| Timpo | 02-03-2009 04:30 PM |
GM might pull out of Canada due to poor sales
CAW says it's anxious to talk with GM amid fears company may pull out of Canada
By Michael Oliveira, The Canadian Press
TORONTO - The Canadian Auto Workers union is now concerned that General Motors could pull out of Canada entirely, affecting about 12,000 workers and hundreds of thousands of indirect jobs, a union leader said Tuesday.
As a meeting of the company's board of directors entered its second day, and reports indicated GM's Canadian sales dropped by 46.6 per cent in January, CAW Local 222 president Chris Buckley said he urgently wanted to set up a meeting to discuss how to save jobs.
While Buckley has been hard-nosed and talked tough in seeking demands from the Detroit Three automakers, his tone turned considerably more conciliatory as he spoke of the union's need "to be part of the solution."
"As a union it makes no sense to ignore this crisis," he said in an interview. "We understand this is a terrible situation, and if we choose to ignore this crisis, there's a possibility General Motors would pull out of Canada."
Buckley also urged the federal government to supply GM with guaranteed loans, as long as they're conditional on the company maintaining operations in Canada.
"We're not about to give them a reason to pull out of Canada," he said.
The union has reached out to the company and is now awaiting a call back, which he expects will follow the company's meeting in Detroit.
"I would suspect after their board meeting they'll have their restructuring plan put in place, and hopefully Canada's a part of it," Buckley said, adding the union hasn't "closed the door on anything just yet" in terms of cost-cutting measures it is willing to concede.
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement has said automakers should be reducing labour costs to make the Canadian industry more competitive.
He has also said he's disappointed with the progress of discussions between Ottawa, Ontario and the automakers to hand over a promised $4 billion in funding.
The companies' Canadian subsidiaries have until Feb. 20 to provide the governments with a restructuring plan.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday it's somewhat encouraging the funding hasn't been snapped up, and he hopes GM isn't going anywhere.
"This is good news," he said. "They're telling us that they don't need the money as quickly as they had originally thought, but they will be looking to us for support when it comes to pursuing transformation right here in Ontario.
"If you consider the productivity of their plants in Ontario and the quality awards that we have won and the recent investments that they have made, I think it's in the long-term interest of GM to continue to avail themselves of our labour force and our government's commitment to the future of this industry here."
Calls to General Motors Canada seeking comment were not returned Tuesday.
Canadian auto sales figures for January show Chrysler's numbers skidded 33.7 per cent compared with the same month last year, and Ford was down 14.2 per cent.
Honda sales sagged 37.1 per cent, Nissan Canada's sales decreased 16 per cent, and Toyota Canada was off 2.7 per cent
On the positive side, South Korean automaker Hyundai posted an 18.9 per cent sales gain, while Japan's low-volume Mitsubishi was up 9.1 per cent, and Suzuki rose 4.3 per cent. | 