Versatile Workers on Strike

On Friday, November 3 about 250 Versatile workers, represented by the Canadian Auto Workers, went out on strike as efforts to reach a collective agreement with the new owners of the plant stalled. Since then they have been picketing the plant 24 hours a day.

Three important issues for the workers are: 1) protection of seniority rights as they currently exist - the new owners would like to gut the seniority provisions of the collective agreement which recognize the right to bid on jobs throughout the plant ; 2) restrictions on outsourcing - the new owners are proposing unrestricted rights to contract out work; and 3) improvements to the pension plan and protection of existing rights - currently workers can retire when their age and years of service equal 80 points, which the new owners are proposing to eliminate.

Until April of this year the Versatile plant was owned by New Holland. After a merger with Case, a U.S. court ordered Case-New Holland to divest itself of its Winnipeg operations. The new owner of the plant is Buhler Industries. Versatile manufactures farm tractors.