In the current negotiations between Detroit automakers and Canadian auto workers, Detroit is pushing for concessions from workers in Canada as the manufacturing cost advantage the country once enjoyed over the United States has evaporated, writes Rick Haglund of Mlive.
Canada’s loonie is at par with the U.S. dollar. And total compensation for Canada’s unionized autoworkers is higher than for their U.S. counterparts, despite Canada’s government-provided health care. General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. officials said Canada is the most expensive country in the world in which to build cars and trucks.
The last thing Canada needs is for the flow of auto parts and finished vehicles to be threatened by a failure of the 83-year-old Ambassador Bridge.
“Half of the trade between Michigan and Canada is in the transportation sector,” said Roy Norton, Canadian consul general in Detroit. “It would be calamitous if the bridge were to become inoperable.
Covering Michigan’s $550 million cost of the proposed New International Trade Crossing therefore becomes a small price to pay to protect those jobs.
