STE-THERESE, Que. (Dec. 2, 2004) — Workers at Paccar’s medium-duty truck plant in Ste-Thérèse, Que. showed up to work yesterday morning not to man assembly lines, but to walk picket lines instead.

About 800 workers at the truck-manufacturing plant were locked out yesterday amid a labour dispute between the Canadian Autoworkers Union and the company. It seems that some workers were unaware of the lockout as they came into work.

As workers gathered at the front gates, debates about whether to let in managers ensued. Eventually, the mangers were allowed in after a pledge to resume talks was made, CBC News reported.

The workers’ contract expired at midnight on Dec. 1. The CAW says it is seeking improved seniority clauses and a better pension plan, while the company is demanding changes to the collective agreement.

This past weekend, 88 per cent of union members rejected a deal that would have given them a salary increase of 12 per-cent over five years.

The union claims that the company has been unwilling to make concessions for the workers, and that negotiating with executives from the Seattle-based company has been difficult.

The Ste-Thérèse plant builds medium-duty Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks. It has also been known to assemble class 8 trucks from time to time when U.S. facilities reach capacity during peak seasons.

In 1999 — lured by a $100-million package that included a $24-million loan from the federal and Quebec governments — Paccar refurbished and expanded the plant, making it its primary medium-duty truck facility.

Despite the current tension between workers and management, the plant received, ironically, a provincial award last September — the Grand prix Québécois de la Qualité — in recognition of its human resources management model practices and well-structured product manufacturing processes.

— with files from CBC