No Place For Dinosaurs In A Modern Society

Mr. Rak might want to consult with his fellow union members, who no longer have jobs, on whether they want a paycheck each week or the right to walk the picket line.

CAW membership formally

approves `no strike' pact

Business, Dec. 8

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"I feel great," said CAW president Buzz Hargrove after the national council approved his "Framework of Fairness" agreement for all Magna plants in Canada. No doubt Magna chairman Frank Stronach also "feels great." He will now be guaranteed strike-free production for at least 10 years in his factories.

I am a retired Oshawa GM worker and a UAW/CAW member since 1952. I attended the council meeting as an observer. I did not "feel great" to see this agreement approved. I agree with Keith Osborne, CAW plant chairperson at GM Oshawa, when he said, "It puts a stake right into the heart of the labour movement."

This agreement is not a victory for the trade-union movement; it is a sellout to the capitalist class.

My union was created in 1937 in Oshawa, when the men and women working in the GM plant could no longer tolerate the wages and working conditions, and went out on an "illegal strike" to win union rights and a collective agreement with General Motors. Eventually, the "right to strike" in Canada was established as a legal right in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Now that Hargrove has given up that right at Magna, I am fearful that every corporate employer in this country will be demanding the same concession. This is a huge step backward for the trade-union movement in Canada.

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Russ Rak, Oshawa