Militant/Rosemary Ray |
Around 200 members of Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) who work at Toromont-Cat in Toronto are into the fourth week of their strike. Picket lines were beefed up in first week of May after company placed ads for heavy equipment mechanics. The plant sells and services Caterpillar earthmoving equipment.
The CAW members voted 95 percent against a contract offer that would reduce the warehouse workers' wages by 20 percent while increasing the mechanics' wages by 6 percent over three years. Warehouse workers would also have lost their cost-of-living adjustment. A welder who has worked at the plant for 11 years commented, "None of the skilled workers are falling for this divide-and-rule tactic. It's the warehouse workers they're after today, but down the road they'll come after the mechanics." |