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  • William Maley
    William Maley

    By William Maley •

    GM's Workers At Oshawa Want A Deal That Ensures The Future of Production

      The future of GM's Oshawa plant will be a topic of focus for auto workers during this round of union contract talks

    This week, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford, and General Motors begin talks with Unifor, Canada’s auto workers union for new agreements. GM will likely have the most contentious talks as workers at GM's Oshawa plant don't know what the future holds after 2018.

     

    The plant has already lost a third shift and about 1,000 jobs when it moved production of the Camaro to Lansing last year. Next year will see the end of production of the Chevrolet Equinox, leaving just the Buick Regal and Cadillac XTS. GM has said time and time again for the past two years that it needs to know labor costs before making any decisions on the plant, only causing the worry to increase.

     

    “The company in the past have had feasibility studies or launch teams if we are going to get product. This year, there’s no feasibility studies going on, no launch teams,” said Colin James, president of Unifor Local 222 to The Detroit News.

     

    “Of course, it’s led to a lot of our members in the plant asking questions. There’s uncertainty: ‘Why is there no launch team?’ ‘Are they planning on closing the facility?’ General Motors is basically not answering that question.”

     

    Yesterday at a news conference in Toronto, Unifor president Jerry Dias said workers at Oshawa will not sign a contract unless there are plans for production.

     

    “We are not going to leave negotiations until we have a firm commitment from General Motors on product,” said Dias.

     

    “We firmly believe General Motors will exit Oshawa unless we have a firm commitment.”

     

    But GM has said that it will not make any commitments on investments until there is an agreement in place.

     

    “We won’t be in a position to make a competitive investment decision until after we are through the negotiations,” said David Paterson, GM Canada’s vice-president of corporate affairs.

     

    “We understand that there is a lot of anxiety about Oshawa," Paterson said. He went onto say that GM's focus during the talks is to work on an agreement that is "mutually beneficial and economically competitive."

     

    Whether or not GM and Unifor are able to work an agreement before September 19th remains to be seen. We'll be keeping a close eye on this.

     

    Source: The Toronto Star, The Detroit News

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    hyperv6

    My point was made in relation TO GM and its share holders.

    But share holders or not the point of nearly all business is to make a profit and make money. Few companies are charities just to employ people just for the hell of it.

    In past decades when business was no as competitive as it is today and regulation things were easier. Also as busy as most companies were in America since we imported so little there was a great competition for employees. Companies would offer benefits to draw in more and better employees.

    Today they are competing with people in other third world countries that will make things for half the cost and the shipping today makes it so easy and fast to transports it has changed the dynamic.

    Also you have so many here that want a lot of money to make a item yet they do not want to show up daily, keep off drugs, pass a back ground check and not steal.

    I had a guy here making good money but he had to quite because he used his generous vacation time, personal time and even exhausted all his warnings verbal and written by June. He was a great worker when he was here.

    Why did he quite because if he was late one more time or missing one more time he was fired. Why did he miss so much time. He had to stay home to play on line Video games.

    Yes he had a wife and family too.

    The dynamic of the company, worker has changed and much of it is due to the globalization and the higher cost of doing business.

    Companies would love to make things here but some can not because no one makes some of the things we used to make. Others know if they do not meet cost people will not buy it.

    Everyone complains about Walmart imports but yet they still buy them.

    Everyone wants to be a millionaire but they all want to shop at Costco.

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    oldshurst442

    Based on this, and recent threads, Canadians aren't polite at all.

    I had to get that post back to neutral instead of it being +1...

     

    Sorry.

     

    That was a message for our 'polite' fellow Canuck....he thinks he is anyway

    That was not for you in any way..

     

    Ive already answered that post on polite Canadians....

    Edited by oldshurst442
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    G. David Felt

    Ehh, The northy Neighbors are not Polite? H'mmmm  :scratchchin:  We'll what do you expect from a crazy social country, not like they have Trump to deal with or Hilly! The US ultimate Dumb N Dumber.  Such a sad state of our political affairs.  :cry:

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    hyperv6
    On 8/19/2016 at 9:23 AM, dfelt said:

    Ehh, The northy Neighbors are not Polite? H'mmmm  :scratchchin:  We'll what do you expect from a crazy social country, not like they have Trump to deal with or Hilly! The US ultimate Dumb N Dumber.  Such a sad state of our political affairs.  :cry:

    They have worse the young Trudeau. 

