BY JOANNE WALLADOR

OSHAWA, Ontario - "The strike made a point with the Harris government [in Ontario]. We saw the OPSEU [public workers] strike last year and what's happening to hospital workers today. Harris would be happy if he could hire part-timers and not have to pay benefits. GM wants to do the same thing."

That's what Leroy Campbell, an assembly line worker at the Oshawa car plant, said in an interview on the 20-day walkout by 26,000 Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) against General Motors in October. Campbell was also referring to the austerity drive by the provincial government of Michael Harris in Ontario, which has provoked numerous labor protests and strikes.

GM prepared for the CAW strike and was ready to take a shutdown to win concessions from the union. The company achieved most of its objectives. While the auto giant made record profits in 1995, the company says it must cut up to 70,000 jobs to be competitive. According to the 1996 edition of the Harbour Report, Chrysler can assemble a car with 2.58 workers compared to GM's 3.64 for a comparable automobile. A key part of GM's strategy to lower its labor costs is to sell off its Delphi parts division and outsource more of its production.

The company had the backing of its stockholders in this fight. An article in the October 29 USA Today said the value of GM stocks began climbing leading up to the strike. "Wall Street is gleefully watching General Motors battle its unions," it said. "The past month, GM stock rose $6 a share, a climb worth more than $4.53 billion.... The walkout ended last week and cost GM $350 million in production, a fraction of the increase in market value."

CAW members ratified the three-year contract reached by GM and union officials by nearly 90 percent of those who cast ballots. GM obtained union approval for the sale of two Delphi parts plants in Windsor and Oshawa, which employ some 3,400 workers. Although there are limits on further outsourcing, CAW president Basil Hargrove conceded that GM has some "unique needs" in this area. The contract also allows GM to cut jobs through changes in technology, discontinuation of a product line, or changes in the market.

The accord includes annual wage increases of 2 percent plus cost of living adjustments. In Oshawa, workers won an end to mandatory overtime after eight hours work per day. Their regular workweek is 48 hours.

Dean Munger, GM's chief negotiator described the union's acquiescence in the sale of the two plants as the company's biggest coup. This was an important break with the pattern contract negotiated with Chrysler that bans the sale of plants for the life of the agreement.

"I'm disappointed the sale went ahead. But I don't know if we could have stopped GM from selling the plants," said Winnie Duncan, who has worked at GM for 22 years. "At least we got a lot of provisions for the people who will be affected."

She was referring to over 3,000 buyout packages that will be offered to workers eligible for early retirement, and GM's agreement to cover wages for three years and benefits for nine years if the buyer of the plants can't meet the CAW contract on these points. While GM attained its major objectives in this round of the fight, union members are far from out of the ring.

Karen Dolan, who works in the Oshawa Fabrication plant that is slated to be sold, told Militant reporters that over 50 tool and die makers stopped work for several hours on October 25 because it isn't clear that they have "flow rights" back into GM as they had understood from the agreement. Two busloads of them went to interrupt CAW negotiations with Ford of Canada in order to speak directly to CAW president Hargrove this past week.

As workers streamed into the ratification meetings, the mood was sober and thoughtful. "We can't accept this with a big margin," said Robert Milot, who has worked at the Ste. Thérese plant for 23 years. "We have to let the company know that we're not happy." Michel Perron, who has been laid off from the assembly plant, commented, "We've made gains but the biggest point that we haven't made progress on is the question of line speed. It's because the speed is so fast that we wildcatted in January '95."

Many Chrysler workers, who settled over a month ago, feel the same way. A "town-hall" meeting of Chrysler assembly workers in Bramalea, Ontario, with the plant manager was abruptly ended when workers kept interrupting him to protest "overloading" of assembly jobs.

Brad Culetto, a Chrysler employee who previously worked at the closed GM Scarborough van plant, said, "My first interest is not what happens to me."

This spirit to continue resisting the concession demands by the auto giants was apparent in the lively contingents of CAW members from Oshawa and St. Catharines who participated in the Toronto Days of Action to protest cuts in social services by the Harris government.

CAW members appreciated the solidarity with their struggle the United Auto Workers members in the United States, who were laid off as a consequence of the strike in Canada, expressed in TV interviews. "We have to support them even if we get laid off," said CAW member Duncan, referring to the possibility of walkouts by UAW members against GM in the United States. "Busloads of us should go down and show our support."

Michel Dugré, a member of the International Association of Machinists at JWI Johnson in Montreal, contributed to this article.  
 
 
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