Advertise
Resources
Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
TORONTO (Reuters)Just hours before restarting concession talks with Chrysler on Monday, the Canadian Auto Workers union said it would not agree to cut its members' wages and benefits by the $19 Canadian ($15.32) an hour that the company and the Canadian government have demanded.
The concession talks were set to resume on Monday, 10 days ahead of a deadline set by the Canadian and U.S. governments for Chrysler to present an acceptable restructuring plan to qualify for billions of dollars in government aid. Formal CAW-Chrysler negotiations have not been held since the beginning of April.
CAW President Ken Lewenza told reporter that the governments of Canada and the province of Ontario had contacted the union over the weekend to say a deal needed to be done "sooner than later."
However, Mr. Lewenza lashed out at Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement, who last week joined Chrysler in saying that the company would not be viable with out a reduction of $19 Canadian an hour, or over 20%, in labor costs.
"That's just not feasible," Mr. Lewenza told reporters. "We are not dealing with a unilateral number."
Mr. Lewenza refused to speculate about the outcome of the talks.
The union said its talks with Chrysler had been suspended in early April so that Chrysler, which like other automakers has seen it sales sideswiped by the global economic crisis, could focus on the details of a proposed alliance with Fiat S.p.A.
A spokeswoman for Chrysler, which employs around 9,400 people in Canada, about 8,000 of whom are CAW members, said the company looked forward to the talks resuming, but that it had no other comment.