OSHAWA, Ont.: Angry General Motors workers put up a defiant front as they blockaded the company's corporate offices, a show of protest they hope will help reverse the embattled automaker's decision to mothball a truck plant that employs 2,600 people.
More than 150 workers were at the blockade throughout the week, promising to stand their ground until GM either changes its mind about closing the plant next year or agrees to compensate the affected employees, said union spokesman Chris Buckley.
Automotive giant General Motors is shifting its focus away from the vehicles that have fattened its bottom line in the last decade, announcing the closure of it's Oshawa, Ont. truck plant, one of four truck and SUV plants in the US, Canada and Mexico to be closed as surging fuel prices hasten a dramatic shift to smaller vehicles.
The moves will save the company US$1 billion per year starting in 2010. Combined with previous efforts, GM will have cut costs by $15 billion a year by 2011.
And the cuts are far from over.
GM CEO Rick Wagoner, who blamed the job cuts on "recent developments on the global oil scene," said in a telephone conference call GM will also consolidate engine, transmission and other parts operations to go with the assembly plant actions.
Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove, whose union signed a collective bargaining agreement with GM just two weeks before the closure announcement, freaked out.
"We are going to fight this decision," he declared at a news conference.

Contract Ratified
"This decision is unfair, it's unjust, it's unwarranted, it's illegal, it violates our collective agreement and we're going to do everything in our power�and we have power."
Hargrove said GM committed in writing to produce pickups in Oshawa until the new collective agreement expires in 2011.
Under the agreement reached with GM, a plant in Oshawa will begin building a new Camaro sports car, along with a rear-wheel drive car. The contract also preserved one shift at the truck assembly factory in Oshawa until 2009.
The CAW also contends the automaker promised that Oshawa would build a new generation of light-duty trucks to be introduced in 2011 or 2012, in exchange for millions of dollars worth of labour concessions.
"It's not what we think was promised, it's there in black and white," CAW economist Jim Stanford said.
"It's not a question of finding a new product; it's a question of General Motors living up to the commitment to produce this product here."
He said the union is considering its options and could fight the closure legally, through bargaining or through lobbying.
But Kevin Coon, a senior labour and employment lawyer with the firm Baker & McKenzie, said the CAW would be unlikely to succeed in any court actions aimed at keeping the plant open.
"I would be quite surprised if General Motors in collective bargaining made any binding commitments about levels of jobs. That would be rare in most collective agreements."
The CAW, he said, could take its case to the Labour Relations Board, and if a violation were found, could be entitled to damages—but not much more than that.
"Could they order the company to remain open? Conceivably yes, but practically, it would never happen."
In a cruel twist of irony, the Chevrolet Silverado LD, assembled at the GM plant in Oshawa, was chosen as the best-made product in its segments, according to the J.D. Power and Associates annual initial quality survey released last week.
It was ranked highest in the large pickup segment of the closely watched study of problems encountered during the first 90 days of ownership, seen as an indicator of long-term quality
The GM closure and threats of further moves come at a time when, overall, automotive profits have increased.
The Conference Board of Canada says in its spring industrial outlook that the auto sector will record a modest $155 million-dollar profit this year, following losses of $430 million last year and $1.02 billion dollars in 2006.
The Conference Board says a reduction in costs in the industry, realized through efficiencies and fewer workers, is the main reason the sector will be in the black.
And, the report forecasts an expected turnaround in the US economy, with a subsequent consumer demand for autos, will mean the sector will record profits for the next four years. But demand will focus mostly on smaller, fuel-efficient cars.

Fuel Efficiency
Pete Hastings, senior analyst with Memphis, Tenn.-based Morgan Keegan & Co., said GM's moves are painful yet prudent.
"It's a permanent shift, and they're right to recognize it," he said. "But is it enough? It's a bit early to tell.... That's the hard part of gauging where we are in the economy—and how deep or strong the shift in demand is for more fuel-efficient vehicles."
The actions add to a string of plant closures by the Detroit Three in the last several years. GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC have announced the shutdown of 35 plants since 2005, according to Sean McAlinden, chief economist with the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Opposition parties are accusing the Harper government of abandoning auto workers and manufacturers in the wake of the latest big layoff at General Motors.
But the Tories dismissed the criticism, using the well-worn tactic of painting the opposition as unpatriotic.
"It is such a disappointment that all the opposition does is run down our country," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.
The Tory riposte came barely three months after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who represents Oshawa in the House of Commons, led a public campaign against Ontario's tax regime during which he declared his home province "the last place" a tax-conscious investor would start a business.
The Globe and Mail reports that Flaherty has now offered GM some financial assistance from the $250-million Automotive Innovation Fund that was established by former Prime Minister Paul Martin.

© 2008 The Canadian Press