It has been almost two years now since we signed our first contract. We would like to express our gratitude to the Local 199 staff for all of your hard work and support through the difficult bargaining process.

During the time of the bargaining process and carrying on into our first year of our present contract, there was quite a bit of animosity between management and employees. Some of which resulted in what may have been a record number of grievances being filed in a very short time.

That was then. Now with all of the grievances settled and no new ones having been filed for quite a while, the animosity and hard feelings have dissipated. There now seems to be a willingness on behalf of management and ownership to respect the guidelines of our negotiated contract and move forward.

At this time, in the Fall of 2002, business has been unusually slow, especially for service where almost all of the unionized members are employed. Parts sales remained fairly steady, where two unionized employees work. There are no unionized employees in the sales department. We are hopeful that business will improve soon.

Thank you again to CAW, Local 199 members from your fellow members at Forbes Ford in Grimsby.