Corporations forget about family
As of this writing, the EMD lockout has
reached the one-month mark. Although I've
been discussing mainly politically-themed
stories in this space, the gravity of the situation
faced by these workers bears analysis
from every angle.
These are the quick facts about the lockout: there are over 450 employees who have been forced out of work. The company they worked for, Electro-Motive Diesel, is owned by Caterpillar, who bought it from General Motors and manufactured train locomotives at the plant. The workers previously earned an average salary of just over $35/hour and rejected an offer by the company that proposed wages dipping down to as low as $14/hour. They weren't planning to strike; they just wanted to stay at the bargaining table.
In response, workers received an automated phone message from the Human Resources department instructing them not to report for work the following day.
I spoke with an EMD employee who'd been with the company for almost five years at the time of the lockout and she painted a picture of the reality faced by the lockout workers. After a month, rent and mortgage payments are due. Although many EMD employees can afford this one, and even the next few, EMD has a history of breaking unions by waiting them out. Flashback to 2009. Caterpillar was cutting a huge number of jobs and the workers protested. In a desperate act, they took four Caterpillar executives hostage inside the company offices. The bosses were released 24 hours later and bargaining resumed shortly afterwards.
The fact that no boss-nappings have happened in London might have more to do with the lack of big bosses in London than anything else. The workers have been locked out for long enough now that if they aren't feeling the pinch yet, they see a future when they will.
While locked out, worker benefits have been cut off as well as salaries. Imagine your parents were suddenly making half of what they had grown accustomed to earning for the past decade. Even households that spend within their means use a large portion of their income for fixed costs like car payments and their kid's college tuition. Workers have to earn a high enough wage that they are able to spend some of it at the businesses employing others within that economy. A self-sustaining economy benefits everyone within the city.
Companies that use these slash and grab methods to maximize their profits are a growing danger to Canadians. They have no interest in revitalizing the local economy. These businesses take huge profits, only made possible by the hard work of their employees, and move them around to whichever column will give them that extra .1 per cent, regardless of who goes hungry.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
These are the quick facts about the lockout: there are over 450 employees who have been forced out of work. The company they worked for, Electro-Motive Diesel, is owned by Caterpillar, who bought it from General Motors and manufactured train locomotives at the plant. The workers previously earned an average salary of just over $35/hour and rejected an offer by the company that proposed wages dipping down to as low as $14/hour. They weren't planning to strike; they just wanted to stay at the bargaining table.
In response, workers received an automated phone message from the Human Resources department instructing them not to report for work the following day.
I spoke with an EMD employee who'd been with the company for almost five years at the time of the lockout and she painted a picture of the reality faced by the lockout workers. After a month, rent and mortgage payments are due. Although many EMD employees can afford this one, and even the next few, EMD has a history of breaking unions by waiting them out. Flashback to 2009. Caterpillar was cutting a huge number of jobs and the workers protested. In a desperate act, they took four Caterpillar executives hostage inside the company offices. The bosses were released 24 hours later and bargaining resumed shortly afterwards.
The fact that no boss-nappings have happened in London might have more to do with the lack of big bosses in London than anything else. The workers have been locked out for long enough now that if they aren't feeling the pinch yet, they see a future when they will.
While locked out, worker benefits have been cut off as well as salaries. Imagine your parents were suddenly making half of what they had grown accustomed to earning for the past decade. Even households that spend within their means use a large portion of their income for fixed costs like car payments and their kid's college tuition. Workers have to earn a high enough wage that they are able to spend some of it at the businesses employing others within that economy. A self-sustaining economy benefits everyone within the city.
Companies that use these slash and grab methods to maximize their profits are a growing danger to Canadians. They have no interest in revitalizing the local economy. These businesses take huge profits, only made possible by the hard work of their employees, and move them around to whichever column will give them that extra .1 per cent, regardless of who goes hungry.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
