The Canadian Auto Workers union has said that it opposes any potential merger between General Motors and Chrysler. CAW also called on the federal government to provide loan guarantees to Canadian industry, similar to those the country’s finance minister Jim Flaherty has offered to banks to support inter-bank lending.
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CAW president Ken Lewenza said that at a time when the country’s industrial base is badly eroding, the government must respond with equal energy used to support Canadian banks and other financial institutions.
“It would be unjust for our government to inject public funds into banks to protect the financial industry, while allowing productive corporations in value-added industries like auto to collapse,” said Lewenza. “Hard-working Canadians deserve government support just as much as investment banks and hedge funds.”
In a meeting of CAW local workplace representatives from both General Motors and Chrysler, CAW national and local leaders opposed the rumoured merger of GM and Chrysler, and signed onto a detailed eight-point statement that calls on the government to provide liquidity assistance and protect Canada’s automotive industry through any future mergers or restructurings.
Lewenza called the rumoured GM-Chrysler merger a “shell game.”
“We cannot solve the industry’s problems by reshuffling company brands,” he said.
The statement also commits the union to use every avenue at its disposal to protect Canadian facilities, including calling on the federal Competition Bureau opposing any merger that does not include protection for Canadian operations.
