Beaten up by concessions and heavy job losses during the recession, the union representing thousands of workers in the struggling auto parts sector is warning of looming labour unrest including plant disruptions if employer demands for cuts don’t stop.
The Canadian Auto Workers says it is mobilizing about 20,000 members in the sector to resist further proposals for bargaining concessions by employers, even against companies that threaten closure while automakers squeeze them.
“The continuing attack on auto parts workers has gone on for too long despite signs of recovery in the industry,” says CAW national president Ken Lewenza in a pamphlet that members will start receiving next week.
“Under the threat of closure or moving work to other plants, employers are coming to our members with outrageous demands and increasingly trying to pit worker against worker and plant against plant.”
“Corporate decision makers must understand that we will fight for our jobs and they must stop their demands for more and more takeaways.”
In trying to strike a more militant tone, the union says it will start an initiative with workplace rallies at about 100 companies on Wednesday Oct. 27.
Under the slogan “enough is enough,” workers will meet during their lunch hours that day to receive information and hold demonstrations to bolster membership support and raise public awareness.
But Jerry Dias, an assistant to Lewenza who is responsible for the union’s auto parts division, stressed on Wednesday that the CAW will resort to more aggressive tactics if employers and the automakers press for pay and benefit cuts.
Featuring a clenched fist on the cover, the 12-page pamphlet, obtained by The Star, reveals the union will use its collective national muscle to help locals fight employer demands by using “every available option includes demonstrations, occupations, plant shutdowns and refusing to handle “hot” cargo.” That latter tactic involves workers not handling production from a plant on strike or in a lockout.
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