Amidst a campaign by the bosses, city officials, and local press to tar the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union with violence, the court ruling allows only 50 pickets at the plant, all of whom must be members of CAW Local 127, and bars the union from delaying vehicles or people from entering or leaving the plant. The order also bans the union from blocking buses of replacement workers anywhere in Ontario.

The strikers have kept the plant shut down in face of attempts by the company to bring in replacement workers. Union picket lines have turned away buses of scabs, stopping them before they were able to get close to the plant.  
 
Strikers run down by security guard
On June 24 one worker was critically injured and two more hospitalized after a van driven by a company security guard hit them outside the plant.

Antiunion forces have turned the situation on its head, using the attack as justification for limiting pickets. In an article about the injunction, the Toronto Globe and Mail said the strike has included "one serious incident of violence that left one Canadian Auto Workers member in critical condition." City lawyer James Cooke told the press if a court order was not issued, "the city of Chatham is going to be hostage to the CAW."

In the days leading up to the court ruling several strikers spoke with the Militant about their fight.

"Is the judge going to say where we can walk or drive in Chatham?" Alveana Willder said. "They might as well barricade all the streets."

"I testified on Friday," said Ken Burke, a striker who is compiling a scrapbook of strike photos. "They wanted to make a case that I was violating the personal right to privacy of the scabs, security guards, and managers because they are in some of my pictures. They are trying to make us look like the villains. What about our rights?"

A strike activist, Owen Bray, told Militant reporters, "I have followed the buses with scabs. The security guards follow us and try to drive us off the road. They take videos of us following the scab buses.

"They talk about rights," said another striker. "What about Don’s right?" she said, referring to Don Milner who is still in critical condition at the hospital after being struck by the security van. He has massive internal injuries and multiple fractures.  
 
Stakes for the labor movement
Navistar’s drive to restart production with replacement workers is seen by workers as a challenge to the labor movement. Legislation passed in 1995 by the Ontario Conservative government legalized the use of scabs. No major corporation has yet attempted to use scabs to break a strike in auto or truck assembly since 1945.

The July 4 Chatham Daily News ran an article reporting on a meeting between company officials, local police, and Ontario Provincial Police. The paper received a summary of the meeting, which was prepared by the cops in support of the request for the injunction.

Chatham-Kent police Inspector Tim Mifflin wrote, "The topic of the meeting was to address how the plaintiff (company) would be able to meet their goal to run their plant. The key issue was the use of temporary workers."

"Ultimately," Mifflin continued, "the action of bringing temporary workers into the plaintiff’s facility will cause the CAW to bring workers into Chatham from around the province. This would bring traffic to a standstill on every major road in the area. If the temporary workers did reach the plant the danger would increase dramatically."

The report to the Superior Court judge explains company officials then asked if the National Guard could be brought in to protect the replacement workers. The police told the officials that Canada does not have a National Guard, only an army, which can be deployed only on authorization of top federal government officials.

The provincial police at the meeting assured Navistar bosses that they could handle any "potential breach of the peace."

About one-third of the current members of Local 127 participated in the last big strike at Navistar International in 1974. "It was quiet. It wasn’t like this," said Don Duquette, who is a stockman. "The violence by the company is escalating like a snowball."

Assessing the events, union member Florence Schaafsma said the company doesn’t want to settle. "They’re trying to provoke us. They want to drive the union out. But I don’t think the company expected the support the strike has won," she said. "We’ve gotten a lot of support from the other unions. They know they’re next."

"A lot of us didn’t know what to expect, either," she added. "This is my first strike. But we’re doing what has to be done. We have to stick together."  
 
Cost-cutting drive
Cutbacks the company is seeking to impose include a $4-an-hour wage reduction for assembly workers and a $6-an-hour for workers in the skilled trades. Navistar is pushing to increase co-payments for medical care, lengthen the workweek from 40 hours to a compulsory 56 hours, reduce paid vacation time, use temporary workers, and contract out work. In addition, it is demanding the union sign a seven-year contract.

"In 1982 we gave them concessions on vacation time, Christmas bonuses, holidays, and wages. They said they were close to Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Then they gave bonuses to management," said Phil Jeremias, an assembly worker. "We make $17 an hour less than [Harvester International] workers in the United States. They are not going to get concessions now. No way."

In 1999 there were 2,500 workers in the Chatham factory. The company built a new plant in Escobedo, Mexico, and slashed the workforce to about 600. Now the company is threatening to move all the work to Mexico unless the union agrees to the concessions.

The strikers are proud of their union. "It’s not too often we have to use our union to fight. This is one of them," said assembly worker Scott Brodie, who is assigned to the wood crew for the picket lines. He delivers wood to each gate for the nighttime fire cans.

In the United States Navistar Inter–national’s engine production plant in Melrose Park, Illinois, and a truck assembly plant in Springfield, Ohio, are both organized by the United Auto Workers (UAW). The union’s contract at the Springfield plant expires in October. Negotiations are slated to begin after the annual plant shutdown, which ends July 21.

Strikers told the Militant that representatives of the UAW visit the CAW in Chatham to learn about the strike and the issues involved.

Ilona Gersh is a member of United Auto Workers Local 174 in Michigan. John Steele is a member of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 175 in Toronto,  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home