Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press/AP
Unifor workers strike outside the General Motors St. Catharines Power Plant in St. Catharines, Ontario. Unifor’s strike lasted less than a day, and a ratification vote on Sunday prevented the strike from resuming.
New York CNN –
Auto workers in Canada ratified a new labor contract with General Motors on Sunday, preventing a resumption of a strike that lasted about 13 hours on Tuesday.
Members of Unifor, the Canadian union that represents 4,300 workers at GM, voted 80% in favor of the new deal, which will give them base pay increases of nearly 20% over the life of the agreement and improve their pensions. In September, members of the same union at Ford voted only 54% in favor of a similar wage.
The strike threatened to disrupt operations at GM’s U.S. plants, which rely on engines and transmissions built by Unifor members at some Canadian GM plants.
Had Unifor’s GM rank and file rejected the tentative deal, the union would be prepared to resume the strike immediately. Given the close vote at Ford, a new strike at GM was entirely possible. Last week, rank-and-file members of the United Auto Workers union voted against a tentative collective bargaining agreement with truck manufacturer Mack Trucks and then went on strike. This strike continues.
Unifor members in three Ontario cities went on strike at GM shortly after Monday’s 11:59 p.m. deadline. The strike ended shortly after 1 p.m. on Tuesday when both sides announced a tentative agreement.
“I am proud of our members at General Motors for their solidarity during their brief but decisive strike action and for ratifying this contract that contains life-changing improvements,” said Lana Payne, President of Unifor National. “This agreement reflects genuine collective bargaining. Our goal was to create more fairness and justice in workplaces in the automotive industry and to promote everyone. That’s what we did.”
“Nothing worthwhile is ever easy – and labor negotiations are no exception,” Marissa West, president and chief executive of GM Canada, said in a statement. “Together, we have entered into an agreement that recognizes the many contributions of our 4,200 represented team members through significant increases in wages, benefits and job security, while enabling GM Canada to remain competitive well into the future.”
Unifor will now focus on winning a similar contract for its members from Stellantis, which builds vehicles for the North American market under the Jeep, Ram, Dodge and Chrysler brands.
The two deals in Canada contrast with the strike against the U.S. operations of GM, Ford and Stellantis.
The United Auto Workers union has more than 33,000 members striking against the three companies. The strike began on September 15th and was directed against one of the car manufacturers’ assembly plants. It was the first time the UAW struck against all three companies at the same time. Since then, the UAW has expanded the strike to include two additional Ford assembly plants and one GM assembly plant, as well as networks of 38 GM and Stellantis parts distribution centers.
Public statements from both sides suggest negotiations are far apart, and neither has given any indication that a deal is imminent.
UAW President Shawn Fain told members Friday that the union was prepared to extend the strike further without warning if company negotiators do not improve their offers. Ford executives said last week that the company had reached the limits of the additional money it could offer in a settlement.