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4- The Oakville Beaver, Friday July 25, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Ford blames sagging American economy on hiring flip-flop Continued from page 1 Monday, but instead he is now unemployed and he's not the only one. The auto giant announced yesterday that it is delaying the introduction of a third shift in its final assembly operations at the plant meaning it no longer has positions available for 350 new hires, who would have started that shift on Monday. 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 impacted 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. Weatherson and the other new hires found out about this phenomenon first hand. Only three months ago, Weatherson and thousands of others sent in applications to the Oakville Assembly Plant, which at that time was advertising 500 new positions. "I have no job. I have no benefits. I have no money coming in and I'm in debt up to my eyeballs." Don Weatherson, cancelled Ford hire With the high demand in early 2008 for the crossovers MKS and Edge and the anticipated release of the new Ford Flex the plant was adding a third shift to increase production. "It was a very good opportunity," said Weatherson. "It was a stepping stone to something else because I hold two other trades GRAND OPENING MATTRESS SALE CUSHION TOP 15 YR. WTY COMFORT SLEEP 20 YR. WTY 25 YR. WTY SEE OUR 4 PAGE FLYER PEDIC EURO TOP Twin Double Queen King g 239 269 309 459 Set Set Set Set 399 449 499 799 20 YR. 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Ford's optimism continued to by high last month when Ford officials, politicians and even the Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky gathered at the Oakville Assembly Plant to unveil the Ford Flex on Tuesday, June 3. On that day, Minister of Industry Jim Prentice remarked on how great it was that during such a time of difficulty for the auto sector Ford was hiring 500 people. Fast forward to Tuesday, July 22, and Weatherson has quit his job in anticipation of beginning work at Ford the following Monday. He quickly comes to regret his decision. "Tuesday was my last day of work," he said. "Then I got a call from them (Ford) telling me the position no longer exists." Not all of the new hires found themselves without positions as 160 people laid off from a Ford plant in Windsor were allowed to stay to fill vacancies created by the Oakville Assembly Plant's regular rate of attrition. The 350 others are on their own. "I have no job. I have no benefits. I have no money coming in and I'm in debt up to my eyeballs," said Weatherson. "I don't know what I'm going to do now." With a wife, two children and a mortgage Weatherson must now begin the process of finding another job in his field, which in Ontario's ailing manufacturing sector will not be easy. Having worked in the auto industry most of his life, Weatherson said he understands the realities of that industry, however, he said he can't help, but feel angry with Ford over what has happened. "I'm pissed off," he said. "I wonder why they couldn't see this coming before they gave a start date. You shouldn't phone someone up three days before their start date and say, `Okay, guess what? The market has decided that we're not going to hire you now.' You should have seen this coming months ago." Canadian Auto Worker (CAW) Local 707 President Gary Beck called the position delay devastating to the plant and expressed sympathy for all those affected. "We have 160 members coming from Windsor that were coming here thinking they had a bit of a security blanket with more than 300 new hires below them. That's obviously changed," he said. "The people that were expecting to start on the 28th received phone calls yesterday (Tuesday) telling them about the postponement. I can only imagine and appreciate what they've had to go through these last 24 hours." Beck also called on the government to help ease the auto crisis in Canada by either banning vehicle imports or opening up foreign markets to Canadian vehicle exports. With this latest blow to the auto sector workers at the Ford plant are no doubt asking themselves if layoffs can be far behind and while Ford refused to discuss the issue Beck would not discount the possibility. "That is a huge concern," he said. 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