There are a lot of similarities between the operation that Caterpillar shut down in London recently and the Hitachi plant in Guelph, about an hour up the road.
Both operations were old-school manufacturing concerns. They made stuff. The work force enjoyed decent wages and brought a high skill level to the job. Lot's of steel-fitters and welders. Both the Caterpillar plant and Hitachi workers were represented by the same union, the CAW.
We know what happened with Caterpillar. Moved their operations to Indiana, which recently joined the ranks of the right-to-work-for-less states. They're hoping to trade the $30/hour London jobs for $12/hour Indiana jobs. Even thought Caterpillar earned record profits last year, they should be able to squeeze even more out of their new workers.
Hitachi meanwhile believes they can do just fine in Ontario. Same labor pool, same wage structure. They are doubling the size of their workforce in Guelph. They obviously see a future there. Sure, they could go on a union-busting rampage too, exit to a right-to-work state, screw the workers and add the savings to the executive bonuses.
Instead, they're doing the right thing.
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