Shutting down
Friends and coworkers John Getty, left, and Glen Ferguson, right, catch up with Don Sands, middle, at the Electro-Motive Canada picket line on Oxford Street East in London on Thursday February 9, 2012.
Credits: CRAIG GLOVER/he London Free Press/QMI AGENCY
LONDON - About 465 unionized workers from the Electro-Motive Canada plant overwhelmingly ratified a severance deal Thursday morning following the closure of the plant in southwestern Ontario earlier this month.
Negotiators from Canadian Auto Workers Local 27 were able to reach a deal that gives the workers more than the legal minimum. The workers will get three weeks pay for each year worked, a $1,500 signing bonus and retraining opportunities. About 95% of the workers ratified the deal.
The CAW had threatened to occupy the closed plant if a severance agreement could not be reached.
Local president Tim Carrie said the strong support from the labour movement and the community helped the CAW reach a severance deal.
The workers were locked out Jan. 1 after the company, a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., demanded severe wage and benefit cuts in contract talks.
