Ford likely to close St. Thomas, Ontario Crown Vic assembly plant

Toronto, September 9– The Canadian Auto Workers union began new contract talks with Ford Canada yesterday under a cloud, as an assembly plant in St. Thomas, Ontario appears doomed. CAW president Ken Lewenza said that Ford had reiterated that the company had no product to assemble at the plant after 2011. Shutting the plant would wipe out 1600 jobs and reduce Ford's share of Canadian auto making to just 10 percent.

Going into the talks, Lewenza said that a key condition for a new agreement would be a commitment from Ford to maintain their existing share of auto production in Canada so that workers' job security would be assured. GM and Chrysler each accounts for about 20 percent of total North American auto production, and both committed to maintaining that share in their last collective agreement. Without a commitment from Ford to maintain current production levels, already much smaller than all other auto makers in the country, the union has no incentive to grant concessions. Unlike GM and Chrysler, Ford has not received government emergency assistance, therefore the union has no obligation to reach a cost-cutting agreement with the employer. 

"There is absolutely no incentive for our members to approve a contract that makes a number of sacrifices without improving job security and returning our laid off members to the job," said Ken Lewenza.

The St. Thomas plant assembles rear-wheel-drive Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car models. The Crown Vic is now only available in the US for fleet sales, mainly to police and taxi companies, but sales have steadily dwindled as cities across North America require more environmentally friendly taxis.

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