At half-past midnight on September 20th, the framework of a tentative agreement was reached between Unifor and General Motors that narrowly averted a strike. The Unifor Local 222 union hall in Oshawa erupted with cheers, then quickly fell silent as our mobilized strike teams waited with bated breath for more details. Our national president Jerry Continue readingWhy we should vote down the GM contract
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Will there be a strike at General Motors in Canada? GM has made no guarantees of a product at the GM Oshawa assembly plant past 2017. Is the corporation planning on leaving Canada and putting thousands out of work? GM Oshawa workers speak up and speak out. They’re ready to fight. Make sure to follow Continue readingOshawa autoworkers: We’re ready to fight!
by Cory Weir GM Oshawa assembly line worker With the Big Three automakers at the bargaining table with Unifor, there has been no shortage of public attention given to workers in Oshawa’s GM car assembly plants. We’ve all seen the economics of what it would mean if GM Oshawa was closed: $5 billion lost from Continue readingGM Oshawa: the untold story of CEVA
By Sam Gindin and Herman Rosenfeld Ever since the sit-down strikes of the 1930s, the cycle of ‘Big Three’ auto bargaining has been a major economic and political event, an indicator of the progress of the class struggle in North America. If such interest has sagged of late, it charged back into the news with Continue readingBargaining Over Corporate Investment: Innovation or Trap?
By a GM Oshawa assembly line worker On Friday, June 10th, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a celebratory visit to Oshawa, Ontario for the announcement of 1,000 new Canadian engineering jobs– an announcement that drew both praise and ire from the production workers of General Motors’ car and feeder plants, who find themselves in a Continue readingGM holds Oshawa hostage after bailout & concessions
by Gerard Di Trolio The April 15 announcement that production of the top selling Toyota Corolla would no longer be built in Canada has reignited the union drive at Toyota’s assembly plants in Cambridge and Woodstock, Ontario. The current drive was launched in late 2013, and began to cool down late last year. However it Continue readingToyota organizing drive renewed as Corolla production stops
CLC Presidential Race | Temporary foreign workers | BC sawmill explosions | BC teachers | Crown Holdings Toronto strike | Chinese shoe factory strike | Toledo autoworkers strike | Federal job cuts | Tuition fees & work hours | Nova Scotia & right-to-strike CLC Presidential Race CLC Presidential Candidate Primer Candidate websites Hassan Husseini: “Take Continue readingRankandfile.ca Weekly Labour Update – April 21 2014
Nova Scotia’s Bill 37 | Unifor Toyota drive | Edmonton layoffs | Hassan Husseini | Inequality | Gender pay gap | OPSEU and the LCBO | Anti-UAW firm | GM’s murderous decision Nova Scotia’s Bill 37: News Round-up Bill 37: Cutting Nova Scotia’s unions off at the knees Larry Haiven, testimony to the Nova Scotia Continue readingRankandfile.ca Weekly Labour Update – April 7 2014
By the Vancouver Ecosocialist Group, March 26, 2014 Chrysler Corporation announced last month that it plans to invest $3.5 billion to retool its assembly plants in Windsor and Brampton, Ontario and produce new lines of vehicles. But it set two big conditions—that the federal and Ontario governments provide $700 million in subsidies, and that the Continue readingEnd Chrysler subsidies: New transport vision needed
by Lindsay Hinshelwood On Sept. 19, 2013, it was announced that another $135 million of taxpayers’ money will be invested at the Ford Motor Company of Canada’s Oakville Assembly Complex (OAC). Jerry Dias, newly elected Unifor national president, claimed at an Oakville news conference, “We won this investment. We earned this investment. We absolutely fought Continue readingAuto Industry Hit and Run
We continue our weeklong series of interviews with Unifor union leaders, staff, and rank-and-file members. Today we speak with Lindsay Hinshelwood, an assembly line worker at Ford Oakville and a member of Unifor Local 707, formerly of the Canadian Autoworkers. [audio:https://www.rankandfile.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/LHfinal.mp3|titles=Lindsay Hinshelwood interview] Lindsay is a rank-and-file Unifor member who ran from the floor for Continue readingUnifor Interview Series: Lindsay Hinshelwood, Local 707
Over the next week, Rankandfile.ca will be publishing a series of interviews with Unifor union leaders, staff, and rank-and-file members. We kick off our series with Bruce Allen, an outspoken member of the CAW/Unifor. [audio:https://www.rankandfile.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/bruce-allen-final.mp3|titles=Bruce Allen interview] (listen on YouTube) Bruce is Vice-President of the former CAW Local 199 (now Unifor) representing St. Catharines General Continue readingUnifor Interview Series: Bruce Allen, Local 199