P.M. Executive Briefing - Oct. 8
This Afternoon's Headlines:
ul>
CAW to Target Sterling Once Deal With GM Reached, Hargrove Says
Buzz Hargrove, president of the Canadian Auto Workers, said Thursday that when the union completes its contract with General Motors it will begin a union drive at a Sterling Truck factory in St. Thomas, Ontario. The CAW's deal with DaimlerChrysler included a vow that DaimlerChrysler would not get in the way of such a drive.In two past drives at the St. Thomas site, employees turned down the union, which Hargrove says is the result of campaigns against the CAW that involved consultants from the United States. The CAW also got neutrality on unionizing suppliers in its Ford of Canada contract. However, Charles Reid, Ernst and Young's national director of auto industry practice, says "[t]he whole issue of neutrality is symbolic" since interfering with unionization is illegal anyway. London (Ontario) Free Press (10/08/99) P. D1; De Bono, Norman
No Changes to 401 Plan, Mayors Told
Mayors of southwestern Ontario municipalities are calling for improvements to the dangerous Highway 401. Multiple fatal accidents since March have caused the mayors to request the highway to be widened to three lanes on each side with medians. Improvements like those were made to the section between London and Woodstock 10 years ago to stop deaths due to vehicles crossing the median. The volume of trucks on the 401 continues to grow.David Turnbull, the provincial transportation minister said Thursday in a meeting with mayors that he would not add to his September plan, which would increase enforcement of safety rules and pave the highway's shoulders. London mayor Diane Haskett says the ministries of economic development, trade and tourism, and finance need to be included in the transportation issue so the infrastructure can be made safer for trade to grow. The Mayors' Alliance for Super Highways was founded in June. Bradley says the group should meet soon with David Collenette, the federal transport minister. London (Ontario) Free Press (10/08/99) P. A1; Sims, Jane
Mitsubishi Motors Announces Alliance With Volvo
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. announced it will ally with Volvo, which will purchase 5 percent of Mitsubishi's shares. By 2002, Mitsubishi will purchase a maximum 5 percent stake in Volvo. Mitsubishi intends to spin off its truck and bus business by 2001, with Volvo having a maximum 19.9 percent share of the subsidiary.Volvo is in the process of acquiring Scania; these two companies together with the new Mitsubishi subsidiary will lead the world in truck and bus production. Many Japanese auto businesses are trying to keep up in the worldwide marketplace by opening up to foreign interests. Alabama Live Online (10/08/99)
Repeal INS Law, Group Requests
Trucks could be backed up between two and 20 hours and other travelers could be held up as well if a provision in a 1996 immigration law goes into effect, says Americans for Better Borders, an organization of businesses, state and local governments in the U.S., and the governments of Canada and Mexico.The law says the Immigration and Naturalization Service must create a system for automated recording of visitors from other countries as they enter and leave the United States by land; the system would have to be in effect by March 30, 2001. Ali Cleveland, Americans for Better Borders' associate manager of labor policy, says the U.S. Senate has passed a bill to scuttle the provision, and the Senate and House must meet to create a final version. Backers of the bill say an INS test of a possible reporting system showed such a system would cause border backups.
The bill has its opponents in Congress and among grass-roots groups that want immigration further restricted. Federation for American Immigration Reform Executive Director Dan Stein says repealing the provision "would be a real victory for international terrorists, drug smugglers, and illegal immigration smugglers." Journal of Commerce Online (10/08/99); Lucentini, Jack
Jury to Decide Culpability in Guzman Crash Award
Jurors in a civil trial were asked Thursday to divvy up responsibility for a 1994 truck accident in Milwaukee that led to the deaths of six children. The children were in a van that caught fire after a mudflap-taillight assembly fell off a tractor-trailer operated by Ricardo Guzman and ripped into the van's fuel tank. Nine days earlier, M&S Transport had found the truck chassis to be up to federal standards.A $100 million settlement was reached in August between the parents of the six children and parties including Allied Products and the minivan's manufacturer Chrysler, but M&S would not pay any of the settlement. Allied and Chrysler brought the action against M&S, which the plaintiffs' attorneys say should have to pay half or more of the $24.5 million damages portion of the settlement.
M&S lawyer J. Ric Gass argued that Guzman must have hit something between Chicago and Fond du Lac, Wis., after which he did not heed cautions from three truck drivers about problems with the taillights. Gass also blamed others including Allied. Chicago Tribune (10/08/99) P. 7, Metro Northwest Section
Quebecers Hoard Food, Gas as Truck Blockades Continue
Filling stations and stores in parts of Quebec are running out of supplies due to residents loading up as truck blockades continue. Abitibi, in the northwestern portion of the province, and La Tuque, in the central portion, have been hit hardest by the trucker protests. Provincial police once again had to help non-protesting truckers get through.The truckers are upset about the cost of fuel and their working conditions. "Dozens of our members went bankrupt or just gave up in the last few months because they couldn't get a decent salary," says Centrale des Syndicats Democratiques President Francois Vaudreuil. Toronto Sun (10/08/99) P. 62
© copyright 1999 INFORMATION, INC. Terms of Service
