Economic Reality Of The Times

Caterpillar Closes Plant 460 Jobs Lost

In an announcement the union says is shocking, Caterpillar has announced it will be closing it's plant in London Ontario where 460 hourly workers had been employed. The company made a final wage offer of $18 per hour which was a huge drop from the $35 per hour workers had been earning.

That unfortunately is the cold hard reality that is the new global economy, and union leaders and civic leaders who have spent most of their lives riding the gravy train of the past few decades may simply never be able to adapt to the new economy.

There was a time unions would think a company was just playing hardball with that kind of an offer, and would have assured their members that the company would eventually come around with a more realistic offer. That is simply not the case, since the company can have the same things made elsewhere for a lot less money than Canadian workers have been used to collecting.

To take a cut in wage from $35/hr. to $18/hr. is something most of those employees simply couldn't wrap their heads around, they now, however are hit with a $35/hr pay cut to $0.00/hr. That is just the harsh reality of new brave new world where money is king, and everyone dances to his tune. We all want cheaper widgets, so we all buy the cheaper widgets coming from other countries, then can't understand why our high paying union job disappeared to the same labour pool!

The Provincial governments and Federal governments are slowly coming to grips with the hard realities we are now facing in our fiscal house, it seems to be a fact so far lost on city hall.

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Crofton PPWC Reject Offer

In a related story it is reported in the local Daily, that the rejection of an offer from Catalyst by the PPWC in Crofton could put the future of Harmac in trouble resulting from reduced shipping of pulp from the Island.

The company had received approval from 5  of the 6 unions at their Canadian mills of their labour contract which is a key component of the company's resturcturing plans. They are now seeking creditor protection in light of this latest rejection.

I wonder if the union leaders at Crofton gave the membership the same type of advice as the workers at Caterpillar got from their union? It makes you wonder why five out of six unions accepted the offer, and Crofton's leadership thinks they can do better.


I hope they are right, as the whole forestry industry looked like it might be staggering back to it's feet and if it takes a serious economic blow right now, could put it back on the canvas.