    I asked my two Canadian friends what they though of him. It was not much. The one said his mother was smoking pot when she was making him and it really has left him impaired. Well he used another term but it included some color metaphors. 

     

    • Disagree 1
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    oldshurst442
    3 hours ago, hyperv6 said:

    They have worse the young Trudeau. 

    I asked my two Canadian friends what they though of him. It was not much. The one said his mother was smoking pot when she was making him and it really has left him impaired. Well he used another term but it included some color metaphors. 

     

    MEH....

     

    Your Canadian friends probably always vote for the Tories....

    No different than what Republicans think of ANY Democrat. And Vice Versa for Dems against the Repubs...

    Our country is also in disgust with our politicians....for the longest time no elections resulted in a majority....

    The Liberals had a minority government a couple of times, then the Conservatives the last 15-20 years.

    Beause we dont trust ANY of our parties...

    The election before this one, Harper's Tories  managed a majority government in office only to phoque it up the very next election.

    How bad did Harper's Tories phoque it up?

    Well, a very young, inexperienced  but hip Trudeau won a majority government in office while the Conservatives barely registered.....the second time in history for the Conservatives to leave such a bad taste for Canadians....Mulroney did the same thing....

    How bad did Mulrnoey phoque it up?

    Well, the Liberals took power again after Mulroney phoqued it up when Trudeau Senior phoqued it up and Mulroney took over the first time around...

    And trust me......Mulroney phoqued it up real bad.

    And trust me, Trudeau Senior also phoqued it real bad, although not as bad as Mulroney. But close.

    As bad as Harper bad!!!

    Harper was just as bad as Trudeau Senior...but the Torie lovers will NEVER admit to that!!!

    So as you could see....Canadian politics is really not that different than American politics...

    (The NDP really never has a chance, they lost it big time sometime in the late 1970s early 1980s and Trudeau Senior came from retirement and came into power for his 3rd and final time before he phoqued it up leaving Mulroney to govern us 8 or so years and then he phoqued it up...NDP came close 2 elections ago, but the man died on us...RIP Mr. Layton)

     

    I am somewhere in the middle of all3 of our parties.

    Sometimes I am a Liberal.

    Sometimes I am a Torie.

    Sometimes I am a NDP guy...

    Basically....I really dont care who the phoque is in power...the shyte that comes out of all 3 parties smells like SHYTE!!!

    Edited by oldshurst442
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    Sophie smith

    Oshawa’s future at play in talks with General Motors

     

     

    For auto workers in Oshawa, it’s do-or-die time.

    In a city that was once synonymous with General Motors, there’s no promise of any future auto assembly work beyond 2019, so there are real fears production could shut down altogether.

    That’s why Unifor, formerly the Canadian Auto Workers union, has threatened to strike at midnight next Monday, unless it wins a commitment from the company for more future work in Oshawa.

    “If we don’t nail it now, we’re not going to nail it done, ever,” said Jerry Dias, the union’s national president. “If they are planning on closing Oshawa, then we’re going to have a strike.”

    GM officials have long insisted that it won’t talk about new products in Canada until a collective agreement is signed first.

    That’s why the union picked General Motors over Ford or Fiat Chrysler as its target to negotiate a contract that will hopefully set a pattern for the other two automakers.

    Dias concedes choosing Ford or Fiat Chrysler would have been an easier path, but that’s not his style or his union’s style.

    “If there is an 800-pound gorilla in the room, you might as well deal with the friggin’ gorilla. That’s what General Motors is,” said Dias in an interview on Tuesday, noting that a week after naming GM as the target company, there have been no discussions on the union’s main demand.

    “We haven’t talked about product yet – they know they are going to have come clean realistically,” he said.

