Canadian auto union Unifor has reached a tentative agreement with General Motors Canada which includes a C$1.3bn investment which brings truck assembly back to the Oshawa plant, plus new investments for the St. Catharines Powertrain Plant and Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre.
"We have never given up on Oshawa and I am so pleased to announce that up to 1,700 members will be building both Silverados and Sierras on a two-shift operation in Oshawa and we were able to negotiate investments that will stabiliSe operations in both St. Catharines and Woodstock," said Unifor president Jerry Dias.
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"Oshawa is incredibly personal to me. We launched one major campaign in an attempt to get General Motors to reverse its decision back in 2018, and they pressed pause and we preserved the footprint and now we will be the only GM plant globally building both heavy and light duty trucks."
GM has committed to a new body shop, continuing aftermarket parts production and will begin hiring in August.
"We knew that our members in St. Catherines were nervous, dreading the end of two products and now thanks to higher volumes and $109m in new investments, jobs are stable for the life of this agreement and beyond," said Dias.
In total, the Ford, FCA and GM agreements bring more than $4.7bn in investment to the auto sector in Canada, the union said.
This three year agreement followed a pattern setting deal reached with Ford last month which includes five per cent increases to hourly rates, bonuses, improved benefits, among other major improvements.
