Autoworkers launched the first in a planned series of protests on Monday in the Greater Toronto Area to demand the Ontario government include strong severance protection provisions in the upcoming provincial budget.

In the first of three scheduled rallies this week, just over two dozen CAW members wearing life preserver rings painted with the message "Save our severances" gathered on Monday morning outside Ontario Labour Minister Peter Fonseca's constituency office in Mississauga.

"When workers lose their jobs, they are entitled to get severance pay, vacation pay, termination pay — this is written in law," CAW official Peggy Nash told fellow demonstrators.

"But workers are not getting this pay, so we're here today to say to the minister of labour: Workers want the pay that they're entitled to."

The protests come as the Canadian Auto Workers union begins talks with Chrysler on Monday aimed at reaching an agreement on worker concessions in advance of a looming deadline for the troubled automaker to receive billions in emergency loans.

Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan is scheduled to table his budget on Thursday, but has offered few hints at what the document will offer for the province's beleaguered auto sector.

Duncan and Premier Dalton McGuinty have previously said the province cannot guarantee autoworkers will still have their jobs even if they make concessions.

Chrysler needs to submit a finalized restructuring plan to the federal and Ontario governments by March 31 to qualify for the bailout money. The Detroit-based auto giant has hinted at abandoning Canada unless the company gets what it needs from workers and the government.

Earlier this month, CAW members voted overwhelmingly in favour of a cost-cutting deal with General Motors that includes concessions by the union that add up to an estimated $148 million.

The GM deal, reached March 8 and ratified March 11, freezes wages until 2012 and suspends cost-of-living adjustments for both wages and pensions. It also reduces paid time off by 40 hours per year, scraps an annual $1,700 bonus and cuts company contributions to union-sponsored programs by one-third.

Under the agreement, CAW members will also contribute $30 a month to their health benefits.

With files from the Canadian Press