (overpaid) board should hire an Asian to run the show. He'll cost less and probably do a better job.