Skilled Trades Association, CAW Local 199 St. Catharines (General Motors Unit) | ||||||
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BYGONE DAYS, IT SNEAKS UP ON YOU We are an aging work force here in St Catharines. We can all remember the announcement of the foundry closure in 1992. It was like experiencing a death in the family. We went through all the symptoms of a major loss. It took a while to actually affect the skilled trades employment numbers, but the production people quickly took a big hit. No more security in our minds. From that point on we were constantly laid off or under the threat of job loss. Many of us received layoff notices to the tune of two to three dozen in hand. It was and still is a very stressful time. Many of those in our work force took ill over the years from the constant pressure of stress. Marriages, homes and lives were disrupted and broken. We have had many layoffs across the plant from 1992 until today. For the first time, trades were hit and hit hard. Any trade with less than eighteen years seniority lost from six months to seven years employment. The days of full employment for the trades was over. Once we started loosing time, we were aggressively and continuously under attack. I will share with you my thoughts about how I feel the turn of events has taken us from 1992 till now. Can you remember when trades never got laid off? I can. In those days trades had their own management. Right from top to bottom we had management dedicated to the trades. If production needed trades outside of dedicated maintenance, they would request us from our managers. Our managers were in a self protect mode. Each of them were protecting their kingdoms and that meant they needed trades to prop up their need to exist. The more trades the more trades managers. These guys came up through the ranks and appreciated our place in the hierarchy. Most of them felt we were important, for whatever reason. They trusted our work ethics and abilities and we worked together to keep things going. This made us feel respected and we felt like we held an important role in the production of the product. Then it happened, we were invaded by inexperienced intellect. University degrees started popping up everywhere and they were all counting beans. Lots of education combined with a lack of experience, proved to be a dangerous combination opposed to our survival. The fresh managers had a driven need to climb the corporate ladder at anyone’s expense. The relationships they formed were, “what can you do for me” and not, “how can I help”. These bean counters decided that trades no longer needed their own management and should be under the total control of the production managers. They decided that rather than having their own budgets, trades would burden the budgets of the different production departments. Trades were no longer an elite group of people helping to make things right and get things ticking, when needed. Trades were now an item that production didn’t want to have to carry on their books full time, just in case they needed us at some time. They didn’t want construction gangs and tried at every turn to order in anything that would help eliminate us. There was a trend of thought at play here. The product was considered at the top of the scale and under that were the raw materials and people who directly produced the product. Lower down the scale were things that production were forced to use to assist the product and people. Things like electricity, gas and water. At the very bottom of the scale were things that management really didn’t want and if they could do without, they would. Trades were given a position equal to taxes, cleaning parking lots, waste treatment and scrap. We became a necessary evil that would be reduced or avoided at all cost. When management screwed up on their budgets or mismanaged their bottom lines they looked at ways to protect their bottoms. They shut off lights, fixed gas and water leaks, they tried to reduce scrap but one of the first things they did was to lay off trades. It worked and it worked well. It worked because management had no problem getting the employed trades to help replace laid off workers by working overtime. They had counted on us to eat our fallen comrades. We were good solders and did just that. I remember thinking things like this? Thank god I didn’t get laid off. I feel bad for the guys on the street but I have to take care of my family. Those guys are making good money from sub and EI so it isn’t so bad. I wouldn’t mind some time off myself. I’m not a violent man but if I could go back to those days and kick myself in the ass, I would. We can say what we want. I am guilty of these also because I worked when guys were on the street. The truth is, if at any layoff of trades, we had refused any and all overtime there would have been short layoffs. If we would take all our vacations and aloud time off everyone would be working. The advent of further layoffs would have diminished. Management would have had to consider a time when they could be sure that no overtime would be required before any layoffs and coverage for time off would secure our jobs. Not to complain but many of us have used all our savings and with 10 years or less to save for retirement it will be difficult to fully recoup. Many of us have seen 3 to 5 years unemployment in the past 7 years. Can we justify in our minds the reasons we worked while our friends suffered on the street? There is no justification. I did wrong and it came back to bite me. Is it time we took responsibility for others and our own actions? We may be those others some day. The bean counters and the production managers may continue to place us on the same level as their sewer and scrap, unless we take a stand. Is it time to Work Smart and Work Safe? It will be up to us, as trades persons and friends, to elevate ourselves through our commitment to quality craftsmanship and even more importantly our commitment to each other. | ||||||
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