By Tony Leah There are two important resolutions submitted to the Unifor Constitutional Convention being held in Toronto from August 8-12. One calls for Unifor to fight for Equal Wages and Pensions (R-13), and the other calls for Improved Pensions Now (R-14). Can the companies afford this? The figures here are from General Motors, but Continue readingCan GM afford Equal Pay and Increased Pensions?
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By Tony Leah Pensions for retirees from GM, Ford and Chrysler/Stellantis were last increased in December 2007. There have been zero increases in the past 14 years. There will be no increases in the next two years. The CAW/Unifor agreed to 5 contracts in a row with no increases for past, present or future retirees. Continue readingAuto retirees fall behind as two-tier “cancer” spreads
This is Day 23 for the United Auto Workers’ strike vs. GM. Today’s Detroit Free Press says at least three items have not been resolved: How long it takes “in-progression” workers (the second tier) to move up to their top level. It’s currently eight years to move from $17 an hour to $28—and their ceiling Continue readingWhat’s Behind GM’s Hardball Stance vs. UAW?
It is a tragic irony that General Motors (GM) chose its hundredth anniversary in Oshawa to announce the December 2019 closure of its Oshawa assembly plant. This means the loss of over 15,000 jobs in Ontario: 2,200 GM assembly jobs, 300 salaried positions, 500 temporary contract positions, 1,000 inside and 1,000 outside supplier jobs, and Continue readingTake the Plant, Save the Planet
Forty-nine thousand auto workers are on strike at General Motors in the largest private sector strike since the last time union and company clashed, in 2007. Production has stopped at 55 factories and parts centers. According to various analysts, the strike could cost GM $50 million to $100 million per day in profits. Before the Continue readingGM Strikers Say ‘No More Tiers!’
By Kevin Taghabon “General Motors is not the solution. General Motors is the problem,” loud applause followed autoworker Tony Leah’s declaration at the front of the room at IBEW Hall. His speech was part of an event, Nationalize General Motors: Oshawa’s Green New Deal. The evening served as the first organizing meeting for a grassroots Continue readingNationalize GM
By Sam Gindin Following an aggressive public relations campaign in which union officials questioned GM’s loyalty to ‘Canadian taxpayers’, General Motors has apparently agreed to keep its Oshawa facility partially open. No official announcement has yet been made, but there are rumours of a revised plan to retain 600-700 workers by investing $100-million to stamp Continue readingGM Oshawa: Lowered expectations, unexplored opportunities
by Gerard Di Trolio and Doug Nesbitt Two months after the GM Oshawa closure announcement, Unifor’s big idea is a campaign to boycott GM cars made in Mexico. The union is even spending huge money on a Super Bowl commercial that will reach about 5 million Canadians. The boycott strategy is doomed. GM sold over Continue readingUnifor’s GM boycott won’t work
General Motors has announced it will end production at five North American plants, just a decade after the company received billions of dollars in U.S. and Canadian taxpayer money and won sweeping concessions from auto unions as part of the bailout. All told, about 6,700 hourly and salaried employees stand to lose their jobs as Continue readingWhy we occupied our General Motors factory in Oshawa
by Jesse Cullen Between the age of three and eight, my family moved five times as my step-dad was transferred for work. Sometimes, we didn’t even stay in one city for an entire year. This instability meant I was unable to form friendships with other kids and I was isolated from extended family for long Continue readingOshawa on the line: a personal account
By Gerard Di Trolio, David Bush and Doug Nesbitt The announcement on Sunday night that GM will close their Oshawa plant at the end of 2019 is devastating news for the thousands of autoworkers and their families in Oshawa. Site of the 1937 strike against against GM that marked the first big breakthrough of industrial Continue readingBuckle up: GM declares war on Oshawa
By Doug Nesbitt In October 1996, Canadian autoworkers struck General Motors in a battle against outsourcing and other concessions. 25,000 workers walked off the job for three weeks and held back the GM attack in Oshawa, St. Catharines, Ste-Therese, and Windsor. Only a year earlier, GM had posted a record annual profit of $6.9 billion. Continue readingThe 1996 GM Oshawa occupation