National Auto Radiator

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• yeah, me too. they both have valid points.

  i just got focused on the elfare automaticly = bum comment. i probly shouldn't have got all upset about that...my appologize people; Andrew.
  the CAW is alright depending on what local you're dealing with. if your people are willing to give a bit your company can survive these things without massive layoffs. they happen still, but not on a scale like the 444 and the like. people are layed off, plants going idle, and they still threaten to strike if they can't get another pay raise, more benifits etc, etc....
  that's where the unions go bad. it has to be give and take between the union and employees
  to make sure the company and jobs are there thru the good and the bad.

• I don't think it's ignorant Aaron. Let's be clear about something. It's one thing if someone is using assistance to retain for a new career and get back on their feet. It's another if they are abusing the system and sitting at home watching TV all day or commiting crimes and doing nothing with their life for 5 years--that's what I call a bum. And, this city has lots of them. Are you one, since I've set you off? Maybe I should have made it more clear that there are different categories of people on assistance.

  CAW is doing nothing right. In fact, they really missed the boat and did incredible damage to autoworkers by not jumping on the two-tier wage system like the UAW. That just shows how destructive they are.

  The unionized Big Three are now asking US Congress for $80 billion US to keep them afloat. The unions sucked the Big Three dry like any company. You don't see non-union Toyota asking for any of that aid. In fact, they are turning a profit. But, the union ones are not. Unions just destroy companies and move on to destroy to the next one. And, as you can see from Guido's comments, Narmco has already had to shut down some of it's unionized plants like Falcon because unions have made it unprofitable.

  LOGIC: if that union plant was profitable, it wouldn't be shut down.

  FACT: Unions add 30% to the cost of labour for the employer vs. non-unionized companies (that's from a Canadian Chamber of Commerce study).

  How the hell do you expect to compete with that?? Unions are the devil. I don't see the workers at Toyota complaining and wanting to unionize. Why? Because they believe in the company and don't want to see it destroyed by a union. If the Big Three weren't unionized, I doubt they'd be begging the US gov't for huge sums of money to avert bankruptcy. Open your eyes. Unions caused these high unemployment rates in this city. Forget this blaming the Federal gov't for bad trade agreements. Most of the cars we make are exported to the US. What bad trade agreements? Closing our doors to the rest of the world would upset the US, which would result in trade reprisals from the US. The Federal gov't doesn't have a choice in the matter. It's just a union smokescreen to hide from the fact that they are cause of it.

• no toyota isn't stupid. they treat their employees the same as if they were in a union so the people don't leave. if they want to eff the dog at work they get fired, not patt on the back.
  i know this already. but when the UAW was established it was for a good reason, and it was for a very long time until it spiraled out of control. i wasn't arguing that.
  i wasn't happy about your ignorant comment.
  am i on welfare? not that it's any for your buisness but no i'm not. as a matter of FACT, i'm at work this very moment and i have been since 11 this morning.
  but my family was when i was a kid and it wasn't because my parents were degenerates of society. they busted their humps day and night, but the early 80's wasn't exactly a fantastic time in windsor as i'm sure you remember. so jobs get lost.

  maybe you should have been more clear david. because the only thing you wrote about people on welfare was ignorant up until you last post......thanks for clarifying.
  and the people that arn't regularly on here just might take your comments the wrong way.

• Blah blah blah... same old story, different day. It seems to me that everyone who says that the unions are to blame for the demise of the manufacturing industry- especially in this city, are usually the ones who have never stepped foot in a factory or the like. Know-it-alls if you will. Sorry, there is a higher reason for the decline. It starts with the unfair trade practices of the offshore products; the governements abolishment of the autopact; the almighty dollar (employers who'd rather pay a foreign employee pennies a day) etc etc. The wages and benefits of the workers are not corrupting the companies- in fact the total cost of the ENTIRE workforce per vehicle pumped out of Windsor Assembly Plant is a mere 7%. I usually keep my mouth shut and bite my tongue on this issue but I'm sick and tired of people blaming the wrong crowd and give shot after shot to the very people who somewhere along the line support your work.

• Right Bart, and that's why non-union Toyota is turning a profit in Canada,but the Big 3 are lobbying congress for how many billions to avert bankruptcy?? Try again, fat union boz.

• Maybe David you should read this story.Its stories like this are reasons why we have unions

  WHEATLEY -- Presteve Foods Ltd. was hit was more than 50 orders from Ontario Ministry of Labour inspectors Thursday covering a wide range of alleged defects in the fish processing plant's equipment and buildings.

  The orders cap a turbulent week in which the 67-year-old company owner Joe Pratas was charged Monday by Chatham-Kent police with six counts of sexual assault allegedly involving foreign female workers.

  Labour inspectors called for a police escort to get into the plant Tuesday.

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  Handout photo of the Bunk House where workers of Presteve Foods lived.
  Handout photo, The Windsor Star

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  Font:****A crowded bunkhouse adjacent to the plant used by 26 female workers from Thailand was then ordered closed Tuesday by Chatham-Kent building inspectors.

  Canadian Auto Workers Local 444 president Rick Laporte is now calling for an investigation into how the federal Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program is supervised.

  Laporte said he discovered foreign workers in the plant also had passports and other personal documents held by management and were being charged for housing that should have been free.

  The bunkhouse should have housed no more than 20 workers although there were beds for 36, Laporte said.

  Laporte understood the bunkhouse was closed mainly for safety reasons because of fire hazards and an alarm system, which while working, wasn't an appropriate design for the building.

