Police stop replacement workers at International’s Chatham plant

CHATHAM, Ont. (June 20, 2002) — Fearing a “serious breach of the peace,” local police stopped a skeleton crew hired by International Truck and Engine to replace striking assembly workers at its heavy-truck plant in Chatham, Ont.

About 645 members of the Canadian Auto Workers union Local 127 have been on strike since June 1.

“Earlier, we had received information that a serious breach of the peace would occur if replacement workers arrived at International,” Chatham-Kent police said in a news release.

On Tuesday, following a round of negotiations that failed to produce a settlement, International said it planned to resume production with a temporary workforce as soon as possible. Violent protests by about 150 CAW members prompted two arrests yesterday.

The company will continue to ramp up production of heavy trucks at its plant in Escobedo, Mexico. Prior to the strike, production at Chatham had been averaging 39 trucks per day on one shift, and it is expected to ramp up to a level of 60 per day, the company said. The Escobedo plant will continue to increase production to 58 units per day.

International said there are no new talks scheduled. Negotiations towards a new labour agreement began on April 26. However, in January, the company had notified the CAW of its need to reduce costs at Chatham by $28 million in order to make the plant competitive. The company was subsequently able to identify half that amount.