For the second time in three years, workers at Toyota assembly plants in Cambridge, ON, and Woodstock, ON, have launched a drive for IAM representation. The IAM currently represents thousands of members in the Canadian automotive transportation sector at manufacturing facilities in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.
“The inside organizing committee has been canvassing workers for the past several months and they have received numerous requests for a return of the IAM,” said IAM District 140 Organizer Ian Morland. A previous organizing effort in 2007-2008 was stymied when a hiring blitz by Toyota made it impossible to determine the correct number of cards required to file a vote.
“What makes this different now is the enormous renewed interest by Toyota Team Members in becoming members of the IAM and having a union contract,” explained Morland. “These are hard working people who take tremendous pride in the quality product they produce here but they also want to protect their future and they’re aware of the difference a collective agreement can make in their lives.”