Ford says strike in Canada could be devastating - Ford Forums

Stacy94PGT · 09-18-2002, 09:42

Reuters / September 18, 2002

NEW YORK - Ford Motor Co. President and COO Nick Scheele acknowledged on Tuesday that a strike by the Canadian Auto Workers union could devastate the world's No. 2 automaker.

"If we are struck in Canada for a protracted period of time, we essentially shut down North America," Scheele told an analysts' conference in New York.

Many of the V8 engines in Ford's full-size pickups and sport-utilities are built at a plant in Windsor, Ontario. The automaker also builds V6 engines for some of its best-selling trucks in Ontario.

Scheele's remark was thought to be the first comment by a senior Ford official acknowledging the automaker's vulnerability to a CAW strike. It came in answer to an analyst's question about whether Ford had stockpiled Canadian-built engines in the United States.

He said it had not done so, but added that he did not anticipate a strike.

Ford said earlier this year that it will close its F-Series pickup truck line in Oakville, Ontario, as part of a broad restructuring plan after the company's $5.45 billion loss last year.

CAW leader Buzz Hargrove has vowed to fight against the closure of the plant, which has about 1,400 hourly workers on a single shift. But Scheele said closure of the plant is a top priority, since it will cut about $1 billion in fixed costs for Ford per year.

"We have to close it down," he said.

Three-year contracts with the 44,000 CAW workers at plants run by Ford, General Motors and the Chrysler side of DaimlerChrysler AG all expire at midnight on Tuesday.

But the union is negotiating a new contract with GM before opening talks with the other two automakers.