CTVNews.ca Staff
Published Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012 6:36AM EDT
Last Updated Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012 9:16AM EDT
The Canadian Auto Workers union opens negotiations on new contracts with the big three automakers Tuesday, with the union asking the companies to invest in their Canadian facilities in return for the concessions made by workers while they were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
The CAW opens talks with General Motors first at 10 a.m., and then meets with Chrysler at 1:30 p.m. Talks with Ford open Wednesday at 10 a.m. All meetings are taking place at Toronto’s Sheraton Centre hotel.
The union is scheduled to “present its goals for this set of negotiations” to the media at a noon press conference.
On Monday, CAW president Ken Lewenza said auto workers expect to benefit from the companies’ moves to more solid financial footing, after making contract concessions in the last round of negotiations.
Lewenza called on the companies to invest in their Canadian plants to not only increase productivity and profits, but also give workers greater job security.
"We want the very best state-of-the-art paint jobs," Lewenza told The Canadian Press.
"We want the very best technology that's offered in the manufacturing of vehicles. Because when you invest in the facility, you increase productivity. When you increase productivity, then you increase profits, and then wages become more sustainable."
The union is negotiating on behalf of 8,000 workers at Chrysler, 8,000 others at GM and about 4,500 at Ford.
Ontario’s auto sector has been hammered by job cuts by the Detroit Three automakers over the last 10 years, with thousands of job disappearing as the companies struggled to remain solvent.
The CAW made concessions in its last round of bargaining with GM and Chrysler as the companies accepted $13 billion in bailout funds from the Ontario and federal governments back in 2009. The bulk of that money, some $10.5 billion, was given to GM, as the companies struggled amid the financial crisis.
In addition to some wage concessions, the union also agreed to cuts in benefits, vacation time and cost-of-living payments as the companies sought to reduce labour costs.
Last month, GM Canada announced that it will invest $850 million in various research and development projects over the next four years, largely focused on the development of electric cars and environmental research.
The package helps fulfill conditions of the government bailout.
Yet it is still unclear what impact the new money will have on job creation within the company.
Despite the investment, GM announced in June that it plans to go ahead and begin closing a consolidated plant in Oshawa, Ont., which will eliminate 2,000 jobs by June 2013.
GM has also closed a truck plant in Oshawa and a transmission factory in Windsor, Ont. A flex plant in Oshawa, though, is slated to share production of the new Chevy Impala with a facility in Michigan.
In contrast, Toyota Canada announced last month that it will invest $100 million in its plant in Cambridge, Ont., which will result in 400 new hires. Earlier this year, the company invested $80 million in an assembly plant in Woodstock, Ont., which also created some 400 jobs.
With files from The Canadian Press
