Wages And Jobs Going South.

Allot of grumbling has gone on over the past year about the miniscule wage increases that we managed to squeeze out of Armada management at our last round of negotiations. In fact the only good thing that can be said is that we actually got wage increases and gave up nothing. Yes we are at the lower end of the totem pole when it comes to wages but in my opinion our low wages are the only thing keeping us going right now. Take a look at the lock out in London for example between Electro-Motive and the CAW. They were given an ultimatum take a 55% wage reduction or we close the plant and move it the united states were wages are 50% lower. These people were making $35/hr which would bring them down to approximately $16/hr if they accepted the companies demands. Corporations are using us pitting worker against worker saying to us that if you won't work for $16/hr someone else will. When I look back at all the new work we have secured in the last year I can't help but wonder how many unionized plastics plants we out bid to get the contracts because we are working for less than $16/hr and they couldn't compete with Armada's offer. We are almost guaranteed employment for the next 2 years unless something extreme transpires. How many more unions this year are going to have to make the tough choice between wage cuts or walking the picket line. Remember this before you complain about increases that we did get when others around us are being forced to take wage cuts or walk the picket line with the threat of loosing their jobs altogether to employees in the United States who will work for less. The only thing giving us a competitive edge against our brothers and sisters in the United States for the last 20 years was our low Canadian dollar. Now that we are at par with the US dollar it is no longer as profitable For large corporations to do business in Canada paying Canadian workers more than workers in the USA. They don't care that we cannot afford to put gas in our vehicles. They don't care that we cannot pay our bills and they do not care that we have little to no savings for retirement. The only thing they care about is the bottom line. Only time will tell how bad things really get but if the first week of this new year is a preview of whats to come 2012 is not looking good for manufacturing jobs here in Ontario. We should feel fortunate that we have 2 years before we head back to the bargaining table.