CAW fighting a losing battle

Memo to unions: try filling your pockets from a source that has deep pockets, not from an employer that’s losing cash.

The auto workers’ union is protesting the announced closure of the GM assembly plant in Oshawa.

The Toronto Star reported the Canadian Auto Workers are going to “fight” the decision of General Motors to stop producing vehicles at the plant – possibly for good.


What the article doesn’t mention is GM lost $3.3 billion during the first quarter of 2008.


The CAW’s methods are questionable. It’s one thing for a union to protest job cuts when the company is actually making money or if the employer is a government department – in which case they can demand huge increases from the taxpayer.

But GM is losing money. Either it decides to close plants, or it keeps operating until the money runs out and goes bankrupt. Either way, the workers price themselves out of their jobs.