Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne's corporate greed

Dino Chiodo, CAW Local 444 Vice-President, The Windsor Star:

With the holiday season upon us, it seems Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has elected to play the Grinch. Despite an impressive 24 consecutive months of sales growth in Canada and $3 billion in operating profits expected to be announced in 2012, Marchionne fired an opening salvo at Chrysler workers by demanding wage concessions in the upcoming round of contract talks with the CAW - a move that's raised eyebrows here in Windsor and throughout Ontario.

Never one to shy away from (and generate) controversy, Marchionne's comments were made in a well-publicized speech, not to his employees or to the union, but to a gathering of accountants in Toronto. He said Canadian wages are "uncompetitive." He suggest-ed that greater instability for workers, by linking pay to corporate profits, would yield positive results. And he's willing to use new investments as the carrot to get what he wants.

As a Chrysler worker from the Windsor Assembly Plant myself, it seems my boss has a short-term memory.

Not less than two years ago, autoworkers shouldered significant and painful cost reductions as part of a shared sacrifice to keep Chrysler Canada afloat. We all felt the impact of the global economic recession. We also foresaw the calamity that a complete auto sector collapse would have caused. We played an important role in affecting a positive change that's brought new life to the industry, despite the fact that we didn't cause the crisis in the first place.

Rather than credit these sacrifices for Chrysler's extraordinary success, Marchionne thought it more useful to antagonize his front-line workers - those same workers who helped keep this company afloat.

Rather than bring to light the bloated salaries of Chrysler's "white collar" workforce (who earn, on average, $50,000 more than the average line worker) he's targeted only those on the assembly line, who actually build the cars Chrysler sells.

In his comments, he also revealed his personal beliefs to be mired in hypocrisy. In that same speech in Toronto, he expressed sympathy with the Occupy movement and the pressing need to address rising income inequality. He went so far as to quote Nelson Mandela in questioning the logic of free market globalization.

This is the same CEO who, with an annual salary nearing $5 million, is so far removed from the everyday plight of the "working class" that he can't even recognize the irony of his statements.

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