Harper urged to oppose GM shutdown

The Detroit Three's automotive footprint in Canada took a major hit Friday as General Motors confirmed plans to shut down a three-shift assembly line in Oshawa - a move expected to wipe out 2,000 well-paying assembly jobs and put even more pressure on the CAW to cut labour costs as it heads into bargaining talks in the fall.

GM will phase in the closure over the next 12 months of Oshawa's consolidated line, which will cease operations sometime next June, said Adria MacKenzie, spokeswoman for GM Canada.

"We've been really fortunate that the line continued operation because we announced this back in 2005, that it would be closing in 2008," MacKenzie said. "Unfortunately, there's no new product going into Oshawa on the consolidated line."

Affected workers assemble the current Chevy Impala and spillover capacity of the popular Chevy Equinox from GM's Ingersoll CAMI plant.

GM plans to shift spillover capacity of the next generation Equinox to its plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., while assembly of the 2014 Impala will move to the automaker's flexible manufacturing line in Oshawa, where 2,000 remaining workers also build the Chevy Camaro, Buick Regal and Cadillac XTS, said MacKenzie. The Impala also is produced at GM's plant in Detroit-Hamtramck, Mich.

CAW Local 222 president Chris Buckley decried the move as "offensive" and called on the federal and provincial governments to intervene.

"Our members, both active and retired, made huge sacrifices to help save this company during the auto crisis," said Buckley. "GM's way of rewarding Canadian autoworkers is to throw them onto the street."

General Motors received $61.5 billion in bailout funds from the U.S., Canadian and Ontario governments in 2009 as it went through bankruptcy protection,

Buckley urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to demand that GM rescind the closure.

"The prime minister and premier must come to the table and question GM's decision."

Ontario Economic Development and Innovation Minister Brad Duguid said the province would work with GM in the hope of attracting new product to Oshawa.

"We've made it clear to GM that we have an interest in seeing the consolidated line continue or be replaced with another line in a future mandate."

The rising value of the Canadian dollar has made it tough to compete with the U.S. for new investment, Buckley said.

The latest job cuts come on top of the 2,600 jobs lost in 2009 when GM closed its truck plant in Oshawa, and the July 2010 closure of its transmission plant in Windsor, where it once employed 7,000 people.

Steve Rodgers, head of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association, said GM's announcement sends a message to all Canadian autoworkers - labour costs in this country must fall and match those in the United States.

"At the current time, the Oshawa operation is not competitive vis a vis other facilities in the United States," said Rodgers. The UAW, in its last round of negotiations, managed to secure investment promises in exchange for such concessions as profit-sharing and no Cost of Living Allowance in lieu of annual wage hikes. The UAW also has in place a two-tiered wage system for new hires, who earn about half the regular hourly wage rate.

So far, the CAW has publicly opposed both a two-tiered wage system as well as profit sharing and other lump sum payments in lieu of annual wage hikes.

CAW president Ken Lewenza said while the closure of the consolidated line was expected, it "complicated upcoming negotiations."

"The timing is difficult, but this was not a surprise announcement," said Lewenza.

Original Article
Source: the star phoenix
Author: Grace MacAluso