Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Employees at Cami Automotive have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action. 97 per cent of CUPE Local 88 said they would support a potential labour interruption. The vote was held last weekend in London and the current contract expires on Sept. 22.
It is a requirement by law to have a strike mandate vote within 30 days of the expiry of a contract. Union chair Mike Van Boekel said he wasn’t surprised to see so much of his membership vote yes to a possible strike.
“It should be high, to be honest. If you get a low number, you don’t really have a lot of power with the company so it’s good to see they are backing us.”
Despite the battery plant side of the operation being busy, there haven’t been consistently strong sales of the EV delivery vehicles they produce leading to reduced hours for employees.
“It’s a new market GM has never played in before. A lot of people were betting electric would take off faster than it has. It’s big in Europe and everywhere else but it’s just not big here yet. Sales are increasing but we were hoping for a quicker buy-in.”
In the hopes of increasing production at the plant, CUPE said they are willing to work with GM and have put a few ideas on the table.
“There is a lot of work we want to bring in that has been contracted out. For instance, all the trucks we sell are shrink-wrapped and we think we can do that here. It doesn’t bring in hundreds of workers but if we can bring in a bunch of work like that it would help.”
He added the plant has a stamping shop with four large presses that has been shut down.
“I thought we could do custom stamping. It’s a huge business. I know GM will argue it’s not the core business and I understand that, but it’s still work for our members. We could also slow the lines down and if we do that and get more sales that could potentially bring everybody back.”
Since the last contract started three years ago, members have not had full-time employment. Workers continue to work for two weeks and then have two weeks off.
“It’s very tough. Some of the older guys I don’t think mind it. We get paid while we are off but only a percentage. For our members in their late 20s and early 30s, these are their big earning years. The cost of living has gone up so much. Anyone can handle a layoff for a short period of time, but we’ve been doing it for about four years,” explained Van Boekel.
He added it’s also tough on Ingersoll and area communities because CAMI employees aren’t spending the amount of money they normally would if they had full-time hours. The union chair said he isn’t blaming GM for the current situation and wants to work with them to come up with a deal. The company injected $2 billion into the Ingersoll facility.
“They came with the money and a new idea. We had Equinox and Terrain which were both huge sellers but unfortunately, they took those to Mexico where it’s cheaper and they don’t have the environmental standards and human rights laws we have. We were six days a week here for eight years. They gave us a product they thought would sell big and I still believe in the trucks.”
Van Boekel feels they are a year or two away from hitting sales targets. The first order for the EV trucks went to Walmart’s American division, something he hopes will continue.
“Those are the orders we want. If Walmart likes what it gets, they can order thousands of them. We want companies like UPS or the post office to get interested where potentially thousands could be sold and keep us going for months.”
He also has some ideas on how to retrofit the EVs including adding refrigeration units and even for use as a motorhome.
“A guy from Colorado ordered about 300 of them and is turning them into motorhomes. He thinks it will be a huge seller, especially with seniors who don’t drive all day. They can park for the night and charge it up. There are some ideas GM never thought of that will develop over time.”
The bargaining process is often a long one and Van Boekel expects talks to go down to the wire approaching the Sept. 22 deadline for a new deal.
“We will eventually move into a hotel where we have rooms booked and break into different sub-committees. As we get closer to the deadline, we will work around the clock for probably the last two nights. I fully expect we will come out of it with a contract. A lengthy strike won’t be good for anybody.”
Van Boekel said there have been some good conversations to date between the two sides.
Commenti