"We have very big community support because everyone has been touched by part-time work in Ontario," said Joe Gavin, a trucker at Labatt, commenting on the size of the rally. The treatment of new hires and younger workers "is not just an issue at Labatt, it's everywhere," he said.

The truck driver explained that one-third of the union members at the brewery's London plant will be eligible for retirement in the next five years and about 80 percent over the next 10 years. The union members "are not in this for themselves," he added. "It is the young people, the temps--that's the main issue."  
 
Outsourcing of jobs
Labatt Breweries of Canada locked out the workers after they voted by a 97 percent margin to reject the company's final contract offer. The two main issues for the union are the bosses' hiring of temporary workers and the outsourcing of existing jobs. The London plant is the second largest Labatt plant in Canada and the only canning plant in Ontario. Workers at the rally said Labatt has been responding to expanding beer sales in the U.S. market and has room to expand the London plant.

Union members say the issue of temporary workers is important because Labatt wants to increase use of part-time workers as it expands production at the London plant. Temporary workers earn less then half of what full-time workers do, received few benefits, and have little possibility of becoming permanent, full time employees.

Jim King, a shipper with 25 years seniority at Labatt, said the company had them ship "a whole lot of beer to places the union knew were fictitious customers before the lockout. Everyone knew the company was preparing a lockout." King said the Toronto local at the Labatt plant voted to accept a contract 24 hours before London was locked out. "But they didn't really understand the implications for London of the temp issue, since it's a lesser issue in Toronto," he said. "They were offered a reduction of 5 percent in permanent personnel to keep it steady at 250 union members, which they accepted, because their workforce cannot expand by much."

The London local had accepted unrestricted numbers of temporary workers six years ago because Labatt said they would close the Toronto plant, and that union members there would be offered bumping rights to work in London. But the company has kept the Toronto plant open. The union at the London plant was then faced with a situation in which the company had the unlimited right to hire temporary workers.

"It's just unbelievable how the young people are treated," King said. "It's like terrorism on the temps. You're allowed three refusals for call-ins, and then you're told you're not fitting into the program."

Union member Ian Goody said that if the company "can break the union here they will do it at the other breweries all over Canada." He said it was "pretty hard to tell the difference" between the bosses at Labatt and Ontario premier Mike Harris or Alberta premier Ralph Klein. "They're only working for one group of people in our society as far as I'm concerned."

In addition to the locked-out workers and their families, workers from 15 other unions were also present to show their solidarity. Among them were 100 members of the Canadian Auto Workers from the Ford plant in Talbotville, Ontario, and members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) who went out on strike against the Ontario government March 13. A number of union members locked out at Labatt have joined picket lines of the OPSEU in London as well.

Several high school students came to the rally to show their support, including Jodi Kennedy, a 17-year-old student at South Secondary School in London. She is doing a school project on the lockout because "it's something I really believe in. I don't think it's right that Labatt is treating these workers this way. I really respect that they're doing this for the next generation."

Mike Derrough, who is in charge of organizing picketing for Ontario, explained that locked-out union members have set up informational picket lines at beer distribution centers in Brampton, Whitby, London, and the Labatt plant in Toronto, among others. The union is calling for a boycott of Labatt products and says the company has already lost 20 percent of its market in London and 2.3 percent in Ontario. Each percentage point represents lost sales of Can$13 million (US$8.2 million). Following the 1985 strike, the company lost 5 percent of the market share and it took them five years to get it back, he said.  
 
 
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