Auto Industry Bloodbath Continues
The damage locally her in Waterloo Region is drastic. Two weeks ago it was Ledco closing it’s doors (here, here and here), now it looks as though Martinrea International Inc. will close it’s Kitchener plant, killing 1,200 jobs. For those who ever spent time here, Martinrea is the former Budd Automotive plant on Homer Watson Drive.
What’s worse is the Globe and Mail is reporting that once again, the company tried to negotiate with the CAW, once again the CAW refused to discuss concessions of any kind:
…[a] union official said yesterday that in those talks Martinrea wanted to reduce the $50-an-hour wage and benefit costs by 50 per cent.
Mr. Hargrove said the CAW will not agree to pay cuts, noting that his members could work for free at the GM truck plant in Oshawa, Ont., for example, but even that would not have stopped the auto maker from eliminating one of three shifts of production there.
Of course, if the government threw in half-a-billion dollars, that would help. If the employees do, that “would not have stopped” the company from closing the plant.
It’s getting hard not to notice that this blood bath seems pretty one sided – CAW plants are getting killed.
Of course, if the government threw in half-a-billion dollars, that would help. If the employees do, that “would not have stopped” the company from closing the plant.
Exactly. Union jobs are going the way of the dodo bird; except in the public sector of course.
Which begs the question – who’s going to pay for all the teachers and public servants, who get cost of living increases and huge pensions?