We have spent numerous hours during the past four weeks negotiating with General Motors to bring new investment to St. Catharines, in an effort to secure the working futures of all our members.

At the time of writing this leaflet, we are pleased to inform our members that we are extremely close to reaching an agreement. We are confident that by Friday, June 22, 2007 we will be able to meet with the in-plant committee to review the details of this new agreement.

We have arranged for two meetings on Saturday, June 23, 2007 at the C.A.W. Hall on 124 Bunting Road to review all the details of this agreement with all of our members. Each member will be given a package containing items agreed to between the parties. Your leadership will go through the details, explain any changes, and then there will be a question and answer period followed by your vote.

Production members will meet at 10:00 a.m. and Skilled Trades will meet at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 23, 2007. We encourage all of our members to attend this important meeting.

We knew going into these negotiations that due to the announced West Side closure and our four speed transmission product’s life cycle coming to an end, our Ontario Street location would wind down by 2011. We also were made aware that our other engine products would also be ending around the same time, if not renegotiated. This meant that without significant investment our member’s job security would be in jeopardy.

We believe this agreement will secure the working futures of our members and if accepted by our members will position our location to achieve future investment.

As your Plant Chairperson, I would like to thank the in-plant committee reps. for their great job in providing representation for all our members. I would also like to extend a special thanks to Ron Allen who filled in as Plant Chairperson and did an excellent job dealing with several issues. Their leadership allowed our negotiating committee to remain focused on the task at hand, which was to reach an agreement that would help secure the future of the St. Catharine’s operations.

Issued by,

Terry White, Chairperson GM Unit
CAW Local 199