Founded May 12, 1961 Head union CAW | Members 7242 (Sept. 2008) Affiliation Canadian Auto Workers | |
Full name Canadian Autoworkers Union Local 1285 Key people Leon Rideout: President
Dave Ireland: 1st VP
Gerry Harvey: 2nd VP
Bill Turner: Recording Secretary
Mike Piane: Financial Secretary | ||
Canadian Auto Workers Local 1285 was an amalgamated Local of the Canadian Auto Workers union based in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. It was the largest private sector Union Local in Brampton. The Chrysler Brampton Assembly Plant was the largest unit in the Local. Workers at Daimler Bus, SKD, Benteler Automotive, Hydro 1, Dana Automotive, T.I. Automotive, Eberspacher, Neilsons Dairy, PL Foods, Tilton, Crosby, Team Industrial, Abednego, Chrysler Parts Distribution, Aramark, and Transalta are also represented.
Among other events, the CAW hosted and managed the Canada pavilion of the Carabram cultural festival.
History
In 1949 members worked for Nash Motors, a division of the Nash Kelvinator Corporation. The plant was located on Danforth Ave. in Toronto and produced the Nash Rambler. At that time the members belonged to UAW Local 1115. Nash Kelvinator was later bought by American Motors. The first contract between the UAW and AMC occurred in 1956. The line speed was 22 cars per day.
AMC built a plant in Brampton at the corner of Steeles & Kennedy Road and in 1961 began building the Rambler. The line speed was 32 cars per shift. Local 1285 received a separate UAW charter that year on May 12, 1961. Charlie Carr was elected as the 1st President. Several other workplaces have joined Local 1285 since 1961. Later, the Gremlin was produced. Terry Gorman was the longest serving President of any CAW Local, elected in 1975, he served 6 terms. Buzz Hargrove was the National Rep in 1975. Bowing to public pressure, in 1977 AMC hired its first woman assembly line worker, Cecilia Palmer.
The CAW separated from the UAW in 1985. A CAW Charter was issued that year. What is now known as the Brampton Assembly Plant was built in 1986 by AMC - Renault. Chrysler bought out AMC and acquired both plants in August 1987. The newer, "Bramalea" Plant built the Eagle Premier, and the Dodge Monaco. The line speed was about 250 cars per shift. There was only one shift. There wasn't a lot of work. Layoffs were rampant. The Kennedy Road Plant worked steady producing Jeeps.
The LH vehicles: Dodge Intrepid, Eagle Vision, and Chrysler Concorde were introduced at the "Bramalea" plant in 1992. The Kennedy Road plant was closed on April 4, 1992.
Local 1285 President, Terry Gorman retired in 1993. Vince Bailey was elected as President.
The New Yorker, LHS, and later the 300M were Introduced. The Brampton Plant went to 3 shifts under the AWS system. Chrysler became DaimlerChrysler in the fall of 1998.
In 2001, the 3rd shift was eliminated as a part of DaimlerChrysler's financial "Turnaround Plan". In 2004, the Brampton Assembly Plant started production of the 300C and Dodge Magnum. In 2005, the third shift was restored and an additional vehicle, "The Dodge Charger", was introduced. Chrysler was sold to Cerberus in 2007. In 2008 the 3rd shift was eliminated. Later in the year the Magnum was dropped from the product lineup. The Dodge Challenger was introduced. Vince Bailey was appointed to a National Staff job in 2008. Leon Rideout was elected as President of Local 1285 that same year.