    “We are prepared to fight to preserve the industry,” Dias said, pointing to the 97 per cent strike vote of its 6,600 members at GM. “But I am convinced we’re going to get a deal – the only question is when. I really hope we get it before the 19th.”

    The union’s four-year contracts with the Big Three automakers expire at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 19, and that midnight deadline is fixed.

    GM declined to comment on the talks, referring to an earlier statement issued when the company was named the target. “At GM Canada we remain focused on working with Unifor to reach a mutually beneficial and competitive new agreement,” the statement said.

    Kristin Dziczek, director of research at the independent Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., said the union’s effort to secure a product commitment should be top of the agenda.

    “They have chosen the right battle,” she said. “Product has become the new job security – because if you have a product that sells well, then that’s guaranteed work.”

    But Dziczek said it will be a difficult negotiation for the union, because the automakers have been doing well financially, setting record profits.

    GM reported nearly $10 billion (U.S.) in profits last year and $4.8 billion (U.S.) in the first half this year.

    “They are not going to be taking to the membership an agreement that says, ‘we gave up x, y or z,’” to get product commitments, she said, although GM will likely be pushing for changes to a hybrid pension for new hires and profit-sharing, both non-starters for the union.

    Though Unifor has staked a new vehicle production in Oshawa as its line in the sand, Dziczek doesn’t see anything that could go immediately to Oshawa, which has two production lines, given most vehicles are already assigned.

    “There are no products hanging out there looking for a home,” she said.

    In recent years, GM has closed the truck assembly plant in Oshawa and moved Camaro production to Michigan, so what’s left is limited production of the Chevy Equinox and less popular vehicles like the Buick Regal, Cadillac XTS and the Chevy Impala.

    Even though some analysts have speculated about GM pulling out of Canada altogether, Dziczek doesn’t see that, especially since its CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, whose workers are covered by a separate collective agreement, is in high-gear, running three shifts.

    “I don’t think they would pull out completely. There is nothing indicating that this is a pullout round of talks,” she said.

    John Holmes, an emeritus professor of geography at Queen’s University, said the union’s strategy to make GM its target is to win government support.

    “I do think this is a very important round of negotiations for Canada – there is a lot at stake – including GM’s future in Canada,” he said.

    “But I wonder the degree to which the union is making commitments of new products such a central issue . . . whether this is part of the union’s strategy trying to get jobs on the political agenda for the provincial government and the federal government,” said Holmes, who studies the North American auto industry.

    Dias acknowledges that the stars appear to be aligning now, given that both Premier Kathleen Wynne and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau understand the importance of auto manufacturing to the Canadian economy.

    “They get it. They are not foolish,” he said, adding that the Stephen Harper government was resistant to investment. “This whole thing about taxpayers’ money going for profitable companies . . . I understand the argument.

    “But these companies have options. So we can be puritans, and be holier than thou and not have any jobs. Then we would be fools. There would be no tax base,” Dias said, noting other jurisdictions including Mexico are wooing car companies.

    If GM’s auto workers walk off the job next week, the union could immediately impact production at the CAMI plant, due to engines and transmissions built in St. Catharines, he said.

    Those parts also go to nine U.S. assembly plants including ones that build the large SUVs that are selling well.

    Dias travelled to Michigan last weekend to meet with Dennis Williams, president of the United Auto Workers, who has promised support, though he hasn’t specified what it might be.

    Dias said before the UAW headed into its last round of negotiations, he spoke at the union’s convention, pledging Unifor’s support.

    “I pledged to the convention if there was a dispute in the United States, we wouldn’t do one thing in Canada to undermine what they were doing,” Dias said. “We wouldn’t beef up production with the engine plant, we wouldn’t do anything.”

    And if push comes to shove, Dias said: “Dennis will do the exact same thing,” adding “he’s an incredible trade unionist and personal friend.”

    But Unifor is still hoping it won’t come to that.

    “I understand that we have power – but the last thing in the world I want to do is use it. Any fool can fight,” Dias said. “It doesn’t take a genius to have a fight . . . it takes real brains to find a solution.regards:

    regards:

    sophie smith

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