Plant Stays Open And In Toronto
There wasn't much question about the outcome when
workers at Bombardier Inc.'s plant in Toronto voted on whether
they'll accept a lesser deal from the aerospace company and,
hopefully, keep their jobs. Overwhelmingly, the workers agreed over
the weekend to a new labor contract - one they hope will keep the
factory open in return for greater workforce flexibility, a union
official said.
The three-year agreement goes into effect immediately. Under
terms of the agreement, the company's Toronto turboprop plant will
remain open for at least three more years.
Bombardier
and the Canadian Auto Workers Union reached a tentative agreement
on Friday after two months of negotiations in which the company
threatened to move the plant to Montreal or outside of Canada.
Union officials said 88 percent of production workers and 89
percent of trades workers, members of CAW Local 112, voted for the
deal, with 87 percent of office and technical workers in Local 637
in favor.
Bombardier, the world's third-largest maker of civil aircraft,
agreed to keep the Dash 8 turboprop production lines at its
Downsview plant in Toronto. That plant also makes the Global
Express business jet, or will until the end of the new labor
contract in June 2006.
Talks: Pressurized
"We went into bargaining under extraordinarily difficult
circumstances with the orders down or canceled as airlines in the
U.S. declare bankruptcy and the threat of war depresses travel,"
CAW president Buzz Hargrove said.
"We were able to protect income and jobs -- the Global Express
and Dash 8 production will remain at the facility. As well we
increased the retirement incentive substantially to allow senior
people decent retirement and protect the jobs of junior workers,"
Hargrove said.
A Disappointment For Ireland On St. Paddy's Day
The Canadian transport group had said it needed to lower labor
costs or move production to Montreal or Belfast, Northern Ireland,
and lay off 1,200 union workers out of about 3,000 employees at the
Toronto plant.
The union said Bombardier could reduce its costs through
increased productivity following the union's concessions on worker
flexibility.
Bombardier announced earlier this month it would cut 3,000
jobs, or 10 percent of its aerospace workforce, over the next 12
months and another 1,200 jobs at its Short Brothers unit in
Belfast. The company has 75,000 employees in 24 countries.
Bombardier has suffered from a severe downturn in the aerospace
market since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and
announced roughly 9,000 layoffs over two years, almost a quarter of
its total aerospace workforce.