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CAW concessions to Chrysler wipe out decades of gains
Thousands of Canadian Auto Workers' Union (CAW) members at Chrysler
plants in Toronto, Brampton, and Windsor, Ontario, approved another batch of labour concessions by 87 per cent on April 26.
Given the deluge of propaganda by big business media and politicians in
favour of the rollbacks, it is surprising
that as many as 13 per cent overall voted to reject it. Indeed, at Brampton, Ontario's CAW Local 1285, 24 per
cent of production-line workers who cast a ballot gave it a thumbs down.
The new deal delivers the cost savings of $19 per hour demanded by
Chrysler and the federal Conservative government. Although no jobs and
no new 'green' vehicle products are assured, and while Chrysler may
still seek bankruptcy protection, the federal government pledges to
give the company billions of dollars in aid.
The latest concessions wipe out decades of labour
gains. They include reduced paid relief time, cuts to supplementary
unemployment benefits, increased prescription drug fees, an end to
semi-private hospital coverage, and the termination of car purchase and
tuition rebate programmes. In addition, the
wages of new employees will increase more slowly, and there is
provision for the hiring of more part-time and contract workers at
Chrysler plants.
These concessions occur on top of cuts already swallowed by the CAW at
General Motors in a deal reached in March. That agreement freezes wages
until 2012, reduces paid time off by 40 hours per year, scraps an
annual $1700 bonus, cuts company contributions to union-sponsored programmes, and requires CAW members to pay $30 per
month towards their health benefits.
Breaking from the pattern set with GM is a major departure for the CAW,
which usually negotiates similar deals with all three of the
Detroit-based auto firms. The CAW split from the U.S.-based United Auto
Workers' Union in late 1984 over the UAW’s
contract concessions.
The race to the bottom is far from over. Now GM wants the same breaks
Chrysler got. And bosses outside the auto industry are wetting their
lips.
So, what's a union to do? Avoid following the CAW example of late.
Since before the global market crash last fall, CAW officials have
lobbied for protectionist barriers against Asian car imports, and
demanded more government money for the shrinking North American auto
giants. To that end, the CAW backed the Liberal Party in most ridings
in the last two federal elections.
Once regarded as 'progressive' and 'militant', the CAW tops have
uttered not a peep about demanding public equity for public investment
in the car companies, let alone call for nationalization of the auto
industry under workers' and community democratic control.
Socialists and rank and file workers should sound the alarm and
generate a big fight for public ownership as the alternative to
subsidizing the corporate elite – before union concessions descend to
deeper depths.
Court rebukes Harper on Omar Khadr
case
Federal Court Justice James O'Reilly ordered the government of
Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper to seek the return of
Canadian Omar Khadr from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Khadr
has been held at Gitmo for nearly seven
years, without trial, for allegedly killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan when Khadr
was 15 years old.
Canada's Supreme Court has ruled
that the Guantanamo military tribunal process
under former U.S. President George Bush "constitutes a clear
violation of fundamental human rights." The U.S. Supreme Court
made a similar ruling. U.S. President Barack Obama wants Guantanamo shut down.
But Harper shrugged off the April 23 court order to request Khadr's repatriation, and is pondering an appeal.
Harper's stonewalling comes on the heels of other actions that speak
volumes about the character of the Conservative government and the P.M.
Those actions are: 1) A vicious repeat attack on civil liberties; 2)
Cancellation of funding to an ethnic organization due to the antiwar
views of its outspoken president; and 3) Blocking the visit of a
popular British parliamentarian due to his opposition to foreign wars
of occupation.
In the first place, the Conservatives are moving to restore Draconian
police and court powers that existed under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The
act expired in 2007 under a five-year sunset clause. Justice Minister
Rob Nicholson plans to reinstate those powers, including preventive
arrest for 72 hours of persons the authorities think are about to
commit a terrorist act, and up to a year of detention if the person in
question refuses to accept court-ordered restrictions on his freedom.
'Investigative hearings' that could force people to testify would be
part of this law.
Holding people without charge, and compelling them to testify even if
they incriminate themselves, are a gross violation of civil liberties.
