Willomwist's Wanderings

I was born and raised in a GM town.  Oshawa has always been the city that ‘moto-vates’ Canada.  In fact, the home of R.S. McLaughlin (the Henry Ford of GM Canada) is a decaying museum near the centre of town.  Everyone in Oshawa either knows someone who works at one of the GM plants or works there themselves.  If you don’t personally work at GM, your job most likely depends on GM anyway because Oshawa is set up, generally-speaking, to service GM workers.  They spend their paycheques on food, shelter and various sundry other items and activities that keep the economy rolling.   Think of us as just a step or two away from the infamous Flint, Michigan.

 On May 16, the autoworkers union ratified a deal with GM which made considerable concessions in return for a little job security.  GM committed in writing to maintain the truck factory for the life of the two-year agreement and to mandate the factory for a new generation of smaller, lighter trucks to be introduced around 2011. 

The truck factory employs about 2500 hard-working folks.  Imagine their surprise when GM announced yesterday that it was closing four North American truck and SUV plants, including the one in Oshawa!  Citing changes in the global oil market, Rick Wagoner, GM CEO, said that the plant would be closing in 2009 with no plans for future mandates (that’s asshole-speak for ‘permanent’ in case you were wondering.)  GM spokesmen, Stew Low, says that it’s hard to estimate the impact this closing will have on employment in Oshawa.

Really?  Because, I don’t think it’s so difficult.

In a nutshell, GM lied to 2500 autoworkers.  There’s no way that it didn’t know about the planned closures on May 16 when it inked the collective agreement with its employees.  Canadian Autoworkers president, Buzz Hargrove, admittedly not my favourite human being, has decried the move as a shocking and illegal betrayal and vows to fight it.  He wants the federal government to ban sales of GM trucks elsewhere if the closure goes through.  I’m not holding my breath for that to happen, and I’m not sure a boycott would help their cause in the long run, but I’m pretty sure that the Canadian government should intervene because GM has publicly acknowledged that the truck factory in Oshawa is highly productive.  I doubt there’s much the government can do though.  There has to be something illegal about the blatant bad faith.  The whole thing smells like a cheaper, developing country shift to me.

Please feel free to write to GM to express your shock and dismay.  I am certain that GM would care if the paying public mobilized.  And if you’re American wondering why you should care about jobs in Oshawa, Ontario, they are also closing two American truck plants - in Wisconsin and Ohio.

Happy June 3 everyone.