Toys4RJill

The Canadian auto sector is getting hit hard. More to follow in my opinion

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5075834

Toys4RJill

This was the best response in the comments at CBC

mmarshall

That part I disagree with.....unions are not the problem. If one looks back at history, Ford, GM, and Chrysler all three were the most successful, and made their best profits, when the industry itself was most heavily-unionized, and there was no such thing as a non-union auto assembly-plant job. Within some limits (company resources, of course, are not endless), the more they paid their employees, the more successful the companies became. Many years earlier, Henry Ford (although he disliked the concept of unions) had well-learned that lesson........the more you pay your workers, the more they are able to (and likely will) buy your company's own products, right off the assembly line....and the more likely you are to recruit and hire good workers. Except for Chrysler, when the Big Three employees started making less in the 80s and 90s, and auto jobs started to be farmed out overseas, or to non-union states in the South, that's when the real financial problems hit. Chrysler, though, for several reasons, had gotten in serious trouble several years earlier, in the late 70s.

Toys4RJill

Interesting POV you have. I think the days of auto manufacturing in Canada will be coming to an end very soon. As for costs, southern US are right to work states (I think I am using the term correctly)and have cheaper labor rates. They are also closer to Mexico for parts supply. Toyota built their Texas plant to be close to Mexico to take advantage parts supplied from Mexico. The Tacoma is the only product made in Mexico that is imported to the US, Toyota is very quiet about this.

Sulu

This comment is just ignorant, uninformed and very shortsighted.

The average wage at the Chrysler Windsor minivan plant is only Cdn$21/hour. That works out to about $42,000/year, which is NOT a high wage.

Half that would be $10.50/hour, which is below the Ontario-regulated minimum wage of $14/hour, and much below the living wage (the wage a worker needs in order to cover basic living expenses, including food and shelter) for Windsor, which is over $15/hour.

MattyG

+1... Gordon Gecko, "greed is good". For some reason the OP seems to constantly put up threads about cost, layoffs etc.like news reports. Now the question is: would the OP like to work in a Detroit car company factory under these conditions and tell people that it's a great living. Priviledge unfortunately leaves people with a complete lack of compassion.

Toys4RJill

I don't think the post was saying that double is based on an average of $21 per hour. The older workers make more than that. That said, for Windsor, those working in the auto plants with two incomes making $21 per hour is much higher than the average household income in the Windsor area.

The Ontario auto industry was once much larger. And as these lay offs continue to happen, those affected just don't go and find new jobs paying nearly the same wage. There was once a Volvo factory in Halifax, once a GM factory in Quebec, Oshawa appears to be one the verge of closing, perhaps Oakville will end as that is the only Ford facility. It's truly sad.

mmarshall

One must also take into account that, while automation and robots have taken out a lot of the constant, monotonous nature of assembly-line work, some workers are still at risk for (or have suffered in the past) repetitive-motion injuries...just like underground coal miners suffering various lung-ailments from inhaling coal dust (the respirators that coal companies provide only have a limited effect, and are difficult to wear). Repetitive-motion injuries occur from what the name basically suggests.....constantly doing the exact same physical work, over and over, for hours each day, with the same parts and motions. Over time, it can lead to muscle, tendon, ligament, bone, and nerve-damage. A small-scale version of that can happen when one sits at a computer terminal and uses a mouse all day...orthopedic injuries and strains to the hand, wrist, forearm, and elbow. I've suffered that myself a couple of times...especially from the heavy workload on the computer I had at the office before I retired.