Linamar's Linda Hasenfratz not worried about union reps in Guelph

CEO of Linamar, Linda Hasenfratz, said yesterday that if people think that having a unionized plant would have retained the 500 lost jobs of weeks past, they're crazy. Further, "What about the CAW workers in the auto plants that are shut down?". Hasenfratz maintains that Linamar's priority is split equitably between employees, customers, and shareholders.

From the Guelph mercury...
About 100 CAW representatives were in Guelph yesterday handing out information packages to Linamar workers.

They started getting calls from employees wanting to join the union after the company laid off about 500 people last week, said John Aman, an organizing director with the CAW.

"The layoffs were almost the straw that broke the camel's back," Aman said. "People don't realize the need for representation, but at crunch time, decisions need to be made. In a unionized environment, workers have a say.

"Workers aren't stupid. They know industry is facing tough times -- they just don't think they should bear the brunt," he said.

The CAW workers were handing out envelopes of information, including a contact slip.

"We will be waiting to get the information from those envelopes, and from e-mail and phone," said Vinay Sharma, a national representative with the union.

"If a lot of people are interested, we will do what it takes."

Linamar has kept unions out of its plants by developing a one-on-one relationship with workers, chief executive Linda Hasenfratz said.

"We value our direct relationship with our employees," she said in response to the leaflet campaign. "We have a philosophy of our employees being of equal importance to our customers and shareholders, and I think people know that.

"I think they appreciate that and know that when we have to make tough decisions like last week, we try to balance as best as we can between employees and shareholders."

She said CAW was suggesting that if Linamar was unionized, the layoffs wouldn't have happened. That's "crazy," she said.

"What about the tens of thousands of employees who are unionized CAW members whose plants have been shut down?" she asked.

None of Linamar's Guelph plants are unionized.

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Manfred Gingl

Chief Executive Officer - Tesma and Executive Vice Chairman of Magna Intl.

Mr. Gingl is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tesma and the Executive Vice Chairman and a director of Magna International Inc. ("Magna"). From February 1995 to May 2002, Mr. Gingl also served as the President of Tesma. Between June 1993 and February 1995, Mr. Gingl served as Managing Director of Blau International Ges.m.b.H. and as President of Blau Autotec Inc., two companies which developed and supplied automotive fueling and cooling components and which were acquired by Tesma in July 1995. Prior to June 1993, Mr. Gingl served as President and Chief Operating Officer (since December 1981) and Chief Executive Officer (since April 1988) of Magna, during which time he coordinated Magna's strategy of becoming a world-class "systems" supplier to the automotive OEMs and established Magna's operating groups (now systems corporations) which are organized on a product line basis. Read Full Post...

Linda Hasenfratz

Chief Executive Officer - Linamar Corporation

Linda Hasenfratz was named Chief Executive Officer of Linamar Corporation in August 2002. She had been President of Linamar Corporation from April 1999 to August 2004. From September 1997 to September 1999 Ms. Hasenfratz was also Chief Operating Officer of the Company. Ms. Hasenfratz joined Linamar Corporation in July 1990 and embarked on an extensive training program to gain familiarity with all aspects of the business. Positions held in the Corporation range from machine operator to Operations Manager. Ms. Hasenfratz completed an Executive MBA from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in June 1997. In addition, Ms. Hasenfratz holds an Honors Bachelor of Science degree from the same institution.


Board and Council Memberships: CIBC Board of Directors – Spring of 2004; Foundation Board of Directors, Royal Ontario Museum – appointed Spring 2002; and Catalyst.

Ms. Hasenfratz has been a director of Linamar Corporation since 1998.

Linda Hasenfratz was born in Guelph, Ontario, in 1966. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Science from the University of Western Ontario and completed an Executive M.B.A. from the Ivey School of Business at the same university in 1997. She is Chief Executive Officer of Linamar Corporation.

She was Materials Manager of the Traxie subsidiary and in 1995 became Operations Manager for the start up of Comtech Manufacturing Ltd. She was named General Manager of Comtech and Vehcom Manufacturing in 1997. Ms. Hasenfratz was named Chief Operating Officer of Linamar in 1997 and President in 1999, before assuming her current position in 2002.

Ms. Hasenfratz is a member of the board of directors of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the Catalyst Canadian Board of Advisors, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Original Equipment Manufacturers Association.

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Siegfried Wolf

Co-Chief Executive Officer - Magna International

Mr. Wolf, age 49, serves as the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Magna. In addition to serving on Magna's Board since March 8, 1999, Mr. Wolf serves as a supervisory board member of Verbundgesellschaft (Austria Hydro Power) (Vienna: VER); Österreich Industrieholding AG (Republic of Austria holding and privatization agency); Siemens AG Österreich (Siemens Austria); and HGI Beteiligungs AG. He also previously served on the Boards of Decoma International Inc., Intier Automotive Inc. and Tesma International Inc., until their privatization in 2005 Read Full Post...