Ford Canada spokeswoman Lauren More confirmed Tuesday that the company has no plans to manufacture vehicles at its St. Thomas, Ont., plant beyond 2011. The plant has been in operation since 1967.
Currently, the 1,600-employee plant manufactures the Ford Crown Victoria, the Lincoln Town Car and the Mercury Grand Marquis – all full-sized cars, demand for which is limited to niche markets. In fact, the Crown Victoria is only sold as a part of fleets, such as police cars and taxis.
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Dearborn — In June, Ford Motor Co. invited the heads of some of the nation’s largest police fleets to Dearborn to talk about the future of police cars.
For nearly two decades, that market has belonged to Ford’s Crown Victoria — a vehicle that departments from coast to coast have come to respect for its toughness and reliability. Now the Crown Vic is running out of road.
“They told us that 2011 would be the last year they build the Crown Vic,” said Larry Tagawa, commander of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Motor Transport Division. “But Ford also made a commitment to support departments with a new vehicle.”
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When Ken Lewenza took over the presidency of the Canadian Auto Workers a year ago he knew he wasn’t in for an easy ride. But he didn’t know his union would shed 25,000 members in a year because of the economic crisis and the near collapse of the Canadian auto sector.
As he was re-elected Thursday for a three-year mandate at the head of the country’s largest private-sector union, Lewenza warned the worst is likely not over.
He noted the CAW is preoccupied with the reductions and job losses at the Ford Windsor, Ont. plant, the St. Thomas, Ont. plant — which is subject to close in 2011 — and the Oakville, Ont. plant that is not operating at full speed.
The lights remain out at Navistar’s Richmond Street truck assembly plant in Chatham.
No new talks are scheduled between CAW Locals 127 and 35 and the Chicago-based company regarding a new collective agreement.
Negotiations broke off at the end of June when the two union locals rejected company plans to downsize the Chatham operation.
“We really haven’t heard anything from the company,’’ Joe McCabe of Chatham, a CAW national representative.
McCabe said CAW president Ken Lewenza has written to the company asking for a resumption of talks.
He said company president Dan Ustian did reply to a letter from the CAW but made it clear the company was only willing to talk about its proposal.
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7/27/2009 3:04:00 PM | Canadian Press (English)
WINDSOR – Ford and the Canadian Auto Workers union will begin what the union calls “exploratory talks” on Sept. 8th.
CAW president Ken Lewenza says the talks are a precursor to full-scale bargaining aimed at a new agreement with the automaker following the new deals reached at GM and Chrysler.
Those deals involved concessions needed to secure government bailout money, which Ford did not seek.
Lewenza says the future of Ford operations in Canada could be in question if they don’t open up the contract.
He says Ford has told the union it’s at a disadvantage because of the new deals with GM and Chrysler, but he admits the workers may not all agree that concessions are needed with Ford.
Lewenza says the goal for the union will be to keep the St. Thomas, Ont., assembly plant open until the end of the agreement, and shore up more investment for the Essex Engine plant, which will reopen in the fall.
© The Canadian Press, 2005
The fate of Ford of Canada’s St. Thomas assembly plant may not be known until after the automaker has completed its contract talks with the Canadian Auto Workers union, industry observers said yesterday.
Ford will not announce a plant closure, or what it will take to land a new vehicle, while it is seeking a concessionary collective agreement from the union.
“They are in the middle of labour negotiations and you do not announce plant closures in the middle of negotiations,” said automotive analyst Dennis DesRosiers.
Tony Faria, business professor at the University of Windsor and an industry analyst, agreed nothing will be decided until talks are completed, but those talks may give the plant a chance for a new lease on life — as long as the federal and provincial governments also pledge financial support to retool the plant, he said.
“The St. Thomas plant will be used as a bargaining tool, in one fashion or another,” to wrestle concessions from the union and money from government. “It serves Ford’s purpose in the short term to not announce a closing now.”
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Staggered in recent years by layoffs and slumping sales, the Ford St. Thomas assembly plant has been dealt what may be its final body blow.
In a recent meeting with Ford of Canada, Canadian Auto Workers union officials were told all three vehicles made at the plant will be phased out — and no replacement vehicles are planned after 2011.
“You do not have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. If we do not have a new product they will close the plant,” said Scott Smith, chairperson of CAW Local 1520 at the plant.
“There are a lot of people’s livelihoods at stake here and it is hard for people to hear what the reality is.”
CHATHAM, ON, July 2 /CNW/ – More than 900 Navistar workers rejected the latest proposal from Navistar in the ongoing negotiations between the CAW and the company, at a membership meeting held yesterday in Chatham, Ontario.
“We cannot expect our members to accept a contract that will eliminate their jobs and devastate their already hard hit community,” said CAW President Ken Lewenza. “We need a real commitment from the company on the future of this plant. So far, what we’ve seen from Navistar only include eliminating hundreds of jobs and moving production out of the country to the United States and Mexico.”
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Windsor, Oshawa, London and St. Thomas were used by CAW president Ken Lewenza as examples of Ontario cities that depend on the survival and prosperity of the auto industry. The comments were made in an April 1 speech to the Economic Club of Canada.
