The People’s Daily Morning Star - Ben Chacko
ALFRED MUNGRA and Bob Lapchuk work at a beer and beverage can plant in Toronto.
So what brought them 3,500 miles across an ocean last week to protest outside Carnival Cruise Lines’s AGM in London?
The answer is a 19-month strike involving the plant’s entire 120-strong workforce, provoked by a union-busting employer that wants to slash wages, cut pensions, abolish their cost-of-living allowance — and won’t even promise to give them their jobs back if they agree.
Thanks to Workers Uniting, the global union formed by North America’s United Steelworkers (USW) and Britain’s Unite trade unions, resisting the bully-boy tactics of transnational firms can now take an international form.
Alfred and Bob’s plant is run by Crown Metal Packaging Canada, itself part of Crown Holdings, a US firm with its headquarters in Philadelphia. At full tilt it can produce five million cans every 24 hours.
Alfred, a maintenance machinist, has worked there for 28 years. Bob, a maintenance mechanic, for 42. Each earned $27 (£18.30) an hour before the strike.
So how did the dispute begin?
“Well, that goes back to the summer of 2013,” Bob says.
“Our contracts expired on June 27 of that year. We worked all summer without contracts.”
The workforce hoped meetings with management to negotiate new contracts would prove fruitful, but it soon became obvious the company wasn’t taking them seriously.
“We had three meetings that summer. They walked out of two early.
“When we did meet all they wanted to talk about was minor issues, not our main concerns at all. For example, if you’re a military reservist you’re entitled to one paid week off in summer.
“Actually that applied to no-one at the factory. It was a non-concern. But they harped on about it all day. Just stalling.”
There was no reason for management to be unhappy with the plant’s performance. In fact in spring 2013 the company had given it the “presidential award” naming it the number one plant in North America, based on its records for safety, quality and production.
But the meetings dragged on and no new contracts showed up.
“Intentions to strike were issued on September 6 at midnight due to the failure to talk seriously,” says Bob.
“That was midnight Friday. On Thursday, about 3.40pm, they told us to shut the lines down, clear out, shut off the equipment — as if the plant was closing,” Alfred chips in.
Bob nods. “It would have been a lockout if it wasn’t a strike.”
The plant was closed for two weeks and two days. Management did not contact the union to talk.
“Then the food side started up again — the line producing small, Campbell-soup tin size cans. You only need six people to run it. They brought in non-union labour from our sister plant in Calgary,” Bob says.
“That lasted eight weeks,” says Alfred, “with them being paid double-time, put up in the Marriott hotel, meals paid for.
“They brought in the US firm AFI security — specialist union-breakers. In the US they carry guns.”
But not in Canada, I presume.
“No, we’re slightly more civilised,” Bob laughs. “Anyway after that they shut down again for maybe a month, then after Christmas 2014 the whole plant started up, the food line and the two beverage can lines.”
“Busing in new, non-union staff they gathered via employment agencies,” says Alfred.
“Not trained workers. We have reason to believe people from the United States are coming in to do our jobs, which is illegal.”
Since the strike started, the workers — USW members — have mounted round-the-clock picket lines at the two entrances, dividing staff between three eight-hour shifts each 24 hours.
They’ve not let up once, even with temperatures over the winter getting as low as minus 41ºC with wind chill. And some picket-line experiences have been truly harrowing.
More...