G.M. workers from Ingersoll, Canada are on strike because they upset with reports of jobs being moved from Canada to Mexico. This is the first automobile industry strike in Canada in 21 years. Currently, Ingersoll is the primary assembly cite for the Chevrolet Equinox. The Ingersoll assembly cite also used to be the primary assembly cite for the GMC Terrain. In July, G.M. decided to move the primary assembly cite of the GMC Terrain to Mexico. This resulted in 600 workers to lose their jobs. The Equinox is also made at the G.M. factory in Mexico. Therefore, the workers of the Ingersoll factory worried that they might end up losing their jobs again.
The largest private-sector union in Canada, Unifor, held a town-hall meeting in Ingersoll. Unifor demanded that the current negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement to lead to a greater amount of Canadian factory jobs. Right now factory production has moved out of Canada to the United States and Mexico. Unifor president, Jerry Dias, has blamed Mexican wages and the standards of factory employment for the shift of jobs from Canada to Mexico. Mr. Dias has made statements similar to Trump's views, saying, "Look, Canada and the U.S. agree that the problem isn’t us — especially in the auto sector. The problem is Mexico.”
Personally, I agree that it would be unfair to the Ingersoll workers, if the primary assembly cite Chevrolet Equinox was moved from Canada to Mexico. Canadian G.M. workers have already lost jobs to Mexico because of the GMC Terrain. What do you guys think? Would it be fair for G.M. to move the main assembly cite from Canada to Mexico?
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/business/general-motors-strike-canada.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbusiness-economy&action=click&contentCollection=economy®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=sectionfront
I think this follows the natural flow of capital and work for companies of this nature.
ReplyDeleteSure, it's a short term inconvenience for the locals in Ingersoll.
But with that being said, in developed countries like Canada, they have access to unemployment insurance while they search for another job. While they might not have as easy access to such in Mexico.
As factories come and go, this shouldn't have a huge impact on the overall labor market.
Personally, I think this is unfair to the Canadian work force that is losing jobs. Yes they have a better unemployment insurance than Mexico, however, the production in Canada is much greater. I agree with President Trump; Canada is a solid resource of ours (both sides benefit). Nothing against Mexico, but the production levels are not as high as Canada (and I do not see why they should move a location that has been there for a decent amount of years). Lower wages do not always = better production. Nice article Andrew
ReplyDeleteThe corporate mindset is going to be maximizing profits at the end of the day, so I understand the low-wages benefit of moving to Mexico. It's unfortunate for those working in Ingersoll, but this is just part of the ongoing shift of manufacturing to LDC's around the world. I wonder if we will see GM eventually move all of their production to Mexico.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that it is unfair to the Ingersoll workers because a lot of people would lose their jobs. This will lead to more people becoming unemployed and therefore more people might try and get unemployment insurance. Unemployment insurance only pays part of the income that they earned so they will have to look for another job. It will take them a while to find jobs because they want to find one in their skill range, because they have certain expectations for the jobs they will get. It would be more effective to them to work to their fullest potential, then to take the first job they can get.
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