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A $4-billion bailout is an investment in the Canadian economy, not a Christmas gift from Premier Dalton McGuinty and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Canadian Auto Workers national president says.
Ken Lewenza told reporters yesterday the two governments did the responsible thing by agreeing to an auto aid package.
"I don't call it a Christmas gift, I call it a responsibility of government to intervene in the economy," Lewenza said in a conference call from Windsor.
"If it is a gift, it's a gift of 400,000 taxpayers who need this industry.
"This is not a Christmas celebration in any sense because it is clear that the industry is going to do some consolidation, it is clear there is going to be some painful decisions that are being made."
During their join announcement, both Harper and McGuinty made it clear the funding comes with the belief autoworkers won't balk at making some concessions. Lewenza didn't rule out future concessions but repeated that his workers were already competitive and productive.
"We've said from day one that the CAW would be part of the solutions, but we would not take direct responsibility that the crisis that we're in today is a result of our wage and benefit packages because it is not," he said.
In Oshawa -- one of the communities hardest hit by the automotive slowdown -- CAW Local 222 president Chris Buckley said the union will go to the bargaining table and do the responsible thing to ensure its members keep their jobs.
"There's absolutely no doubt we'll be sitting down with General Motors in the new year to do the responsible thing in order to secure our members' jobs," Buckley said.