A massive protest rally in the crisis over manufacturing jobs heard a promise by Buzz Hargrove to fight to keep some of those ever-scarcer jobs in Windsor, Ont.
"We cannot afford to give away these jobs. They're our jobs, we're going to fight for them to the end," Buzz Hargrove, president of the Canadian Auto Workers union, told the crowd of more than 38,000 on Sunday.
He said the jobs would be a bargaining issue in 2008. If necessary, the union is prepared to strike over the issue.
General Motors has reportedly chosen St. Catharines, Ont. as the preferred location for a new transmission plant, a project that will involve $445 million in investment.
Windsor has traditionally been the home of such work. Hargrove said the city depends on the auto industry.
"The auto industry is the reason why we have a crisis in manufacturing in Windsor," he said.
"For every job, every high-paying job in the city of Windsor in the auto industry, 12 other people are working in the city of Windsor because of that. That's worth fighting for and defending."
The unemployment rate in Windsor sits at 16 per cent, the worst in the country. The national rate is 6.1 per cent, the lowest in decades, with labour shortages a problem in many parts of western Canada.
"The manufacturing sector is not part of that," Hargrove said.
Unfair trade?
In an interview with 麻豆影视net after the Windsor rally, Hargrove blamed unfair trade for costing his industry 17,000 jobs in assembly and parts in the past two years alone. More are to come.
"Countries like Japan, South Korea and even the European community are shipping motor vehicles into our market, selling them in record numbers -- over 25 per cent of our market goes to imports from offshore -- while they close their markets to vehicles built in our country," Hargrove said.
"And that's an unfair situation which (International Trade Minister David) Emerson and Mr. Harper have refused to do anything about."
The union leader's preferred solution is a reciprocal trade treaty.
"We need an Auto Pact type arrangement with Asia and the European community that says, 'yes, come sell on our market but you must buy from us on reciprocal terms,'" said Hargrove.
"We build some of the best-quality vehicles in the world, yet these markets are closed to our people. We have one of the strongest markets in the history of North America and we're losing thousands of jobs."
Twelve auto parts companies are "sitting in bankruptcy. How can the government allow this to continue?" he asked.
Economist Johannes Van Biesebroeck noted that one problem North American auto manufacturers face is they build cars that are different from what others in the world are buying.
"... I'm a bit skeptical about the export potential. Vehicles manufactured in North America tend to be very unlike vehicles consumed elsewhere in the world," he said, citing things like bigger vehicle size and engines.
Hargrove noted that across the spectrum of manufacturing jobs, at least 250,000 have been lost in the past five years.
Van Biesbroeck said the rise in resources and construction has masked the fall in manufacturing jobs.
"That helps the economy, but when that fizzles out a bit, then it may become painfully obvious that so many jobs are lost," he said.
Hargrove also blamed the strengthening Canadian dollar for the problem and urged lower interest rates.
The Bank of Canada is expected to announce Tuesday that its benchmark interest rate of 4.25 per cent will remain unchanged. However, economists are looking to see what the central bank has to say about inflation and the high dollar. Many think a rate hike is possible later this year, something that could drive the dollar higher.
On Friday, the Canadian dollar was worth 92.64 cents US, a level last seen in September 1997 -- a rise driven by surging commodity prices. The higher dollar also makes it cheaper to buy imported products.
The CAW held another rally in Oshawa, Ont., where GM operates a plant.
Members of the union plan to march on Parliament Hill on Wednesday.
With a report from CTV's Roger Smith and files from The Canadian Press
