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Canadian Auto Workers
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The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW; formally the National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers Union of Canada) is one of Canada's largest and highest profile trade unions. While rooted in Ontario's large auto plants of Windsor, Brampton, Oakville, St. Catharines and Oshawa, the CAW has in recent years expanded and now incorporates workers in industries from fisheries to air travel. The current president of the CAW is Ken Lewenza.
CAW began as the Canadian Region of the United Auto Workers (UAW).
The UAW was founded in August 1935, and the Canadian Region of the UAW was established in 1937 following a strike at General Motors's Oshawa, Ontario plant.
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Encyclopedia
The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW; formally the National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers Union of Canada) is one of Canada's largest and highest profile trade unions. While rooted in Ontario's large auto plants of Windsor, Brampton, Oakville, St. Catharines and Oshawa, the CAW has in recent years expanded and now incorporates workers in industries from fisheries to air travel. The current president of the CAW is Ken Lewenza.
History
The CAW began as the Canadian Region of the United Auto Workers (UAW).
The UAW was founded in August 1935, and the Canadian Region of the UAW was established in 1937 following a strike at General Motors's Oshawa, Ontario plant. CAW unionized the Ford Motor Company in 1945 after the a major strike which established the right of Canadian labor union members to dues checkoff. Before 1979, the Canadian Region was largely seen to follow in the contractual footsteps of the larger US-UAW, and despite growing differences, continued under the auspice of the UAW until 1985.
The reasons for the CAW split from the UAW are complicated. Holmes and Rusonik (1990) contend that although the Canadian labour movement has been seen as traditionally more militant than its American counterpart, it was in fact the uneven geographical development of both management and labour led the Canadian auto-workers to develop a distinctly different set of collective bargaining objectives, which placed them in a far stronger bargaining position as compared to the UAW in the U.S., and, ultimately, brought about the events that led directly to the Split.
Two of the main forces demanding the restructuring of management and Labour during this time were the rise of Japan as a major automotive force, and the general recession of the world economy in the late 70's and early 80's. Aided by the Auto Pact and the weakening Canadian dollar in relation to the United States dollar, a geographic difference developed which provided some relief to the Canadian auto-worker.
By December 1984, significant differences in the value of negotiated contracts, and divergent union objectives had set the stage for the creation of the CAW, a process documented in the Genie Award winning film, Final Offer. In 1984, the Canadian section of the UAW, under the leadership of Bob White and his assistants Buzz Hargrove and Bob Nickerson, broke from the UAW, lead by Owen Bieber, because the American union was seen as giving away too much in the way of concessions during collective bargaining. Additionally, the UAW had been lobbying the U.S. Congress to force the transfer of auto production from Canada to the U.S. and the Canadian branch felt there was a lack of a representative voice during UAW's conventions. By 1985 the split from the American union was complete and Bob White was acclaimed as the first President of the CAW. He went on to serve 3 terms as president.
After separation, the CAW began to grow quickly in size and stature. It merged with a number of smaller unions to double in size and become the largest private sector union in the country. Most notable were the mergers with the Fishermen, Food, and Allied Workers and the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Transport and General Workers. The CAW also voiced strong opposition to the then-federal government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and such policies as the Goods and Services Tax and free trade. Under White and Hargrove, the CAW has moved toward the European model of social unionism and away from American business unionism.
In the case Fullowka et al v. Royal Oak Ventures Inc, held in the aftermath of an 18 month strike at Royal Oak Mines in Yellowknife, the CAW was held responsible for 22% of damages. The judge found that the union breached its duty of care by doing nothing to stop illegal acts during the strike, paying fines and legal fees for striking miners, providing a person to assist the miners' union who prolonged the strike, and failing to bargain in good faith. The court ruled that the cumulative effect of these breaches of the duty of care were found to have materially contributed to Roger Warren's bombing of the mine, which killed nine strikebreaking workers. Warren, a union member who had been fired from Royal Oak, testified that he was only capable of the bombing because strike-breakers had been "dehumanized" by the union and was sentenced to life in prison. Furthermore, CAW members Al Shearing and Tim Bettger were sentenced to two and a half and three years in prison, respectively. Both were convicted of painting anti-scab graffiti and setting an explosion in a ventilation shaft on June 29, 1992. Bettger was sentenced to an additional six months in prison for blowing a hole in a television satellite dish September 1 of that year. (The unioned miners were part of the Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers union (CASAW) Local 4 at the time of the strike, and merged into the CAW on May 1994.)
