CAW Chooses Buzz Hargrove’s Replacement
Posted September 6, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The auto industry in Ontario has seen a lot of challenges lately.
But workers protected under the Canadian Autoworkers Union have been steered through the toughest of them under the leadership of Buzz Hargrove.
Saturday marked end of an era for the CAW, as the union’s members unanimously voted in a new leader.
Ken Lewenza, former president of CAW Local 444 in Windsor, has been chosen to replace the long-standing leader.
Hargrove announced his retirement last summer, as his 65th birthday approaches.
His tenure saw the union’s membership shrink as the Detroit Three car makers — GM, Ford and Chrysler — cut tens of thousands of jobs and close plants in Ontario and Quebec.
Hargrove became the head of the country’s biggest private-sector union in 1992, replacing Bob White, who led the union as it split from the U.S.-based United Auto Workers in 1985.
The Canadian union, which disagreed with the UAW’s bargaining direction, negotiated some of the richest contracts for workers in Canada. But in recent years a decline in the manufacturing sector and slumping consumer demand for North American cars have made times tougher.
Under Hargrove’s leadership, the CAW expanded beyond the auto industry and now represents about 250,000 workers in 17 different economic sectors, including the airlines.
