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According to McBain, it‘s no coincidence the relationship between the union and company has reached a peak in the last 10 "We still debate a lot of things, but we have a better sense of the other person‘s point of view," offered Peter McBain, responsible for employee relations at the Oakville plant. "It‘s gone from confrontational, to where we‘re sitting down and having constructive dialogue to solve problems," he said. "The relationship has evolved over the last 10 years," said Bill Van Gaal, president of Canada Auto Workers Union, Local 707, which represents 2,400 car assembly plant employees. Both sides agree the biggest change is that the relationship has gone from being a confrontational to a coâ€"operative one. mployeeâ€"company relations Eat Ford of Canada‘s Oakville car assembly plant â€" which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year â€" have reached an allâ€"time high over the last decade, according to union and company representatives. By SAL BOMMARITO Special to the Beaver Coâ€"operation new goal of labor and management Congratulations to Ford Oakville and the workers on 40 years of quality SHERIDAN A LOOK BACK ON FOUR DECADES OF AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTION IN OAKVILLE, ONTARIO 1953â€"1993 CAW CANATYWXW ‘"The guys and girls on the plant floor are enthusiastic because they‘ve been made a part of it," said Van Gaal. "They‘ve had input into it so the workers have a sense Both Van Gaal and McBain agree the Oakville assembly plant is going through a very "exciting" period in its history, and the unionâ€" company relationship is essential to the development and future success of the new product line. The Tempo and Topaz are schedâ€" uled to cease production in early October, when the new Windstar minivan is scheduled to begin proâ€" duction. ‘"Manpower, training, everything is inherent in the new launch. Everyone in the corporation wants the (new product) launch to be a successful one. We‘re dedicated to that," he said. As an example of the hard work and dedication, McBain points to the coâ€"operative effort between the union and company which has been ongoing over the last two years in preparation for the launch of the Oakville plant‘s new product line scheduled for early in 1994. years. He said the relationship is a result of concerted effort and hard work on both sides. SS T CA Employeeâ€"company relations at allâ€"time high OQAKVILLE + 1953 ~ 1993 He said the company has realâ€" ized its employees have a great "storeâ€"up of knowledge of how a vehicle has been built" which can be used to make a better product. McBain added the company has "Employees only saw the mockâ€" ups of the vehicle and then the next time they saw them it was when they were rolling down the assemâ€" bly plant," Van Gaal said. Van Gaal said there‘s no comâ€" parison between the launch of the new product and when the Oakville plant launched the Tempo and Topaz product lines. "It keeps people in touch with what the company‘s doing," Van Gaal said. of ownership," he said. Van Gaal said 36 hourly employâ€" ees have been involved in helping to build prototypes of the new van. All plant employees have free access if they wish to view the proâ€" totypes, which have not been seen by members of the public yet, he added. CAW CANADA S TCA "We spend a lot of time disâ€" cussing issues which are part of the agreement and which are not part of the agreement," Van Gaal said. "In the old days, management told employees what to do. Now the Better employeeâ€"company relaâ€" tionships yearâ€"round also makes the collective bargaining process a little bit easier, both Van Gaal and McBain agreed. He said hourly and salaried employees are also working side by side in the development and delivâ€" ery of a provincial governmentâ€" funded skills training program in preparation for the new product line. Van Gaal said employees are providing input into everything from engineering to safety aspects of the vehicle. ensured the input is being sought and then utilized during the develâ€" opment stage of the new product rather than after the first vehicle has left the assembly plant, as hapâ€" pened in the past. _ Happy 40Oin goom TCOJ S s peapse t §|â€"=__|--l ,‘fi‘ q E40005 EK3 KENNEDY FORD SALES LIMITED 280 SOUTH SERVICE ROAD WEST OAKVILLE 845â€"1646 From Your Friends At Oakville! "Dialogue is very important. Having hourly employees particiâ€" pate in those types of things goes a long way to making a better relaâ€" tionship," Van Gaal said. "But we haven‘t given up our role as a union. We still jealously guard the collective bargaining agreement. We‘ll fight like hell to maintain those things, but the fight is a little "As heads of the union and management, part of our responsiâ€" bilities is to put together processes and systems to make things flow better around here," McBain said. McBain said the key to a better relationship has been a weekly meeting involving union and comâ€" pany representatives, as well an additional meeting involving supâ€" port staff to address other issues not covered in collective bargaining. "There‘s a better set of characâ€" teristics in place for bargaining to take place," McBain agreed. He commented, however, there is a healthy disagreement which still exists between the two sides on economic issues within the collecâ€" tive bargaining process. a reactive approach to problem solving," he said. employees have become part of the system. It‘s a proactive rather than 40 Years of quglity € NNEDY %Copitol of Ford Country Wednesday "In some respects, it‘s like a wasteland or desert out there with companies closing and laying off employees. It‘s kind of like an oasis here," McBain said. "We‘ve earned the right to produce the new product line. It means some job security for all of us during hard economic times." McBain believes a better employeeâ€"company relationship has helped the Oakville plant weather the difficult economic times. "All those things influence deciâ€" sions on new products and what‘s going to happen to the plant. In the end, the customer will be happier, too," Van Gaal said. The Oakville plant has also experienced a dramatic decline in lost manâ€"hours and absenteeism. "There‘s no indicator that hasn‘t improved big time," he said. "Five or six years ago, we were at the bottom of the list. Now we‘re jockâ€" eying for first place with our Kansas City, Mo. plant," said McBain. The results of having an excelâ€" lent employeeâ€"company relationâ€" ship speak for themselves, McBain added. different than it used to be." In€ SHERIDAN 1993 â€" Oakville Beaver â€" F3