Unifor members working at General Motors facilities in Oshawa, St Catharines and Woodstock have ratified an agreement that secures investment in all three factoriesies, converts 700 "precarious" jobs and offers wage improvements, the Canadian auto workers' union said in a statement.
"The gains made in this agreement are historic and more than what has been achieved in the past 10 years. Unifor has shown what is possible when workers have a union, and a united bargaining committee to speak on their behalf," said national president Jerry Dias.
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The new agreement was ratified by 64.7% overall from all three locals. The breakdown was 66.5% from members in production and 56.5% by skilled trades. The ratified deal with GM sets the pattern for contract talks that begin with Fiat-Chrysler Automotives today (26 September). Once a deal with FCA is ratified, negotiations will begin with Ford.
"I am proud to say today that we have secured a bright future, one that includes good full-time jobs with benefits and wage increases for future generations, and a solid economic base for our communities and all our members," said the Unifor-GM master bargaining committee chair, Greg Moffat.
The new agreement with 4,000 Unifor members includes:
- C$554m investment in Canada that provides job security with new product for Oshawa as it begins to produce cars and trucks, stability to St. Catharines as volume is shifted to the plant and improvements at the parts distribution centre in Woodstock.
- Conversion of 700 temporary positions to permanent full-time job status including benefits, a pension, a signing bonus, a $1,000 lump sum increase and wage progression.
- General wage increases totaling 4% over the life of the contract and a lump sum totaling $12,000 over four years.
- A signing bonus of $6,000.
- An improved new hire program that provides thousands of dollars of new money in income earnings.
"In the negotiations with GM, the union set clear objectives which we reached, including our top priority to secure investment and product for our members and the future of the auto industry," Dias said. "With Fiat-Chrysler and Ford we will accept nothing less."
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By GlobalDataThe vehicle assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario, had been threatened with closure by around 2019 without a commitment from the company.
The Wall Street Journal noted the contract eventually will allow GM to squeeze out more US production of its full-size pickup trucks, the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. Citing an unnamed union oficial it said Unifor's new contract calls for about 70,000 partially assembled pickups a year beginning in early 2018 to be shipped to Oshawa, from a GM truck plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where they will be painted and finished.
GM North America president Alan Batey said recently the company "could use some more" pickups in its battle with Ford Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Ram division.
