General Motors workers fighting the pending closure of a major truck assembly plant in southern Ontario have said they’re planning to keep a high profile without breaking the law as they escalate protests in the coming days.
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According to the Canadian Press, Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) chiefs joined union representatives on Sunday in a rally protesting the closure of the Oshawa, Ontario, plant that employs 2,600.
Last week, GM said the plant would be among four North American facilities being closed due to decreased demand for trucks.
Speaking at GM’s corporate headquarters, which angry workers have been blockading for days, CAW president Buzz Hargrove said ongoing protest plans do not include wildcat strikes in the near future.
Union representatives also had sharp criticism for the federal government, saying the onus for resolution lay with the Conservative party as well as the company.
“We’re not asking the federal government to bail out corporations,” CAW Local 222 president Chris Buckley told the Canadian Press. “We’re asking the federal government to address the root cause of our problems, the unfair trade, the rising Canadian dollar, the rising fuel prices.”
Hargrove reportedly said Ottawa must also pass a resolution forcing automakers to build all vehicles they want to sell in Canada in Canadian plants.
“That’s not very radical,” he said, adding he wanted the company to bring truck production back on line rather than focusing on other types of vehicles.
“All the major auto-producing nations protect their auto industry in some manner, that’s all we’re asking for as well.”
Despite occupying the Oshawa corporate offices, Buckley told workers they should keep going to work at the plant while officials examined their options for legal recourse.
The Canadian Press said Canadian Labour Congress president Ken Georgetti had earlier pledged the support of his 3.2m members to the Oshawa workers. Standing in the back of a grey GM pickup, Georgetti blamed corporate power and the Harper government for the impending closure of the Oshawa truck plant.
He urged unions across the country to get behind the GM workers, but added they weren’t the only ones under assault.
“We’re losing jobs by the bucketful because (corporations) can exploit workers in China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Mexico, and we’re letting them do that,” Georgetti said to a supportive chorus of boos.
“I think it’s time for some raw shows of force. What you’re doing here is exactly what we need to do in the rest of this country. It’s time to say enough.”
Keith Osborne, truck plant chairman of Local 222, said the union would launch the next phase of its action early in the week, but he wouldn’t specify what that would entail. He’ll head to a CAW bargaining convention on Tuesday with a message that strong support is the only way to move forward, the Canadian Press said.
Union representatives told the news agency they were expecting an injunction from GM any time now. Whether or not they’re kicked off GM’s premises, they announced they’ll lead a solidarity march through Oshawa on Thursday at noon, the report added.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported on Saturday that autoworkers and their supporters on Saturday drove hundreds of cars slowly around the factory in an action that might have disrupted parts deliveries.
Since Tuesday, angry workers had blocked a road leading to GM Canada’s headquarters, preventing office workers from getting to their jobs.
Reuters noted that Hargrove and union officials have accused GM of violating the terms of a just-completed three-year labour contract they said obliges GM to keep the Oshawa truck plant open until 2011.
GM Canada spokesman Stew Low told Reuters GM had begun talking to the CAW last week about bringing a third car model to the ‘flex’ line in its Oshawa car plant.
That production line, which will begin making the Chevrolet Camaro this year, was already scheduled to get a second car model as part of the recent deal with the CAW.
