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Wednesday, September 12, 2001 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER D5 An Oakville Beaver Feature To advertise in this section call 845-3824 Business pickup trucks, not to Oakville, but to three U.S. assembly plants. Each of those operations has more shifts, workers and produc tion. The plants will start assem bling the new 2003 models in the spring of next year, insiders say. But they say Ford will keep pro ducing the old F-150 model under the "Classic" badge in Oakville as well as other special high perfor mance versions such as the Lightning. There has been no indication from Ford about another product that could replace the F-150 truck. The truck's platform or chassis could accommodate other Ford models. One union source said it's hard to .remain optimistic about the plant's prospects when it will end up producing an older model. "It's like the kiss of death," the source said. "They really have to put something else in there to make it go." Tremblay said he thinks the new generation o f F-150s is designed more for family and suburban uses, while the old model has the potential to attract a large number of small business operators, construction contrac tors and rural owners. The Oakville truck plant, which opened in 1965, operated on two shifts for many years until it cut back to a single shift in November 1993. Since then, the union has lobbied hard to rein state a second shift in view of booming demand for the Ford pickups, the best-selling vehicles in North America. The company has managed to keep up with demand through overtime, with out adding a second shift. A drop in F-series sales and continuing fierce competition has also left the company in a position to Oakville Chamber of Commerce 170 Country Squire Lane, Oakville, ON L6J 4Z3 · Tel: (905) 845-6613 Fax; (905) 845-6475 Ford union workers fear for future of Oakville truck plant Ford truck plant workers in Oakville are worried about their future. With the Ford Motor Company reviewing the future of some of its assembly plants in light of falling sales, workers fear the truck assembly plant in Oakville could be closed. "It's driving my members nuts," said Dave Tremblay, presi dent of Local 707 Canadian Auto Workers. "There's a lot of specu lation because it's a one-shift operation. Now with this review, you just don't know what's going to happen. It's very tough to gauge what they will do." ' Adding fuel to their fears is the fact the Oakville truck plant operates on only one shift, which makes it difficult to turn a profit. In addition, Ford's parent compa ny in the United States is redesigning the popular F-150 series trucks and it doesn't plan to build any new versions in Oakville next year. Furthermore, the company plans to relegate the plant to assembling the current version with the nameplate "Classic," which can only mean less pro duction, insiders say. Ford officials won't talk about product planning, but union lead ers who represent about 1,400 workers at the plant acknowledge that its future is a serious concern, particularly with the current review by management. Tremblay said that in his 35year career in the industry, he has never seen as much change in product planning as in the last five years. Although senior Ford officials won't confirm it, managers told the union more than a year ago that the company had allocated tooling for the new generation of build enough of the new genera tion of trucks at three plants instead of four. Ford production of the F-series pickups in Canada and the United States has dropped 10 per cent to 382,714 in the first half of the year. In Oakville, truck production is down more than 20 per cent to 62,700 in the first eight months. The other Ford pickup plants are more productive and efficient because they have two shifts, but Tremblay said there are several advantages to adding output at the Oakville truck operation. He noted health-care expenses are much lower than in the United States, a cheap Canadian dollar gives the plant a significant cost advantage and the company has pumped more than $1 billion into paint and body shops there during the last decade. Tremblay said recent internal Ford reports also show the quality of work at the plant is higher than at the U.S. plants. "We've got a lot of positives and we're going to remind Ford about them at every opportunity," he said. Meanwhile, concerns have been raised about the future of the Windstar minivan at another Ford assembly plant in Oakville. There is speculation that Ford may delay a redesign of the minivan. One union source said such a delay would raise questions about whether Ford will keep the Windstar in Oakville, the compa ny's only source of the mini van in the world. Ford announced last week a recall of 777,742 Windstars. It marks the seventh time the company has notified owners about problems with the 2000 Windstar and the sixth time for the 2001 model. -- Website: www.oakvillechamber.com E-mail: info@oakvillechamber.com Time: 5-7 p.m. Location: The Country Inn (2930 South Sheridan Way in Oakville) September 2001 *12 Business After Hours Cost: no charge to Oakville Chamber Members and their employees. October 2001 1 Business Women's Network Dinner Cost: S27 (gsl included) for Ookville Time: 5:15-9 p.m. Location: Otello's Banquet Half (2273 Royal Windsor) Chamber Members. S32 for SpeakerAopic Her Worship Mayor Ann Mulvale Non-Members Topic: The New Deal, Long Overdue: funding Relationships between Federal, Prov. & Municipal Levels with Surpluses the Time in NOW. Time: 7:30 a.m. Location: Hamilton Chamber of Commerce (555 Bay St.N. in Hamilton) Business Enterprise Editor Tom Hogue will introduce three new editorial segments for The Hamilton Spectator Business section. Cost: No charge to Oakville, Burlington and Hamilton Chamber Members. Register directly to the Hamilton Chamber at (905) 522-1151 or call Judi Partridge at the Hamilton Spectator for more info, at (905) 526-3166. *2 The Hamilton Spectator Business Breakfast 22 26 22 Small Business Week Events Mayor's "Small Business Week" Kick-off Breakfast Cost: no charge, but RSVP's are Time: 7:30 a.m. Location: Ramada Inn (360 Oakville Place Dr.) required as space is limited. Speaker: Michael Caine. Topic: "A Small Business Success Story... one small radio station into three, including the new AM740 Primetime Radio, now #1 in Canada among 50+ consumers." Time: 6-9 p.m. Location: Halton Region (1151 Bronte Rd.-Auditorium) Topk: "Linux, Internet communications & other retail technical advances are benefiting many retailers, servke providers & other businesses. How can these new and maturing technologies help any business?" Cost: $20 (gst included) for Ookville Chamber Members. $25 for Non-Members 23 "How Advancements in IT & the Inlemet can help Retail & Service Business" 24 "Growing Your Business for Profit" Cost: no charge, but RSVP's are Time: 6-10 p.ni. Location: Town Hall required os space is limited. (1225 Trafalgar Rd. - OakvilleArafalgar Room) Topics: "Organization, Planning, Selling, Marketing, Advertising, Computerization, Taxation & much more." Time: 5-7:30 p.m. Location: Region of Halton (1151 Bronte Rd.Auditorium) Cost: no charge, but please RSVP to (905)825-6300. Booth space for Trade Show available at a charge of $75 (gst ind), contact the Region at 825-6300 to book your booth space-space is limited. Cost: $60 (gst ind.) for Ookville Chamber Members, $75 for NonMember (gst ind.) 25 Joint Business After Hours & Trade Show 26 Business Women's Network Gala/ATHENA Dinner Time: 6:30-9:30 p.m. Speaker: Carole Bertuzzi Luciani. Location: Oakville Conference & Banquet Centre (2515 Wyecroft Rd.) * indicates that the event is open to Oakville Chamber Members (Future Members are welcomed and encouraged to attend Chamber Member events, as a guest!) NOTE PREPAYMENT IS REQUIRED FOR A ll PUD FOR EVENTS, REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR ALL EVENTS - EXCEPT BUSINESS AFTER HOURS To register, or for more details on any of these events, please call the Chamber at (90S) 845-6613. ----- O H T h e B u s in e s s A d v is o r y PROVIDING SOLUTIONS TO BUSINESS PROBLEMS AND IDEAS FOR SALE S GROWTH TO SMALL AND HOME-BASED BUSINESS SINCE 1983 Loo kin g Fo r S olutions F o r Y our Business Problem s? C all Us. We D o n 't Charge F o r Phone Calls. 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