The probable shutdown of two Collins & Aikman Corp. auto parts plants spurred workers to walk off the job yesterday in the latest example of how the carnage among U.S. auto suppliers is spilling across the border into Canada.
The plants in Port Hope, Ont., and Mississauga, which employ about 500 people, with another 300 on layoff, will likely close in the fourth quarter of this year unless the parts maker finds a buyer for its exterior plastic components operations, company spokesman David Youngman said yesterday.
Members of the United Steelworkers union at the two plants left their posts yesterday amid frustration with management as they try to negotiate an agreement on severance pay and other issues that arise from a plant closing, Steelworkers national representative Marie Kelly said.
Collins & Aikman, which is among several auto parts giant operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, has already closed two plants in Canada this year. It has two Ontario and two Quebec plants remaining in its soft trim division, which is operating under protection of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in Canada.
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One of the closed plants, which is in Toronto, was occupied by members of the Canadian Auto Workers union earlier this year as workers there feared the company was going to renege on a commitment to pay them severance. The CAW members later left the plant after DaimlerChrysler Canada Inc. agreed to contribute $1.8-million to a severance plan.
The Port Hope plant assembles instrument panels for the Chrysler group large-car assembly plant in Brampton, Ont., putting production of those vehicles in jeopardy if the walkout by Steelworkers members drags on.
"We are engaging in continuous dialogue with the union representatives and the other interested parties," Mr. Youngman said yesterday.
Those interested parties include Chrysler and other Collins & Aikman customers, as well as creditors involved in the Chapter 11 process in the United States, he said.
Southfield, Mich.-based Collins & Aikman, Dana Corp., Dura Automotive Systems Inc. and Tower Automotive Inc., are all operating in Chapter 11 protection and all have closed Canadian plants. The largest U.S. auto parts maker, Delphi Corp., is also in Chapter 11.
"We're getting massacred," said Jerry Dias, an assistant to CAW president Buzz Hargrove with special responsibility for parts plants. "The high Canadian dollar is just killing us."
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