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4- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday July 30, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Ford may face legal action by jilted recruits By Carli Whitwell SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER A Hamilton law firm has been hired by several recruits from the Ford Oakville assembly complex whose jobs are in limbo. Gabriel Levesque is one of them. His orientation training for a final assembly third shift was postponed indefinitely last week. And the 29-yearold Hamiltonian, "We are in the process of who quit his cusobtaining the relevant facts, tomer relations job specifically about the conat an appliance comduct of Ford in relation to pany for the better our clients and once this is salary and benefits at Ford, fears now he's done we will make the going to lose it all. appropriate decisions on He has combined how to move forward." mortgage and car payments of $1,000 a Hamilton lawyer month and has been Jeffrey Shinehoft unable to get his former job back. That's why he got in touch with personal injury lawyer Jeffrey Shinehoft of Shinehoft Law. "I just want compensation for time lost," said Levesque, who lives in the east end. "I'm afraid I won't be able to pay my bills and (I'll) lose everything." Shinehoft would not comment on what kind of suit could be filed against Ford or how many disgruntled recruits had contacted him. "We are in the process of obtaining the relevant facts, specifically about the conduct of Ford in relation to our clients and once this is done we will make the appropriate decisions on how to move forward," said Shinehoft. Hamilton lawyer Graydon Sheppard said there are grounds for a lawsuit: "If the recruits have been offered employment and it's been accepted -- even if the job doesn't start until a future date -- and the offer is withdrawn, they do have a claim for wrongful hiring." -- From Torstar News Service DAVID LEA / OAKVILLE BEAVER MAD AT FORD: Hamilton East-Stoney Creek NDP MPP Paul Miller (left) and would-be Ford employee Phil Maddalena at a Queen's Park press conference on Monday. Miller organized the press conference to give a face to the 350 new hires whose positions have been indefinitely put on hold by Ford. Would-be Ford workers fear future Continued from page 1 Ritorno Return to the Table The Italian Way After 5 years together, Julia and Carl have embarked on their newest venture, Ritorno. Ritorno is what Julia calls a "return to the table, in the Italian way." - A return to traditional Italian food made and eaten traditionally. Ritorno is about stripping away the complications of modern dining, bringing things back to their basics. Fresh, quality ingredients presented in their truest forms, classic, attentive and unobtrusive service from a staff who shares their joy of their job and environment with the guests. Most important is what Ritorno means to Julia. This is her return as well having not opened a solely Italian restaurant since her first venture, Cafe Galleria over 20 years ago. She feels the time is right to bring the tastes, smells and emotions of her childhood back and present it the way she had always wanted. A big part of Ritorno is Julia's tribute, the "Nonna Wall". This wall will be a growing, ongoing homage to all Nonnas everywhere. People will be able to bring in photos of their Grandmothers, Nonnas, Bubbies and the like for immortalization on the Nonna Wall. This wall is to signify the years of loving sacrifice these women made for their friends and family with no thought of retribution. In Italian, Ritorno means To Return, and we will encourage all to do so. 261 Oak Walk Drive (Trafalgar & Dundas) Oakville 905-257-5881 They gave their employer, a GM auto parts manufacturer in Welland, notice that they were leaving and then on Tuesday, July 22, they, and about 350 other new hires, received phone calls from Ford telling them their new positions had been delayed indefinitely. "They left a message on my answering machine," said Stanley, a 34-year-old husband and father of two. "At first I just thought it was one of my friends playing a joke on me. I just couldn't believe it." Maddalena, 44, finds his current situation equally unbelievable. "I'm the only support in my family. My wife can't work and I have a daughter," he said. "The emotional roller coaster I've been on for about a week has taken its toll. I've been very moody. I've had some issues with sleep. I don't know where my next paycheque is going to come from. At 44, I'm not usually the first choice for employment opportunities. I just don't know what's going to happen." For Austin, 35, this is the second time she has had to scramble to put her life back together in the wake of a Ford layoff. "I am a former Ford employee. I got laid off four years ago. I had to reapply and I was a new hire just like everyone else," said the single mother of two, who cried an entire day after receiving the news that she was once again unemployed. "Like Phil, my former employer, at this, time will not consider taking us back, so we are jobless with no benefits and no money and we still have bills and rent and kids and food (to pay for)." Last week, Ford spokesperson Lauren More noted there is no set time as to when these positions will be available again citing a slow down in vehicle sales in the United States as the primary cause. "The bulk of production from Oakville Assembly goes to the U.S., it's exported, and rising gas prices and some other pressures on the economy have really impact- ed the market conditions," she said. "In general the U.S. market has seen a decline in vehicle sales and that change has accelerated." More further noted that shifts in consumer demand are occurring more suddenly than ever before. The recruits stories reached the halls of the Ontario Legislature during a Monday press conference where Hamilton East-Stoney Creek NDP MPP, Paul Miller called on the McGuinty government to get tough on Ford and the other auto companies over the treatment of their workers. Miller said the McGuinty government is in a unique position to do this as the province chipped in $100 million into Ford's $1 billion investment into the Oakville plant in 2004. "They're (Ford) playing Russian Roulette with these people's lives and it's not fair, it's morally wrong and this government should be responsible for pushing Ford and pushing the other companies to follow through on their promises in reference to employment," said Miller. "I'm thoroughly disgusted with the treatment that these people have received from Ford. I think it's just unconscionable, the way they've been treated. Is this the way this province is going? Is this the way the workers in this province are going to be treated as we go down the road through this economic crisis because if it is it's a sad state of affairs and someone's got to step in and correct these problems." Miller suggested the establishment of some kind of contingency fund, which companies would be obligated to give their employees before discharging them. He said that rather than firing employees Ford, and the other car companies, should retro fit their factories to produce the kind of vehicles people do want. "Some of these people could be used as labour to retro fit the line," said Miller. Responding to Miller's criticism of the McGuinty government Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn noted that the government needs no lessons on economics from the NDP and that if the NDP was still in power there would be no Oakville plant in the first place. The Liberal MPP expressed his sympathies over the plight of the 350 workers. He pointed out he is prompting the government to do more for people like Austin, Stanley and Maddalena. "When a layoff takes place, what happens is training colleges and universities and Employment Services Ontario move in almost like a SWAT team approach, like we did with Polywheels," said Flynn. "Although this doesn't qualify as a layoff, because technically these people haven't started work, I'm still urging our government to take a much more proactive approach to it." Flynn said this act by Ford does raise some questions about a company's liability when that company lures someone away from a job and then does not follow through with their job offer. He also noted that more attention needs to be drawn to the 350 would-be Ford employees as potential employers out there should see them as a hot commodity. "If I was a perspective employer and I was looking for someone to hire, these people have already been prescreened by a major corporation in a very competitive process," said Flynn. "If there's anything that we as a government can do to market the skills and abilities of these people we should." Despite recent events, Flynn said the Ford Oakville Assembly Plant is in a healthy position and, to the best of his understanding, it has not broken its contract with the provincial government. "It's disappointing, I don't want to take anything away from that, but certainly Ford of Canada is still in a very good position and I understand is starting to make some changes to move towards some of the cars the market seems to fancy these days," said Flynn.