  Presteve employs 34 women from Thailand. Two more are from Mexico and the rest of its 60 workers are Canadian. They work two shifts a day, mostly filleting fish, paid from $8.53 to $13.80 an hour.

  Laporte, who met Thursday at the plant with company president Ulysses Pratas -- son of the owner -- said he was impressed with a "new attitude" of co-operation with the union and labour ministry.

  Pratas has agreed to rehire two fired workers immediately and talks are progressing on rehiring two others within a few days, Laporte said.

  The four workers had been fired following the union's successful defeat in August of a decertification vote, Laporte said.

  The son also said his father wouldn't return to the plant or its office, to avoid any contact with workers, including some who alleged sexual assaults, Laporte said.

  Pratas also agreed to form a health and safety committee, which had been disbanded, Laporte said. "At least it's co-operation, so far," the union leader said.

  Company lawyer Claudio Martini said every effort is being made to comply promptly with the ministry orders.

  "Ulysses, right now, is taking care of business," Martini said. "He's right on top of it."

  Martini didn't think the company would have any difficulty complying with all orders within appropriate periods of time. "They will be dealt with; they will be complied with," the lawyer said.

  Labour ministry spokesman Bruce Skeaff said he couldn't comment on its investigation until lawyers reviewed what information could be released.

  "We can't say anything that will compromise the police investigation," Skeaff explained.

  The plant's problems could widen.

  Laporte expects the Thailand government to look into treatment of its workers in the wake of the criminal charges and complaints of passports being seized.

  Based on pay stubs he's looked at, Laporte said significant amounts of wages were being withheld for housing, contrary to the seasonal worker regulations in Ontario.

  The mostly female workers were being paid less than $9 an hour but on some pay stubs, Laporte said he saw a $140 deduction for housing. He's still trying to sort out the reasons for various deductions.

  Laporte said passports have now been returned to all foreign workers, and only two still have complaints outstanding about personal documents being held.

  According to the Human Resources Canada website explaining the seasonal workers program, "employers are not permitted to take away and keep workers' passports, medical cards or other personal documents for any reason. If this occurs, workers should contact their government liaison officer immediately."

  The program also requires employers to provide free housing, except in British Columbia. Employers who provide meals to their foreign workers are allowed to deduct $6.50 per day.

  Laporte said the bunkhouse provided by Presteve had stoves and fridges so the workers could cook their own meals.

  Laporte had been investigating grievances filed by the four fired workers when he said he was stunned by allegations of sexual assaults.

  Without passports, other personal documents and with the amounts of money being withheld, it was difficult for the women to go anywhere, Laporte said.

  The language barrier is a major problem in determining what's been going on, Laporte said. Very few of the 34 women from Thailand speak any English at all and interpreters aren't easy to find, he said.

  With the bunkhouse closed, Laporte said the company agreed to put 13 women into a motel and transport them to work. Another 13 women using the bunkhouse have gone to friends' homes or found other accommodation, Laporte said.

  Still to be resolved by the union is a new contract, with a key issue being the lower wages being paid to the foreign workers, Laporte said. The last contract expired in 2006 but has been extended on an annual basis, he said.

  Laporte said everybody in the workforce doing the same job should be paid the same. The company has said its survival depends on negotiating lower wage rates acceptable to foreign workers.

• Well Bart you know David has never stepped foot in a factory because of the whinning he ALWAYS does on here about unions etc. Same old crap. If it wasn't for unions there would be no labour laws in this country I don't think David understands what unions have done for the "WORKERS" over the years like better work conditions, breaks, Health benefits etc. All David cares about is management and how to please them. Obvious from what the readers have said on here it seems like both National Auto Radiator and "the big bad union" aredoing something right?

• Well Mr.David the dreamer business owner who cannot get a loan if you've been reading(if you can afford it?) the paper you would see Toyota is struggling also they cancelled a shift in Woodstock, their truck plants in the southern states have been reduced etc etc.

• Right Guido- everyone is suffering because of the recession we are currently in. In response to David's Toytota love affair, did you know that they make about the same wage as a Big 3 employee and good benefits too? Ok, if that's the case then why would the workers at the Big 3 and their union be crippling the companies? I'll note one advantage Toyota has over them- very very few retirees. Gm Ford and Chrysler have thouusands upon thousands of retired people still receiving benefits and pensions. Of course if it were up to David, he'd take those away to cut costs. The reason why we aren't on a level playing field here and why Toyota, Honda etc have a cost advantage is becuase they manipulate their dollar's value- a proven fact. Like I said in my other post- you don't know the whole story so before you bash (seems to be a common trend in recent years), know ALL the facts. Competition is so tight these days for market share, no one can afford to put low quality vehicles in customer's driveways. The one thing that cripples the domestic car makers the most and is totally bogus is the public's perception. Things are very even nowadays and people need to see that.
  And to agree with Paul- he's right- unions have helped EVERYONE union or non-union with better working conditions. Unions started it back in the 30's and 40's and have progressed and made non-union workplaces follow suit to a point.
  Thanks for listening!

• You know what? If this city gets worse with unemployment because of your attitudes, it'll be on your conscience not mine. Companies don't want to set up shop in this city because of your attitudes. So, keep spouting your garbage until there's no automotive jobs left in this city. Hope you sleep well at night knowing you're putting more people out of work with your hardline sentiments. In fact, I hope there's some poetic justice in this world and your destructive attitudes put you guys out of work. For you shoud reap what you sow.