OAKVILLE, ONT. — Workers who haven't driven a Ford lately may have to forget about parking in the choice spots at the auto maker's assembly plant in Oakville, Ont.
Canadian Auto Workers union and Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. officials said yesterday that they are in discussions to create preferred parking at the Oakville assembly complex for workers driving vehicles from the Ford family of brands.
That means workers driving Ford, Lincoln, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercury, Mazda and Aston-Martin vehicles would get the choice spots close to the gates, while those driving competitors' vehicles would have a longer walk.
"It's a grass-roots initiative of the employees at Ford's Oakville assembly complex. It reflects the will of the employees and is supported by the company and the local CAW," Ford Canada spokesman John Arnone said yesterday.
CAW local 707, which represents more than 3,000 workers at the Oakville operation, is "absolutely" in favour of preferred parking, but it should be given to people driving vehicles built by CAW or United Auto Workers employees in North America, Gary Beck, president of the local, said yesterday.
Mr. Beck is not sure, for example, what he would do about employees driving the Ford Fusion, which is assembled in Mexico, or Mazda vehicles imported from Japan. "It's one of those six of one, half a dozen of the other situations," he said.
Mr. Beck parks his Ford Freestyle sport utility vehicle or Oakville-made Windstar minivan at the local union hall a few kilometres west of the Ford complex along the Queen Elizabeth Way. The Ford site includes the assembly plant and the company's Canadian head office.
A quick scan of the parking lot closest to the main entrance to the Oakville assembly plant revealed an overwhelming majority of Ford brand vehicles with a smattering of vehicles made by offshore-based manufacturers, such as a single Mercedes-Benz SUV and a BMW.
At the head office, a handful of Honda Civics and the occasional Toyota or Nissan model sat amid long lines of Fords. Mr. Arnone said: "Although Ford of Canada's national office is located nearby, it's an entirely different situation; for one thing, we host many visitors and we also have contract employees."
The Oakville plant would be the first Ford facility in Canada to adopt the program, which is in place at some Ford Motor Co. assembly plants in the U.S., such as the Rouge complex near Ford's head office in Dearborn, Mich., but not at engine or other components plants.
It's called Blue Zone parking and exceptions are made for vehicles with stickers denoting that the driver is disabled. All auto makers have employee discounts, including Ford's A plan, which permits employees to buy vehicles at prices close to what the dealer pays.
The CAW has made the issue of vehicle imports to North America prominent, including asking the Canadian units of three Detroit-based auto makers -- Ford, General Motors of Canada Ltd. and DaimlerChrysler Canada Inc. -- to join the union in seeking government action to force South Korea and Japan to remove what the union says are restrictions on North American vehicles.
Nonetheless, CAW president Buzz Hargrove said he's opposed to preferred parking.
"If we have an issue with people driving imports we raise that issue through our membership meetings and our education programs to try to convince people that it's in their best interests to buy the products from the company that they work for," Mr. Hargrove said yesterday.
"We just think that's wrong-headed, trying to force people to park in a lot that centres them out."
Other auto makers in Canada have no such policy in place at assembly plants, although GM Canada in Oshawa, Ont., has preferred spaces for people who have bought new GM cars recently and allows them to park in the choice spots for about three weeks, spokesman Stew Low said yesterday.
Ken Lewenza, president of CAW local 444 in Windsor, Ont., which represents workers at a DaimlerChrysler minivan assembly plant, agrees with Mr. Hargrove that education of members is the best way to persuade workers to buy the products their employers build.
© The Globe and Mail
