The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.60/No.38           October 28, 1996 
 
 
Auto Strikers Occupy GM Plant In Ontario  

BY ROBERT SIMMS AND JOANNE WALLADOR

TORONTO - At 10 a.m. on October 16, more than 150 striking members of Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 222 occupied the General Motors north plant in Oshawa, Ontario, to prevent GM from moving dies outside its struck plants so that it can continue production elsewhere. They are among the 26,000 GM workers on strike nationwide.

The occupation followed GM's announcement it would go to court for an injunction forbidding interference with their plans to move up to 75 dies out of the plant.

"Workers discussed the matter and decided themselves to take action," said Les Hodgins, who works at the truck plant in the south end of the city. He was among hundreds of strikers from across Oshawa who rushed to beef up the picket lines outside the occupied plant. Three busloads of strikers from GM's plant in St. Catherines arrived later, Hodgins said. "The general feeling was `No dies are going out.'"

Five hours into the occupation, CAW national president Buzz Hargrove went into the plant and told the occupiers and pickets that negotiations were moving along and GM had withdrawn its threat of court action for now. Hargrove said he expected to reach a settlement by October 21. The workers then voted to end the occupation.

The GM workers, who began walking out of the Canadian plants October 3, are determined to stop the outsourcing to lower-paid workplaces - unorganized or organized. They are also fighting against the speed-up of line production, forced overtime, and unsafe working conditions that the GM bosses have imposed as they try to cut corners to raise their profit rates.

The unionists are demanding that GM change its plan to sell two of its parts plants in Ontario, or failing that get a commitment that any buyer must cover workers under the CAW-GM master agreement.

Many workers on the picket line are outraged that even though GM made record profits of $1.39 billion in Canada last year, it is not prepared to meet workers' demands. But GM measures its success not by the amount of profits, but by the rate of return on its assets, which has fallen from about 17 percent in 1965 to 3.2 percent last year. Chrysler claims a per-employee profit of $24,000, while GM is rated at only $12,500.

Workers are feeling the pain as GM races to catch up: "Its just unbelievable the pressure that people are under" as a result of the line speed, said Greg Crowell, a material handler who's worked at GM Oshawa for 24 years. "I've seen people have nervous breakdowns. They're constantly on the go. The foremen are always on their backs. There's a limit to human endurance."

Last spring GM showed its determination to achieve its goals when it locked out some 180,000 GM workers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico in response to the 17-day strike by workers at two GM Delphi brake parts plants in Dayton, Ohio.

Company spokesman Stew Low said GM Canada cannot accept the pattern agreement reached between the CAW and Chrysler Canada last month. Under pattern bargaining that has been in place since the 1950's, once one of the Big Three (GM, Ford, and Chrysler) auto companies struck an agreement with the union, the other two agreed to the same contract.

In the contract signed with the CAW, Chrysler supposedly agreed not to outsource any major operations, to replace any job it outsources, and not to sell or close any plants. This agreement can be reopened, however, in the event of "an act of God, catastrophic circumstances, or significant economic decline at a plant," according to the Toronto Star.

A special national convention of the CAW has been called for October 18 in Toronto to raise the dues of CAW members across the country. Union officials say this is needed to help sustain the strike fund.  
 
 
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