One of the most refreshing joys of life is meeting someone who believes in things worthwhile and works every day to apply those beliefs to the real world.
In this age of cynicism and greed, it is uplifting to meet a person committed to a broad social agenda that includes not just those he represents and their interests, but people who don't have the representation and clout they need to survive.
Basil "Buzz" Hargrove is president of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW). The union has grown to 260,000 members, the largest private sector union in Canada, now representing workers in a broad range of industries and enterprises well beyond its original base in the auto industry.
Hargrove and his union are an important political, economic and social force in Canada, and unions in the United States could learn much from the substance and style of their brothers and sisters across the border.
The CAW is big on quality-of-life issues. For instance, a Canadian autoworker with 15 years of service gets nine-and-a-half weeks paid time off each year. No doubt, only a few Canadian workers are likely to spend that time in the exercises Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke displayed in the film "9 1/2 Weeks," but they do seem to store up their energy for work.
"Our productivity is incredible, and people who feel good about their company, job and union feel better about what they do and are more productive," Hargrove observed as we talked during a visit I recently made to Toronto, the CAW's headquarters.
"We promote productivity. We're not afraid of it like some other unions." And Hargrove points with pride to the achievements of CAW members at several of their plants, noting "the best quality, best productivity and shortest launch time for new models."
In negotiations the CAW just wrapped up with General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler, the union pressed for and got deals that secured jobs and also major commitments from the automakers to build new plants in Canada.
Hargrove's leadership drives the direction of the union. He's committed, charismatic, open, smart and tough. He sees the union as a transcending social force. "There is more to unionism than just bargaining. It's about building family, building the country and international solidarity."
A day with Buzz Hargrove is exhilarating and fun, and something you could never experience with the bureaucratic, closed, corporate mentality that sadly brands the leadership of the American United Auto Workers.
Over breakfast, I chat with Buzz and two of his key staff people and begin to understand the principles and pillars that support this progressive organization.
Jim Stanford is the CAW's director of research. He's a Ph.D. economist whose analysis of and insights into the world auto industry and production issues are so thorough, that at one bargaining session executives from one automaker applauded his masterful presentation.
Peggy Nash is assistant to President Hargrove and she works to assure the participation of women in every aspect and level of the union's activities. The CAW actually sponsors assertiveness training programs for women and minorities.
Hargrove spent most of the morning speaking to government interns at Queen's Park, the seat of Ontario's provincial parliament. The young people are bright and inquisitive and Buzz is savvy enough to know that, years down the road, these students will be leaders in Ontario politics.
Hargrove sees the struggle for more investment from the automakers in Canada as a fight with a noble purpose. "There is a message for all unions. People are interested in a union that's looking beyond its own individual needs or concerns of its members, but is really committed to the community and the country."
Hargrove points to the commitment he got from DaimlerChrysler to build a new assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario, as an example of how the union works to promote broad community needs.
The new "world-class" plant will create 3,000 new jobs on site and with suppliers, plus the ripple effect and boost for the local economy. The Canadians were fully prepared, 48 hours before that deal was cut, to shut down every Chrysler plant in Canada, a move that would also imperil U.S. production.
But the automaker is not building the plant as an act of civic responsibility. "We got a very creative labor agreement ... and I'm very happy about it," Chrysler's chief executive Dieter Zetsche said of the deal with the CAW.
The German executive who earned his manufacturing stripes at the Mercedes plant near Stuttgart knows quality and productivity and he's seen what his competition has done in Canada.
Ford's Essex Engine plant just outside Windsor is the industry's benchmark for quality and excellence. The Ontario government helped finance that project and Hargrove sees more need for that kind of participation when places in the southern United States are willing to fork over hundreds of millions of dollars to lure auto plants.
General Motors' Impala assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario, is the most productive in all of North America, including the Japanese and European transplants.
The hourly rate for Canadian autoworkers is slightly less than their U.S. counterparts, but the hourly labor cost in Canada is $15 U.S. dollars less than in the states.
High productivity is one reason for that, but Canada's public health care system is another significant factor for that competitive edge. Imagine that!
Hargrove sees the CAW as a reflection of the vision of Walter Reuther, the legendary UAW president who led the union from 1946 to 1970, when he was killed in a plane crash.
"We have stuck to the Reuther model of social unionism where the union reaches beyond the interest of its own members to represent the broader interests of the community and nation," Hargrove said.
He remembers listening to Reuther's speeches on the radio after arriving in Windsor and landing a job at a Chrysler plant.
"He thrilled me as a young person, and I still think of his words and vision of the union as an instrument for social change."
Many people in the United States and Canada take for granted what Reuther stood for and the gains he made, not only for union members but for all workers -- the 40-hour week, paid vacations, paid holidays, medical coverage, pensions and safety requirements, to name just a few.
Reuther, in his day, was what Hargrove is today -- an important political voice. Reuther was a fierce ally of Martin Luther King Jr. in the struggle for civil rights and social justice for all people. He was an early and vocal critic of the war in Vietnam.
The UAW has drifted far from the Reuther ideal and that of Doug Fraser, another UAW president who still believes openness and the union bringing its message to a broad public are essential for success.
Hargrove's a strong supporter of the Kyoto Accords, the international agreement to lower emissions and check global warming. The Bush administration opposed Kyoto and the UAW didn't offer a whimper of support for the treaty.
As the automakers have opposed every single measure to reduce air emissions and produce cleaner engines over the last 30 years, so, too, you could count on the UAW to march in lockstep with their corporate allies. That's a strategy that is both selfish and shortsighted.
The CAW supports programs for the homeless in Canada and projects to dig wells and install water pumps in impoverished villages in Africa.
The union is the largest private contributor to the Canadian government's initiative to eliminate land mines throughout the world.
"We can have an impact on the political, economic and social agenda of the country if all of us work in concert for that," Hargrove said with passion. He is one of 10 children who grew up in poverty in rural New Brunswick, an experience that may have helped shape his social conscience.
But whatever inspires Hargrove, unions in the States can use a major dose of it.
By the way, the president of the UAW these days is a guy named Ron Gettelfinger.
"Who's he?" you ask. Don't worry, no one in Detroit knows who he is either.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | December 3 2002 |