Skilled Trades Association, CAW Local 199 St. Catharines (General Motors Unit) | ||||||
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Dear Mr. Grimaldi, I have been employed at General Motors in St. Catharines, Ontario for 18 years. Prior to being employed at GM, I graduated from Niagara College as an " Industrial Engineering-Quality Assurance Technician" in 1985. This course taught us about how Japan, with the help of Drs. Demming and Juran, turned their fortune around and began to overtake "The West" in terms of "Quality of Product". Training of the workforce, to the point where most assembly line workers had an engineering degree, proved to be incredibly beneficial as demonstrated by the enormous success of the "Quality Circles". Providing the workers with a stable job was also instrumental in instilling in them, the attitude required for full employee participation in their "Quality Improvement" drive. Their Just-in-Time system meant that work at the plant was sporadic because of market demand, but work was made available, often in their community in one capacity or another. This created a working environment akin to a family, where teamwork happens naturally. I remember how much I wanted to get employed at GM because, I thought, surely "they" would be the frontrunners in initiating a comeback for The West. I can't begin to describe how elated I was when I got the call on Friday the 13th of December 1985. I must also tell you how disappointed I was, when I realized how far behind the Japanese, we really were; not so much in terms of actual quality, but more in the” Continuous Improvement" attitude. Oh, I witnessed some valiant efforts like "Juran on Quality Improvement", "SPC","Targets for Excellence", etc., but, it took some time for GM brass to realize, that this was not simply a motivation problem that one can fix by hanging up banners and simply "throwing money" at the problem. No, this was going to require a "trickle down" effect, starting right at the very top in Detroit. I was looking forward to participating in GM's assent back to the top in terms of Quality but that’s when my first lay-off occurred. It took some wind out of my sails, but I simply decided that if, and when I got called back, I would get an apprenticeship and thus make myself a more valuable asset for GM. Then came a series of lay-offs due primarily to the St. Catharines "World-Class" foundry closing. It took me 14-1/2 years to finally complete my apprenticeship but I persevered, and in light of this latest lay-off, I have almost completely lost my faith in the leaders of this great company. Most, if not all of the workers that I had the chance to work with, also had a great attitude coming in. They too felt proud to be employed by one of the most renowned companies in the world. It is becoming very hard, however, to commit oneself to a company that seems so detached from the "human" element, which is directly responsible for their success. The backbone of any company is its rank-and-file employees. If a company is to compete in today's global marketplace, it must continually improve in terms of Quality and Productivity. This is best achieved by having a workforce, which is well educated and dedicated. By constantly laying off our employees, we accomplish the exact opposite. This is all under the guise of looking good on paper (hrs per unit), it seems, because immediately after this latest lay-off, some of our fellow workers were forced in on overtime to fill the void left by our absence. I believe in looking good, but this is only smoke and mirrors, and sooner or later, the bottom-line will be exposed. Our bean counters have to be told that there is a difference between "beans" and "being" and it's not just the spelling. I am not sure what you're in a position to do about any of this, but I thank you for taking the time to read it. Sincerely, Germain Gauthier, Millwright. Employee # 16409 (for the bean counters) | ||||||
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