Author: Sam Gindin
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The CAW and Panic Bargaining: Early Opening at the Big Three
In the face of a deteriorating economic climate and concerns about the ‘investment competitiveness’ of Canadian plants, the CAW leadership made a startling move this spring. It had an air … Keep reading »
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Two-tier Wages, Second-Class Workers
When Autoworker President Buzz Hargrove makes new pronouncements, they carry weight within and beyond the labour movement – even when, as has recently been the case, they seem to undermine … Keep reading »
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The UAW-Big Three Settlements: From Defeat to Rebellion
The 2007 United Autoworkers (UAW) agreements with the Detroit Big Three represented – as many people inside and outside the union have noted – the greatest economic concessions in the … Keep reading »
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The CAW and Magna: What if Magna Builds an Assembly Plant?
In the discussions of the proposed Magna-CAW (Canadian Auto Workers) ‘Framework of Fairness’ deal, the focus has been on Magna as a components company. But what if Magna opened an … Keep reading »
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The CAW and Magna: Disorganizing the Working Class
“In the neoconservative Canada of the late 1990s, the labour movement needs to become more militant, less accommodating to the demands of corporations and governments. If this sounds like a … Keep reading »
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One Sided Class War: The UAW-GM 2007 Negotiations
In 1978, then United Auto Worker (UAW) President Douglas Fraser, frustrated with corporate America’s new aggressiveness, accused U.S. business of waging a ‘one-sided class war against working people, the unemployed, … Keep reading »
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Empire’s Contradictions, Our Weaknesses: The Empire Stumbles On
Today’s two most conspicuous global flashpoints – the Middle East and Latin America – have widely exposed the fact of U.S. imperialism and highlighted some of its limitations. Adding the … Keep reading »
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Is the Big Ship America Sinking? Contradictions and Openings
“There’s something happening What it is ain’t exactly clear” -Buffalo Springfield, 1966 Are we in the midst of a momentous turn in world politics? Donald Rumsfeld has been shuffled out … Keep reading »
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Toward A New Politics? After the CAW-NDP Divorce
On April 21, 2006, the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) broke with a tradition that extended over half a century and voted to leave the New Democratic Party (NDP). A few … Keep reading »
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Rewriting History: The CAW Turn
In response to criticism of the concessions made by the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) at General Motors’s Oshawa facility this winter, the union has made four counter-arguments. First, no concessions … Keep reading »
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Concessions in Oshawa: The End of an Era?
In the early 1980s General Motors workers in Canada refused to follow their American parent (UAW) in opening their collective agreement. The ensuing conflict eventually led to the Canadians breaking … Keep reading »
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The CAW’s Direction: Some Questions
A number of questions about the CAW’s general political and more specific electoral orientation are being asked both inside and outside the union. These are questions of importance to the … Keep reading »