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Retiring Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove is backing Ken Lewenza, president of CAW Local 444 in Windsor, Ont., as his replacement as leader of Canada's largest private-sector union.
Mr. Lewenza, who was the union's chief negotiator at Chrysler Canada for several years, was considered the most likely candidate to get the union leadership's endorsement as Mr. Hargrove's successor.
Mr. Hargrove, who has led the CAW for 16 years, will retire in September — six months before he turns 65, the union's mandatory retirement age.
He praised Mr. Lewenza's experience in collective bargaining, social and political activism, saying his energy and hard-working nature also make him the best candidate.
CAW president Buzz Hargrove speaks to union members during a protest outside General Motors' Canadian headquarters in Oshawa on June 8. (Aaron Harris/The Canadian Press)
Mr. Hargrove said he hadn't yet decided what he himself will do upon retirement, saying he's been approached by several people already and was open to all options, including teaching, but isn't considering running in any political race.
"I'm not going to sit in a rocking chair and I'm not going to play golf, that's not my style," Mr. Hargrove said at a news conference in Toronto.
Mr. Hargrove said he had no regrets, but that he will continue to work with General Motors to try to resolve a battle over a planned closure of the company's truck assembly plant in Oshawa, Ont., in 2009.
The union also endorsed Peter Kennedy, assistant to retiring national secretary-treasurer Jim O'Neil, to fill that vacancy.
Although the union's leadership has made it clear who they want to replace Hargrove, the union will hold a vote at a convention in September. Mr. Hargrove assistants Hemi Mitic and Tom Collins are also expected to be in the running.
Observers say Mr. Lewenza shares Hargrove's hard-line style and a refusal to accept wage cuts.
"Ken Lewenza is much in the mould of Buzz Hargrove: he is quite aggressive and militant," said Anthony Faria, an auto industry specialist at the University of Windsor.
"He's very smart, very hard-working. He's a good union leader for his members. But I firmly believe that his strategy is going to be much like Buzz Hargrove's strategy: 'Get everything I can for my workers today, retain everything for my workers today and to heck with worrying about the number of CAW jobs in Canada in the future."'
Mr. 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, mines and fisheries.
Observers say the biggest challenges for his successor will be to match Mr. Hargrove's deep understanding of the auto industry and his success in getting union members on board to approve negotiated contracts.
"Buzz Hargrove has been an exceptionally powerful leader of the CAW," said Joseph D'Cruz, a management professor at the University of Toronto.
"I've always been very impressed by how deeply Hargrove understands the industry, and I think that's going to be a major challenge for any successor, to come up to speed on industry issues in a manner that is comparable to what Hargrove was able to accomplish."
Mr. Hargrove, he added, has also been "very successful in maintaining discipline among his membership."
But Mr. Faria said he'd rather see a more conservative leader at the CAW, as well as someone more willing to compromise, citing UAW president Ron Gettelfinger's negotiation of a two-tier wage system at Big Three plants in the United States.
"Labour cost isn't the only issue, but it's one of the issues and the CAW refuses to acknowledge that, Buzz refuses to acknowledge that, Ken Lewenza seems to be exactly the same... and yet if you look at where all new investment is taking place, it's taking place in China, India, South America, Mexico — low labour-cost markets. So how can you say labour costs have no effect on automotive assembly?" Mr. Faria said.
"Whether Ken Lewenza is willing to compromise in any negotiations, we won't really know until those come about. But the fact is, he's already on record as saying he will never accept two-tier wages in Canada and he will never negotiate give-backs the way the UAW has in the U.S., so at least up front he's taking the same hard line as Buzz Hargrove has taken and I don't think that bodes well for CAW automotive employment in Canada in the future."