In 2000, the CAW was expelled from the Canadian Labour Congress when several union locals left the SEIU and joined the CAW, prompting accusations of union raiding. A settlement was reached a year later that allowed the CAW to rejoin the national labour federation but relations with other unions such as the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the United Steel Workers of America and SEIU remain strained and the CAW remains outside of the Ontario Federation of Labour.
The CAW's relationship with other unions has also been strained due to its different political direction. The CAW is strongly left leaning and it has traditionally been a strong supporter of the New Democratic Party (NDP) and the Bloc Quιbιcois (Bloc). However, under current leader Buzz Hargrove, it began lending its support to the Liberal Party of Canada in ridings which the NDP were unlikely to win in the recent federal elections.
The CAW has attempted several times, all unsuccessful, to organize Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada. TMMC Assistant General Manager and spokesman Greig Mordue stated "Our team members will decide whether or not a union best reflects their interest... At this point in time, we don't think they have anything to gain from a union", and described the defeat of the union drive saying "Our team members have recognized that a third party represents a complication they don't need." Despite this, however, the CAW supported Mordue as the Liberal candidate in the 2006 federal election instead of endorsing the NDP's Zoe Kunschner. Mordue attempted to take credit for bringing the new plant to Woodstock, but lost to Conservative incumbent Dave MacKenzie.
The 2006 federal election saw the governing Liberals lose power, despite CAW support. Afterwards, the Ontario NDP voted to expel Hargrove for supporting the Liberals, which automatically suspended his membership in the federal party. The CAW retaliated by severing all union ties with the NDP, a move formalized at the CAW's 2006 convention.
Industry analyst Anthony Faria has criticized the labour contracts that Hargrove negotiated with the Big Three US automobile manufacturers, predicting that the subprime mortgage crisis and currency would hit Canadian auto production especially hard. Faria noted that UAW president Ron Gettelfinger agreed to have the UAW's "all-in" wage, benefit and pension costs drop from a high of $75.86 per hour in 2007 to an average of about $51 per hour starting in 2010. By comparison, the CAW's cost per hour was $77 in 2007 and will rise to over $80 per hour by the end of the new contract. Faria said that Gettelfinger went into negotiations "with the right intention...Save jobs. The CAW strategy was to squeeze every dime out of them."
New president Ken
Lewenza has argued that labour is not responsible for the bankruptcy crisis facing the Big Three automakers, saying that his members would not make concessions part of any taxpayer-funded bailout. "We don't see this as us being the problem", Lewenza said, adding he would "absolutely not" accept any further cuts after losing tens of thousands of jobs in recent years. "We've suffered our share of pain."
However, a spokesman for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has criticized the CAW's "no-concession" stance, saying that it only serves to strengthen the opposition to a taxpayer-funded bailout for the struggling Detroit Three automakers. The CTF further pointed out that "It is especially difficult to understand anyone asking for government help that refuses to do anything to help itself to begin with", since they "fail to realize they've existed at the substantial largesse of taxpayers for decades".
Kelly McParland, a columnist for the National Post, has suggested that "if he won't give anything, he and his members are likely to lose everything." He also said that the problem facing the North American auto industry was born equally by management and labour alike, criticizing labour for building up pay and benefits for themselves that was as unsustainable as it was enviable, while attacking management for its short-term strategy of selling gas-guzzling trucks and sales tactics (price cuts, rebates, free gas and cash-back schemes).
The CAW negotiated a cost-cutting deal with General Motors Canada on March 8, 2009. The deal would extend the current contract for an additional year to September 2012, and preserves the current average assembly-worker base pay of about $34 an hour. It would eliminate a $1,700 annual "special bonus," and reduce paid time off by 40 hours a year while maintaining vacation entitlements which range up to six weeks a year for high-seniority workers. The deal also introduce payments by members toward their health benefits - $30 monthly per family for workers and $15 a month for pensioners. Lewenza said it also would trim by 35 per cent company contributions to union-provided programs such as child care and wellness programs. Lewenza called the package a "major sacrifice." The agreement is contingent on GM getting billions of dollars in federal and provincial taxpayer support, which Lewenza stressed will be loans, and on GM Canada getting 20% of production. However, observers noted that it did not go far enough; DBRS analyst Kam Hon described it as "not material." Automotive industry consultant Dennis DesRosiers said that General Motors is continuing to avoid tough decisions, estimating the total hourly cost of a GM Canada worker, including benefits, is $75 to $78, and saying that "they [GM] got six or seven." when it should have been cut by $20. DesRosiers also said giving up cost-of-living increases is not significant when inflation is nearly non-existent and added that the 40-hour reduction in paid time off merely means "five fewer spa days." University of Toronto professor Joe D'Cruz calculated that it would save $148 million a year, though GM is seeking $6 billion in Canadian government support.
