GM, Canadian Union Will Resume Talks
The Canadian Auto Workers and General Motors Corp. agreed Wednesday to resume serious bargaining aimed at quickly settling a 2-week-old strike that is disrupting GM’s operations in Canada, the United States and Mexico.
The breakthrough came after John F. Smith Jr., GM chairman and chief executive, flew to Toronto for a two-hour face-to-face meeting with CAW President Basil “Buzz” Hargrove.
“I think we might have found a way to break the logjam,” Hargrove said after the meeting.
The tete-a-tete occurred after 300 strikers seized control of GM’s fabricating plant in Oshawa, Ontario. The workers took over the facility to prevent GM from removing some tooling equipment.
However, the strikers left the factory peaceably after Hargrove told local leaders that GM had agreed temporarily not to seek a court injunction to remove the equipment.
The strike began Oct. 3 when the two sides were unable to reach an agreement on a new three-year contract. The key issue is job security, specifically GM’s desire to sell two parts plants and contract other parts work to outside suppliers.
All of GM’s Canadian operations have been shuttered for a week, and 26,000 workers are on strike. Some parts suppliers, which rely on work with GM, have been forced to furlough thousands of workers as well.
With the flow of parts from Canada shut off, the strike’s effects have begun to slowly filter throughout GM’s vast North American operations. The company has laid off 11,287 people in the U.S. and Mexico. Only one U.S. assembly plant has been closed, but others are expected to be shuttered soon if the walkout continues.
The dispute is costing GM about $50 million a week in profit, analysts estimate. The loss could climb to as much as $150 million if the strike continues and spreads to more U.S. assembly plants.
Negotiations will resume today but most likely won’t intensify until Friday afternoon, after the CAW concludes a special convention to pass a dues assessment to buttress its strike fund. Talks are expected to be held throughout the weekend, with the hopes of reaching a deal by noon Monday.
The CAW has insisted that GM sign an agreement patterned on the deal reached with Chrysler Corp. on Sept. 17. Chrysler agreed not to close any plants in the next three years and to replace any jobs contracted out to nonunion suppliers with new ones elsewhere.
GM, however, has said it cannot sign an agreement that hampers its flexibility. “We just need a deal that lets us increase our competitiveness,” Richard Wagoner, GM president of GM’s North American operations, said last week. “Our situation is dramatically different than Ford’s and Chrysler’s.”
Hargrove, who has criticized GM for being greedy and unwilling to compromise, expressed optimism Wednesday that a deal could be reached over the weekend. He said both sides have agreed to look at the sticking points, including outsourcing. He would not elaborate.
The two chief stumbling blocks are GM’s wish to sell two parts plants that employ 5,500 and the union’s insistence that GM agree to restrictions on outsourcing. GM says it must shed workers to be competitive.
