North Bay man negotiates $1.45 million from Ford to help workers

North Bay resident Brian Stevens, a senior CAW union staff representative speaks with the media at the end of a two-day occupation of a Scarborough auto parts plant.

CAW News Release

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CAW Local 303 members who work at the Scarborough Collins & Aikman plant in east end Toronto were on the job today after taking over their plant because the company has refused to pay severance to laid off workers.

The CAW reached an agreement with DaimlerChrysler on the weekend to pay $1.8 million toward the severance pay for their proportion of the historical work they have received from the Scarborough plant.

Now, Ford Motor Company has agreed to pay $1.45 million for its share of the past production it has received from the plant.

The CAW continues to pressure General Motors to follow the Ford and DaimlerChrysler pattern.

“The situation faced by workers at Collins & Aikman is happening all too frequently in Canada. There is no legislation to protect workers from employers that cut and run from their responsibilities to workers when plants close,” said CAW president Buzz Hargrove. “We fully expect General Motors to come to the plate to help our members at Collins & Aikman and the CAW will be pressing governments for stronger legislation to protect workers.”

“Canada’s manufacturing sector is in crisis and no one in Ottawa is listening,” Hargrove added.

The Scarborough Collins & Aikman plant supplies plastic dashboard parts to GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler. The plant once employed more than 400 people, but that has dwindled to about 100.

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