The previous law was allowed to terminate when it was apparent that it
did not protect public safety, and that it only contributed to a
climate of victimization in the service of a right-wing, pro-war
agenda.
Pursuit of that agenda seems evident also in connection with the
government's decision to cut funding to the Canadian Arab Federation.
CAF President Khaled Mouammar
called Tory Immigration Minister Jason Kenney a "professional
whore" after Kenney criticized the presence of Hezbollah and Hamas flags at anti-Israel rallies in Toronto. The Conservative
government is renown for its uncritical
support for apartheid Israel, including the recent
Zionist state assault on Gaza that led to the massacre of
over 1400 Palestinians, mostly civilians.
The Arab federation received a $447,297 contribution from Kenney’s
department to operate a settlement program in Toronto for two years, teaching new
immigrants language and job searching skills. Mouammar
told the media that Kenney’s decision will hurt newcomers to Canada, not just Arabs. Arabs make
up only 5 per cent of those who receive CAF’s
settlement services, which Mouammar said were
among the best in the Toronto area. Mouammar
described Kenney’s decision is "vindictive" and accused him
of promoting Islamophobia internationally.
"This government is anti-Arab and anti-Muslim," he said,
adding that the federal government has refused to meet with the
Canadian Arab Federation or the Canadian Islamic Congress since Prime
Minister Stephen Harper came to power.
The third and most recent ugly outrage was the decision of the Canadian
Border Services Agency to bar British MP George Galloway entry to Canada, where he was scheduled to
speak in four cities. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney refused to use
his powers to overturn the ban. He claims Galloway is barred, not due to his
opposition to the wars of occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq, but because of support for
terrorism.
But Galloway, five times re-elected to
Parliament, now leading the leftist RESPECT party, does not politically
support Hammas, which Ottawa labels as terrorist. He
only supports the right of the Palestinian people to elect to
government the party of their choice, which happens to be the Hammas party. It won a majority of the seats in the
Palestine Authority election of January 2006.
Even in the pages of the very right-wing National Post, writer John Ivison felt compelled to point out that if
"the grounds for inadmissibility include acts of espionage,
subversion or terrorism", that "donating a fire engine, 12
ambulances, a fishing boat, trucks full of medicine, blankets, shoes
and children's toys to the people of Gaza hardly seems to fit the
bill."
Although the ham-fisted policy of the Tories gave Galloway's anti-imperialist views a
much bigger audience (his voice and image were transmitted via the
internet to thousands of people at meetings in Canada, after a legal challenge failed
to have Galloway admitted to Canada), Kenney's position
nonetheless sets a dangerous precedent.
Along with the other nasty initiatives, it seems to set the stage for a
period of escalating censorship and repression that at least one wing
of the Canadian ruling class deems necessary in order to curb dissent
and protest as the economic crisis deepens. Where have we seen this
picture before?
Bosses fire pregnant women workers
There is a disturbing surge in cases of pregnant women being fired by
bosses, with the economic crisis cited as the excuse. The Ontario Human
Rights Legal Support Centre, an independent agency funded by the
province to provide free legal services to people experiencing
discrimination, reports it is now receiving 10 to 15 calls a week on
this issue. Nearly 50 years after Ontario enacted the Human Rights
Code to prevent such discrimination, some bosses brazenly violate it.
Consuelo Rubio of the OHRLSC told the Toronto Star (April 24), "We
actually have an e-mail from one employer saying, 'Sorry, but with your
little bundle, I don't think we'll be able to (re)hire you. We want a
permanent solution.'" Most firings seem to occur soon after women
announce they are pregnant, says Rubio. That puts women's maternity
leave benefits at risk, since to qualify for full benefits they must
work 600 hours within the 52 weeks before filing.
This outrageous and illegal conduct extends to mistreatment of injured
and disabled workers. The legal centre is investigating the case of a
car parts plant in Peterborough, Ont., that laid off 18 unionized
employees—all of whom had either claimed disability benefits or were on
modified work assignments because of an injury—and hired 18 'healthy'
workers.
The truth is, the best remedy for bad bosses and capitalist economic
depression is the same—and it isn't more lawyers.
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