It’s the city that built General Motors and became a beacon for good manufacturing jobs. And Oshawa has never been shy about fighting for them.In 1996, strikebound workers got wind that GM was planning to outsource work by moving tool and die equipment to another factory. In response, then-president of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union, Buzz Hargrove, warned management they would “not get one goddamn die out of the city of Oshawa.”He was right: workers stormed the gates, broke into the plant, and welded the doors shut to stop the parts leaving.Two decades later, retail workers outnumber manufacturing in a city where good jobs dwindle. Oshawa’s unemployment rate sits at 9.8 per cent, compared to 5.6 per cent for the rest of the province. Across the GTA, around half of all jobs are low-wage, temporary, contract, or lacking benefits.That’s why the battle for GM’s 2,500 at-risk jobs is just as crucial today as it ever was, says Bill Murnighan, director of research at Unifor, the union that grew out of CAW and represents GM employees.“Overall, the labour market is fairly strong, but there are still far too many precarious jobs. So it’s incredibly frustrating to see the Ford government’s reversal of many of the changes that were meant to make precarious jobs better,” he said, referring to recent legislation that removed many new protections for low-wage workers.“At the same time, (they’re) stepping away from a challenge to stand up for good jobs where we already have them.”Premier Doug Ford said Monday that GM told him “straight up there’s nothing we can do” about the closure of the plant, which once employed 40,000.“That’s exactly the wrong argument to make at this moment,” said Murnighan. “We have a contractual obligation from GM to keep our operations open through the life of the collective agreement.”Beyond that, he says all levels of g ...
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