Oshawa Workers Blockade GM Offices
One knee-jerk reaction begets another. As reported yesterday, the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) wasn’t over the moon over the announced closure of GM’s Oshawa truck plant. Note: Oshawa IS General Motors. Chevrolet’s had a plant in the city since the early 1900s, before Oshawa itself was incorporated as a city. The local hockey team is named for GM. GM-Oshawa employed 2600 direct workers, and no doubt accounted for thousands of other peripheral jobs. So when GM CEO Rick Wagoner sounded the plant’s death knell, the CAW’s members immediately declared war. Today, CTVNews reports that defiant CAW members, fueled by a desperation that only comes when one has nothing to lose, are blockading the offices until further notice. There’s no news of reactions from workers at the other Oshawa plant where they build Chevy Impalas and Buick Lacrosses/Allures. Meanwhile, Toyota and Honda, just as recently as last month, announced billion-dollar investments in Ontario. Hyundai/Kia is also considering moving in. Of course, we all know this story, don’t we? Soon, Ontario will be another theatre of war that The General will cede to the Asians, during its long, tragic descent into oblivion.