OTTAWA — Members of the Canadian Auto Workers union overwhelmingly approved another cost-cutting agreement with General Motors of Canada on Monday.þþThe union said that 86 percent of its members supported the agreement, which is the third contract negotiated with G.M. in just over a year. þþThe union reopened a contract reached last May and agreed to cutbacks in March. But the governments of Canada and Ontario said they would not provide the company with financial aid unless the union agreed to accept further cuts.þþ“Although we were forced to make a number of important sacrifices, the support we received from our members is proof that they recognize the incredible challenges the industry is facing,” Ken Lewenza, the union’s president, said in a statement issued on Monday evening. The union represents about 10,000 people at G.M.þþOne aspect of the latest agreement has opened a rift between the federal government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a Conservative, and some of his party’s supporters.þþMr. Harper’s industry minister, Tony Clement, had promised that federal government money would not be used to cover a shortfall in G.M. of Canada’s pension plan. The plan is estimated to be underfunded by about 7 billion Canadian dollars ($6.2 billion).þþBut under the deal approved on Monday, G.M. agreed that it would fully finance the plan after it receives government assistance.þþSpeaking with reporters in Toronto on Monday, Mr. Clement insisted that the pension fund would be topped off with money from the Ontario government rather than the Canadian government.þþ“The fact of the matter is that we are each taking roles and responsibilities in the areas where we have roles and responsibilities,” he said.þþBoth Mr. Clement and his staff said that the federal government had yet to approve any aid to G.M., although Mr. Harper suggested last week that it was unavoidable.þþKevin Gaudet, the federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, a nonpartisan group with many informal links to the Conservatives, did not accept Mr. Clement’s explanation.þþ“It’s a distinction without a difference,” he said in an interview. “This is accounting hair-splitting.”þþWilliam B. P. Robson, the president and chief executive of the C. D. Howe Institute, a prominent right-of-center research group, said that making up the G.M. shortfall with government money sets a poor precedent.þþ“It is very troubling to see our governments going out of their way to rescue one category of pensioner,” Mr. Robson said. “Once you are into this business, it’s not at all clear where you stop.”þþ
Source: NY Times
