The Windsor "C" Words

Those words could be “Compromise” or “Concessions.”

Negotiating Windsor-style. How the heck does anyone negotiate with people in Windsor? I would not know how to do it at all. It must be frustrating for Governments and the auto companies as an example. Frankly, if I was involved, and I have negotiated many agreements over my many years of practising law, I probably would be pulling my hair out dealing with some of our municipal and union leaders.

It seems they cannot be pinned down so how can one tell if one can reach an agreement or not. Absolute positions change so quickly that it is mind-blowing.

Let me give you two examples that are very significant with respect to the future of this City and tell me what Windsor’s position really is:

1) THE BORDER FILE

A) Lauzon/E C Row

• Border compromise sought; We'll talk with Ottawa and Toronto, says Francis, but only under certain conditions; 03-03-2004
  
  City council is willing to discuss additional border infrastructure solutions -- including those involving E.C. Row Expressway and Lauzon Parkway -- once the provincial and federal governments sign off on four portions of the Windsor Gateway border action plan recommended by council a month ago.
  
  "Based on recent correspondence from the federal and provincial governments, it's clear they want us to have discussions revolving around Lauzon and E.C. Row and we're prepared to do so," Mayor Eddie Francis said. "But first we need a signal that this process has been restored to where it should be and that's with council and community involvement…”
  
  Last month, council agreed to propose upgrades to the Windsor- Detroit tunnel plaza, a pedestrian overpass at Assumption high school, roadway redesign to accommodate truck traffic flow for the Ambassador Bridge's new preprocessing centre on Industrial Drive and a grade separation at Walker and Grand Marais roads."

As you know, there was a Phase 1 agreement signed with the Senior Levels but there never was a Phase 2 agreement ever signed. As far as Lauzon/E C Row Role goes, I personally find the City’s position so confusing that I do not know what it is. As I have tried to show before, the City’s position seems to be completely contrary to what Sam Schwartz wanted and which the City endorsed.

B) GREENLINK

• 10-10-07 City's border plan 'Garden of Eden'; $1.6B proposal includes parks, 6 big rig tunnels
  
  Francis insisted the new Schwartz plan, which cost the city $500,000, is not negotiable. "This is it. This is the city of Windsor's position."
  


• Council uproar sparked by blog; Halberstadt's comments hurt border file: Lewenza; 05-30-2007
  
  Halberstadt said on his blog: "New York transportation guru Sam Schwartz, with a full team of technicians, is back in town and ready to engage in intense modeling with the province's engineers to hopefully find a compromise on the road's many nuances."
  
  Lewenza said Tuesday the use of the word "compromise" suggests the city is poised to settle with DRIC for something less than its official stance -- that the route must be tunnelled.
  
  "This is a billion-dollar file and he is out there saying we want a compromise," Lewenza said. "I challenged him on that.
  
  
• DRIC impasse 'frustrating,' Francis says; 09-24-2008
  
  Mayor Eddie Francis says he was left frustrated by his meeting with Detroit River International Crossing representatives on Tuesday, and no progress was made in the "stalemate" between the binational study group and city hall.
  
  "What surprises me is that over the course of the summer, the discussions that have taken place under the environmental assessment process have not yet resulted in DRIC compromising, or even moving toward a compromise," Francis said…
  
  But Francis said an additional purpose of Tuesday's meeting was for the city to determine if a solution could be reached in its deadlock with DRIC.
  
  "We proposed GreenLink. The province, through DRIC, proposed the Parkway. We wanted to see if we could find a middle ground," Francis said…
  
  Francis said the city remains committed to its GreenLink proposal, but "we understand the significance of this project. What we were hoping to have was meaningful discussions under the environmental assessment process, whereby a compromise could be found.
  
  "We have always indicated, we have always demonstrated, that we are willing to talk, we are willing to discuss, we are willing to work towards solutions that are good for the community. We were hoping, and we continue to hope, that DRIC feels the same way."

2) BIG THREE BAILOUT/BRIDGE LOANS AND THE CAW

• CAW offers no breaks for auto bailout; 'We've suffered'
  November 18, 2008
  
  Canadian Auto Workers union president Ken Lewenza yesterday rejected calls for his members to make concessions as part of any taxpayer-funded rescue of Detroit's car manufacturers, saying labour did not create the crisis now threatening General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC with collapse
  
  We don't see this as us being the problem," Mr. Lewenza said, adding he would "absolutely not" accept any further cuts after losing tens of thousands of jobs in recent years. "We've suffered our share of pain."
  


• CAW hints it would be part of plan to help Big Three automakers
  26 Nov 2008
  
  WINDSOR, Ont. — Canadian Auto Workers president Ken Lewenza opened the door Tuesday to being part of a plan to rescue one or more of Detroit’s financially troubled automakers.
  
  Lewenza said his union remains “ willing to talk about the future of the industry and what role the CAW would play but that doesn’t necessarily mean concessionary bargaining.”
  
  Lewenza was reacting to comments by federal Industry Minister Tony Clement who said Monday the CAW would have to be part of any solution to the current auto industry crisis, even if that meant accepting concessions…
  
  Until we get a clearer picture of what’s going to happen, I can’t speculate on the role of the CAW,” said Lewenza. “ I do know that we have agreed to workplace changes which have saved our employers millions and millions of dollars. And we have never once said to our employers ‘ When you’re in trouble, don’t call us.’
  
  “ I don’t want to say ‘ never, never, never’ when it comes to these kind of discussions because whenever there have been problems in the industry, we have responded.



• Fair trade; Labour concessions alone won't solve Big 3 crisis, Lewenza says
  November 27, 2008
  
  CAW president Ken Lewenza challenged the federal government Thursday to introduce "fair trade, not free trade" legislation to help deal with the current crisis in the domestic auto industry which could lead to one or more of the Big Three companies collapsing.
  
  "If that legislation is enacted, you will see the full creativity of the CAW brought to bear on this crisis," said Lewenza during a three-hour seminar to union officials.
  
  "We can't under any circumstances let these companies go bankrupt and the CAW will continue to play a lead role in making sure that doesn't happen," said Lewenza. "But labour concessions alone can't solve this problem. We need a fundamental change is the way auto companies and the government conduct business in this country. "

It may be that one has to ignore everything that Windsor negotiators say. The best idea may be to impose a take-it-or-leave-it solution early on and stick to it. Then watch them squirm to get something in the face of defeat so they can pretend to be the winner with their respective publics!