Unifor President Jerry Dias is demanded additional investment in Canada and got from the Detroit Three automakers.
Unifor, the union representing Canadian Auto Workers, said it reached a tentative contract with the Ford Motor Co. as it concluded what union leaders described as a successful round of labor negotiations.
The tentative agreement was reached just after the old contract had expired, averting a strike at Ford that would have shut down the company’s operations in Canada, which employ more than 6,400 workers.
Jerry Dias, Unifor president, said the tentative agreement follows the pattern set in earlier negotiations with General Motors and Fiat Chrysler. The proposed agreement also includes more than $630 million in new investment at Ford plants in Ontario.
The bulk of the new investment will go into the Essex Engine facility in Windsor, which will build a new engine line starting in 2019. Unifor also expects production will continue at the Windsor Engine plant through the four-year term of the contract and the Oakville Assembly plant will be refreshed and modified during the next four years as part of Ford’s investment commitment to Unifor, Dias said.
He also stressed the contract was unanimously recommended by the entire Master and Local Bargaining committees. Unifor members will have the final say on the tentative agreement when a vote is held at local membership meetings on Nov. 5-6.
Union officials in Oakville have warned that the contract faces challenges during the ratification votes because many union members wanted the two-tier wage system in the existing contract phased out completely. Workers now have to wait 10 years before they reach the top of the wage ladder of $35 per hour in Canadian dollars.
Union leaders at Ford's Oakville, Ontario, plant said the pattern agreement may not pass at the facility.
(Canadian union sets strike deadline in negotiations with Ford. Click Here for the details.)
Since the end of the recession in 2010, Ford has hired more than 2,200 new workers, who are paid second-tier wages, to staff the Oakville assembly plant.
Dias said the final decision is up to union members, but he hopes and believes union members will follow the recommendation of the union’s leadership and vote to approve the new contract, which includes both wage increases and bonuses. Dias, however, declined to discuss the exact the economic package.
(Click Here for more about Unifor’s ratification of the deal with FCA.)
“The agreement is subject to ratification by Ford-Unifor members. To respect the ratification process, Ford of Canada will not discuss the specifics of the tentative agreement until unionized employees have had the opportunity to review and vote on the agreement,” said Steve Majer, vice president of human resources for Ford of Canada Ltd.
Negotiations appeared to stall as the final deadline approached and the union said the two side remained some distance as apart as the talks entered the 11th hour.
(Canadian auto workers authorize strike for talks with Detroit’s Big Three. Click Here for the details.)
“What needs to be done to reach a fair deal. It’s time the employer make a reasonable and fair offer,” the union said in statement issued a few hours before the contract was due to expire.