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Tough times for Canadian autoworkers

Tough times for Canadian autoworkers

The following submission was receivedin response to the Yahoo small towns series. It has been edited for clarity.

I was intrigued by your series, which is near and dear to my heart.

I am a third-generation autoworker holding on to a dying dream of remaining in the middle class. When I left the military in 1998, I was fortunate enough to get a job with Ford Motor Company in Windsor, which has built cars and engines for Ford since the automobile was invented. I worked in the old iron foundry on Droulard Road and I loved it. Yeah, it was smelly, dirty work but it paid well and the people were great – there was a real loyalty to the company back then.

When I started there were 6500 employees and the Canadian dollar was 55-cents US. As of next year there will be under 1000. I was lucky enough to be transferred to Oakville and am still working, but I do miss the smaller city of Windsor. I fear for the smaller towns because they lack the political clout to keep large firms in town, and our country's bounty of oil wealth has driven our dollar into Dutch Disease mode.

Windsor had an area called ‘Old Castle’ – we used to call it Mold Castle because the local tool and Mold makers were booming. Now most shops are empty and the ones that remain pay half what they used to. I recently read an article saying that American Axle is now paying its workers $10.50 an hour and the workers will pay their own healthcare on top of that.

There is no doubt we are in a race to the bottom the next generation is paying the price.

Scott Shaw
Oakville