CAW leaders
Canadian Directors of the UAW
Presidents of the Canadian Auto Workers
Major CAW employers
Major auto
- General Motors of Canada Local 195, 199, 222, 636, 1001, 1973
- Ford Motor Company of Canada Local 200, 240, 707, 1520
- Chrysler Canada Local 144, 195, 432, 444, 1090, 1285
- CAMI Automotive Local 88
Independent auto parts
- Lear Corporation Local 222, 1090, 1524,
- ThyssenKrupp (Budd and Fabco) Local 1451
- Mahle 1941
- Wescast Industries Local 397
- AGS Automotive Systems Local 195, 222
- Woodbridge Foam Local 112, 127, 222
- Standard Products
- Magna International (incl. Intier)
- Hayes-Dana Local 27, 199, 676
- Meritor Automotive Local 127
- Ventra Plastics Local 127, 195, 1524
- Johnson Controls Local 222, 444
Aerospace
Specialty vehicles
Shipbuilding
- Halifax Shipyard CAW/MWF Local 1
- Marystown Shipyard
- Shelburne Ship Repair
Electrical and electronics
General manufacturing
- Collins and Aikman Plastics
- Coca Cola Bottling Co. Local 126 Local 350 Local 385 Local 973
- Hershey Local 462
- MTD Products
- Atlas Steels
- Kautex Textron
- McGregor Hosiery Mills Local 40
- Motor Coach Industries Ltd. - National Council 4000
- Parmalat Local 462
- Nestlι Enterprises Local 252
- Bazaar and Novelty Local 462
- Guelph Products
- LTV Copperweld Local 636
- PepsiCo Foods Local 1996
- St. Anne Nackawic Pulp Co. Local 219
- Scanwood Canada Ltd. - National Council 4000
- Selkirk Canada Corporation Stoney Creek facility Local 504
Air transportation
Railways
Marine transportation
Other transportation
- Coast Mountain Bus Company, Greater Vancouver Local 111, 2200
- CN Transportation Ltd. (CNTL - trucking) - National Council 4000
- Coyote Terminals - National Council 4000
- DHL (Loomis) Courier Local 114, 144, 4050, 4278, National Council 4000
- Durham Region Transit - Local 222
- Grand River Transit
- Laidlaw(carrier and transit) Local 195, 4268
- Blue Line Taxi, Ottawa
- Canadian Waste Services Local 4050, 4209, 4268
- BC Transit, Victoria Local 333
- Reimer Express Lines Local 4209
- Brinks
- Securicor Cash Services Local 114
Fisheries
- East Coast fish harvesters FFAW/CAW
- East Coast fish plant workers FFAW/CAW
- West Coast fish harvesters and fish plant workers (UFAWU)
- Great Lakes fish harvesters and fish plant workers Local 444
Mining and smelting
- Falconbridge Local 598
- Alcan Local 2301
- NVI Mining - Local 3019
- Windsor Salt Local 1959
Hospitality and gaming
Retail and wholesale trade
Health care
- Cape Breton District Health Authority
- St. Joseph's Health Care, London Local 27
- Versa Care Homes Local 302, 830, 2458
- London Health Sciences Centre
- Grand River Hospital Local 302
- Camp Hill Medical Centre, Halifax
- Extendicare Homes Local 302, 830, 1120, 2458
- Homes for the Aged, Thunder Bay Local 229
- Glazier Health Centre, Oshawa- Local 1136
- Sault Area Hospitals Local 1120
- Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital Local 2458
- Windsor Regional Hospital Local 2458
- Northwood Care, Halifax - CAW Local 4606
- St. Joseph's Care Group, Thunder Bay Local 27, 229, 598, 1120
General services
Related Subjects
Films
CAW President Bob White plays a major role in the 1985 documentary film: Final Offer by Sturla Gunnarsson & Robert Collision. It follows the 1984 contract negotiations with General Motors that saw the CAW's birth, and split with the UAW. It's an interesting look at life on the shop floor of a car factory, along with the art of business negotiation.
Donation to the University of Windsor
The CAW Local 200 donated over $4 million towards the renovation of the University of Windsor's student union building, which was renamed the CAW Student Centre in 1991 as recognition of the gift.
External links
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- by Sam Gindin
- by Sam Gindin
- by various authors.
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