GM autoworkers in Canada approve new contract; UAW strike continues

Unifor members working for General Motors Co. overwhelmingly approved a new three-year pact with the Detroit automaker on Sunday that includes 20% wage increases, plant investments and a path to permanent employee status for temporary workers.

The deal was approved with 80.5% voting in favor, the union said.

Unifor's deal with GM came after a brief strike last week by the Canadian union; GM had pushed back on following some of what Ford agreed to in its agreement with Unifor, the union said. Late last month, Unifor-Ford members ratified their deal, which included the single largest negotiated general wage increase in the history of Unifor, formerly the Canadian Auto Workers.

On Sunday, Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a statement she's "proud of our members at General Motors for their solidarity throughout their brief but decisive strike action and for ratifying this contract that contains life-changing improvements. This agreement reflects true collective bargaining. Our goal was to bring more fairness and equity to auto workplaces and to lift everyone up. We did that.” 

The deal covers about 4,300 workers at the St. Catharines Powertrain plant, Oshawa Assembly truck plant and the Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre in Ontario. Oshawa is the plant GM previously closed in 2019 only to revive it for truck production in 2021.

"Today’s ratification of GM Canada’s three-year collective agreement with Unifor is significant news, not only for our people at Oshawa Assembly & Operations, St. Catharines Propulsion Plant and Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre, but also for our communities and for Canada," said Marissa West, GM Canada president and managing director, in a statement.

Meanwhile, in the United States, negotiations between the United Auto Workers and Detroit Three automakers continued Sunday — marking one month since the UAW, representing Ford Motor Co., Stellantis NV and GM employees, kicked off its national, unprecedented targeted strike strategy to achieve record contracts.

UAW members at three plants — Ford's Michigan Assembly in Wayne, GM's Wentzville Assembly plant in Missouri and Stellantis' Toledo Jeep plant — have been on strike since Sept. 15. Since then, the UAW has expanded the strike — when talks aren't going the way the union would like — to include all of the GM and Stellantis parts distribution centers, GM's Lansing Delta Township plant, Ford's Chicago Assembly plant and, most recently, Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant.

Now that Unifor has two deals with automakers ratified, the pressure is increasing in the United States for the UAW and the Detroit Three to come to agreements soon, experts say.

"GM tried to be cheap in Canada, they had a strike and they said, 'OK, I guess we can't be cheap,'" said Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University. "That can be helpful here in the U.S., as well. Since it's the same management."

Wheaton predicted a deal could come as soon as this week at Ford but, he noted, the company will likely have to agree to add employees at joint-venture battery plants into the master agreement it has with the UAW. GM has agreed to bring battery plant workers into the master agreement with the UAW, the union has said. The move to do so prevented the union from striking GM's profit-rich full-size SUV plant in Arlington, Texas.

Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University, called the Unifor deal with GM "a strong agreement, and it will probably give additional fuel to the efforts on the part of the UAW to settle with GM in the United States ... they should be within reach of an agreement. particularly given that GM has conceded on the electrical vehicle joint venture issue."

Unifor deal details

GM's deal will provide base hourly wage increases of nearly 20% for production and 25% for skilled trades workers over the lifetime of the agreement with increases of 10% in year one, 2% in year two and 3% in year three.

By the end of the pact, a top-rate production assembler will be paid $44.52 Canadian per hour, in addition to a forecasted $1.61 cost of living allowance for a total $46.13 per hour wage. A journeyperson skilled trades worker will be paid $55.97 per hour, which will increase to $57.58 with COLA.

The start rate for temporary-part time production workers will increase from $24.26 to $29.67 per hour and to $30.26 within 12 months. Full-time temporary workers, with at least one year of seniority at ratification, will be converted to permanent employee status.

At Oshawa Assembly, GM agreed to eliminate the use of the full-time temporary classification by Aug. 1, 2026.

Investment-wise, GM agreed to invest $280 million at Oshawa to support next-generation, full-size truck production, pending government funding. The company also expects to launch a temporary battery cell repack project at the plant, according to the contract.

At St. Catharines, GM agreed to "significant new investments" to support electric drive unit production pending government funding, according to the deal. The drive unit facility retooling is planned to started in the first quarter of 2024 with production starting in the third quarter of 2025.

And at the Woodstock parts plant, GM said it will invest $16 million to sustain the facility over the life of the agreement.

GM also agreed to cut in half the time it takes to get to top wages to four years. The company also agreed to provide a $10,000 productivity and quality bonus for full-time employees (including current temporary full-time employees), as well as a $4,000 bonus for temporary-part time employees.

Members will see company contributions to the defined contribution plan increase from 4% to 7%. And defined contribution plan members will transition to a new defined benefits-style pension for current plan members and all new hires on Jan. 1, 2025.

There will be new quarterly payment unique to Canadian retirees, called the Universal Health Care Allowance. These quarterly payments will continue in each year of the deal.

Members are also getting two new additional paid holidays: Family Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

UAW targets intensify

Last Wednesday, following a brief bargaining session between Ford and the union, UAW President Shawn Fain ordered 8,700 workers at Kentucky Truck Plant to join the strike — expanding the union's targeted plant strike to 34,000 autoworkers at Ford, GM and Stellantis. Kentucky Truck is Ford's largest and most profitable facility in the world.

Ford executives on Thursday said they had "reached our limit" on improving their economic offer to the UAW. Ford's offer, according to information from the company and the union, includes a 23% wage increase over the length of the contract, a three-year progression to the top of the wage scale, restoration of the cost-of-living adjustment formula that was suspended in 2009, and conversion within 90 days of temporary workers to permanent status, among other improvements.

The strike has affected other Ford, GM, Stellantis facilities, causing the automakers to lay off workers. Late Friday, Ford said it had told 550 employees at various plants not to report to work on Monday, Oct. 16. Those affected include:

• 306 employees at Sharonville Transmission Plant in Ohio
• 100 employees at Dearborn Stamping Plant
• 65 employees at Dearborn Diversified Manufacturing Plant
• 45 employees at Rawsonville Components Plant
• 29 employees at Sterling Axle Plant
• 12 employees at Chicago Stamping Plant

khall@detroitnews.com

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