GM Canada President Jack Uppal and Unifor National President Lana Payne as talks begin on a new contract in Toronto
Union negotiators launched contract talks with General Motors Monday with a clear mandate of protecting automotive jobs and the long-term future of the sector.
“Our union communicated our firm expectation that GM will pattern the strong economic agreement set by our members at Ford Motor Company. We told the company that we intend to talk about jobs and about the future of our facilities in Canada. This is a priority,” said Trevor Longpre, who chairs Unifor’s GM Master Bargaining Committee.
With the third shift at Oshawa Assembly cut in February – throwing more than 500 workers on layoff – and the closing of the CAMI plant in Ingersol at the cost of more than a thousand jobs, getting a deal that works for both sides was always expected to be more challenging than the three-year deal Unifor struck with Ford last month.
That deal, ratified July 19, secured a 74 per cent approval rate, establishing a pattern that includes general wage increases, cost-of-living allowances, bonuses and pension upgrades.
Unifor chose GM as the second Detroit Three automaker to negotiate with after the successful negotiations with Ford, with Stellantis to follow.
The union will be lobbying hard to see the return of the third shift at Oshawa Assembly and the CAMI plant in Ingersoll will also be included in the talks, with some insiders speculating getting more than a thousand workers at the former Bright Drop assembly plant back to work will be a central plank in the union’s platform.
The CAMI contract is part of a separate agreement with the company, however, with the company declaring that the plant “continues to be assessed for future opportunities.”
On day one of contract talks with GM, approximately 30 per cent of Unifor members at General Motors plants in Canada are on layoff and Unifor National President believes the union has “something to prove” to its members.
“We have to show everyone, including Canadians and especially our members, that this auto industry is here to stay and that General Motors intends to be an important part of that industry for generations to come,” Payne said. “It is our GM members and their families that give us the fuel and the inspiration to keep fighting and to do everything we can during these negotiations, for them, for their future. Because that is what is at stake.”
Unifor represents 2,750 members in Oshawa, 1,050 at the CAMI plant in Ingersoll, 700 at the St. Catharines Propulsion plant, and 110 at the Parts Distribution Centre in Woodstock.
The union has set a target deadline of August 21 to reach a tentative agreement with GM.
“Our members expect the Ford pattern to be respected and these talks to give certainty about the future of their facilities,” Longpre said. “Our bargaining team is ready to work towards a tentative agreement that respects our members and delivers for their families and their communities that depend on these jobs.”
Unifor represents 2,750 members in Oshawa, 1,050 at the CAMI plant in Ingersoll, 700 at the St. Catharines Propulsion plant, and 110 at the Parts Distribution Centre in Woodstock.
Negotiations are taking place at the at the Toronto Sheraton Centre and the union has set a target deadline of August 21 to reach a tentative agreement with GM.
“Our members expect the Ford pattern to be respected and these talks to give certainty about the future of their facilities,” Longpre said. “Our bargaining team is ready to work towards a tentative agreement that respects our members and delivers for their families and their communities that depend on these jobs.”
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