Tag Archives: Chatham

06.02.10
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Bottom line is Navistar employees want to go back to work

Navistar workers in Chatham are only asking for decency, respect and a job. And, they’re at a point in their battle where they need the power of the government to step up to the plate.

“For the last 10 years, International Truck was the top employer in Chatham-Kent,” said CAW president Ken Lewenza. “And for the last 10 years, those employees gave back to their community.”

Now, those workers need that same community to support them, he said.

“This is not a fight for CAW. This is a fight for our jobs. This is a fight for the future,” he said.

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05.26.10
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Union blames feds and province for Navistar plant closure

The federal and provincial governments are to blame for the closure of a local truck assembly plant by not insisting on job guarantees when they turned over millions to Navistar, says Bob Chernecki.

The top CAW official said Tuesday the two levels of government gave Chicago-based Navistar more than $63 million to keep the doors open at Chatham-Kent’s major employer but failed to ensure job guarantees as part of the deal.

Chernecki, in a telephone interview, said CAW employees at the facility also provided the company with more than $40 million in concessions.

“The company has turned around and slapped all of us in the face — CAW members, the community and the governments — by tabling a new deal that would provide less than 100 jobs in the plant,” he said.

Chernecki said the CAW and the company are at a “clear impasse.”
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04.03.09
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All remaining employees at Chatham truckmaker given layoff notices

CHATHAM, Ont. — Layoff notices have gone out to all remaining employees at the Navistar truck plant in Chatham, Ont.

The notices would take effect June 27, just three days before the company’s current contract with the workers expires.

Navistar is required by law to issue the notices however, CAW national representative Joe McCabe says the truckmaker has gone an unexpected step further.

Layoff notices were also circulated to management staff and those not covered under the collective agreement.
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