The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union is demanding that General Motors retain at least one shift at its Oshawa truck assembly plant in Ontario, following the announcement June 3 that GM wants to cease production at that facility after the third quarter of 2009.
“General Motors has an obligation to our union and its members and to Canadians in general to retain at least a share of its truck production in this country,” said Buzz Hargrove, president of the CAW. He called the announcement by GM “a devastating blow” to Canada’s staggering auto industry.
“We recognize that the overall market for GM’s larger vehicles, including pickups, is enduring a painful adjustment,” Hargrove added, “but that does not give this company the right to violate its recent collective agreement and turn its back on Canada entirely.”
Until January of this year, the Oshawa plant operated on three shifts of production. The third shift was laid off in January of this year due to falling pickup sales. In April, GM announced that it planned to lay off the second shift this fall – but that action was postponed as a result of the CAW’s recent contract talks with the company.
That agreement committed GM to maintain two shifts of employment at the truck plant (working on an alternating on-off basis) until at least September 2009. It also committed GM to allocate production of its next-generation 10XX version of the pickup to the Oshawa truck facility. That new generation vehicle was initially forecast to launch in the 2011-2012 period.
“The CAW has just concluded a collective agreement with GM that was proactive and responsible, and which the company itself acknowledged substantially enhanced the competitiveness of its Canadian facilities,” Hargrove added. “That agreement will save GM several hundreds of millions of dollars over the next three years. This announcement is a clear violation of GM’s commitment to our members, their families and the community.”
“The other companies we deal with are enhancing their presence in Canada through new investments,” Hargrove said, mentioning product commitments at several locations by Ford and Chrysler. “GM enjoys the largest productivity advantage in Canada of any automaker, its facilities here have won repeated quality awards, and yet it chooses to cease its Canadian truck production.”
“Times are tough for the North American auto manufacturers, but this decision is absolutely unwarranted. It is offensive to the contribution which Canadian workers and Canadian consumers have made to this company,” Hargrove added.
He noted that GM sold almost 100,000 pickup trucks in Canada last year. Sales this year are off 15 percent, but are holding up better than GM’s sales south of the border. “GM clearly sells enough pickups in Canada to justify retention of one shift of employment at this plant,” Hargrove said.
Hargrove called on the provincial and federal governments to press GM to retain at least one shift of employment at the plant beyond the third quarter of 2009, until production of the new version of the truck begins. He pledged to work closely with both governments and the company to ensure that the new generation of the truck is allocated to Oshawa as soon as possible.
He pointed out that GM’s proposed action could not have occurred under the rules of the former Canada-U.S. Auto Pact, which required participating companies to maintain production of both cars and light trucks in Canada proportionate to their sales here.
Hargrove called again on the federal government to play a more active role in supporting the industry. “The claim that the whole country can just shrug off the auto industry crisis is being proven wrong every day,” Hargrove said. First-quarter GDP statistics released by Statistics Canada last Friday confirm that Canada’s battered auto industry is pulling the entire national economy down into negative growth.
“This is yet another catastrophic event in Jim Flaherty’s own backyard – a region that saw unemployment grow by 18 percent last month alone – faster than any other place in Canada. When will he and his colleagues open their eyes, and recognize that we have a problem?”
“In contrast to the federal government’s inaction, the Ontario government has been doing its best to support auto investment and employment,” Hargrove added. “Without provincial support (including its participation in GM’s Beacon Project), the situation facing the industry today would be far, far worse. But we need both levels of government engaged in order to keep our share of future investment and jobs,” Hargrove said.
The CAW and its members did everything they could in recent bargaining to cement GM’s presence in Oshawa, including a three-year wage freeze and numerous cost-saving provisions. “This decision proves once again that we can’t solve this industry’s problems at the bargaining table,” Hargrove concluded.
