CAW Ratifies New Chrysler Contract by 85% Majority

09/25/96

Canada Newswire has reported that the Canadian Auto Workers union at Chrysler Canada voted to accept the tentative agreement its bargaining team reached with the company last week. 85% of the workers at Chrysler voted in favor of the agreement, which has been considered a landmark arrangement because it recognizes the principle the union calls "work ownership" for the first time.

Work ownership acknowledges that employees who produce a quality product, and create a profit have a legitimate claim to the work that they do. The new contract applies the principle by restricting the company's ability to outsource work: Chrysler must replace outsourced work with other work brought into the facility.

The agreement also prohibits Chrysler from selling or closing a plant during the next three years, and provides employees with 10 additional days off with pay--a fundamental demand in the union's continuing quest to create jobs for the community, as well as relief for workers suffering from the stress of the new "lean production method" of work organization.

CAW president Buzz Hargrove was in Windsor for the ratification meeting. Hargrove said, "Workers and their communities deserve to share in the success of the corporations--this contract recognizes the contribution workers have made to that success."

The new contract also provides for a 2 percent wage increase in each of the agreement's three years. Wage increases plus money generated from the cost of living clause are expected to add $2.20 to the base-wage rate over the life of the three year agreement.

The CAW represents 12,600 members at Chrysler Canada. Forty-two per cent of the membership turned out to cast ballots at meetings held in Windsor, Etobicoke, Brampton and Ajax.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel