CAW workers approve concessions for Chrysler


March 11, 2007
Louis Aguilar / The Detroit News

Canadian Auto Workers at a Chrysler Group plant in Brampton, Ontario, voted Sunday to overwhelmingly accept concessions they rejected just last month.

The vote, 1420 to 399, came after a raucous Sunday meeting where union leaders emphasized the cuts were needed to protect jobs and secure work for the plant. Chrysler, a unit of Germany's DaimlerChrysler AG, had told the CAW it would not move forward on a planned $700 million investment in Brampton unless workers accepted the concessions, which include a pay cut of $115 a week and the outsourcing of janitorial jobs.

The workers' vote was a "positive step" in bringing the investment to the suburban Toronto plant, Dave Elshoff, a DaimlerChrysler spokesman, said Sunday. "We could not have moved forward without the CAW. This was one of the important steps in the process. We will continue to piece the business case together" regarding the investment, Elshoff said.

"By no means should we call it a done deal."

The CAW meeting, held at Pearson Convention Centre, was described as fiery by CAW leaders and rank-and-file members. "We had a very tough meeting," said Ken Lewenza, chairman of the CAW's DaimlerChrysler master bargaining committee. "There was a lot of frustration from Brampton members." Lewenza addressed the workers and spelled out Chrysler's hard-line stance.

"There is a total lack of trust directed at the corporation, and the union heard most of that frustration," Lewenza said.

Several workers at the Brampton facility who voted against the deal the first time said their rejection wasn't specifically about the concessions. They wanted to speak out against the growing tension between the rank-and-file and CAW leaders, who are trying to hammer out plant-by-plant deals with the struggling automaker.

Like rivals Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp., Chrysler wants concessions from local plants before they are awarded work.

"A lot of us voted 'no,' to speak out against the unfolding mistrust with our union," said Dan Ciurlia, a 27-year veteran at the Brampton plant.

"We understand the big threat of globalism. We understand that our jobs can go away. People are scared. But we are being told to make decisions with really no information and very quickly. The workers want to know if the union leadership is truly going to stand up for us."

CAW leader Lewenza acknowledged some of the rancor at Sunday's meeting reflected workers' anger about the process of local agreements. "They weren't given much time to react because the company gave us little time to react," Lewenza said.

"We had three weeks to make a deal and offer it to our membership. One thing I know for sure, in the future we have to engage our members in the process early on. It frustrates me. (CAW president) Buzz Hargrove is the No. 1 person in the country who is challenging the corporation, challenging the government, about saving auto jobs. But that message is not getting to the shop floor."

The Brampton facility builds the Chrysler 300C sedan, the Dodge Magnum wagon and Charger sedan. Soon, the factory also will build the 2008 Dodge Challenger.

Chrysler is looking into pumping $700 million into the factory to support 2010 and 2011 models and add a fifth vehicle analysts predict could be a production version of the concept Imperial large sedan. That vehicle would be built on the next-generation of the LX platform that underpins the 300C and other models, to be called LY.

All three Detroit automakers are trying to cut costs as they restructure to restore profits. Chrysler is in the midst of cutting 2,000 jobs in Canada. Of that, 1,300 are in Windsor -- home to 5,500 Chrysler employees who build SUVs and minivans. Brampton will lose 345 jobs. Chrysler lost $1.5 billion last year and announced a turnarou