After the Ford employees, the employees at General Motors in Canada have now also accepted the agreement in principle announced last week by the manufacturer and the Unifor union. The vote resulted in a majority of 80.5%.
“Our goal was to make working conditions in the automotive industry fairer and more equitable and to improve the situation for everyone. This is what we have achieved,” said Unifor President Lana Payne.
The new three-year collective agreement affects approximately 4,300 workers at three locations: the Oshawa pickup plant (which makes Chevrolet Silverados), the St. Catharines engine plant and the Woodstock parts distribution center, all in Ontario. A different agreement applies to employees at the CAMI plant in Ingersoll, where GM’s BrightDrop electric vans are assembled.
Photo: GM Canada
The terms of the agreement are similar to those signed between Ford and Unifor on September 24th. In particular, workers will be able to reach the top of the wage scale in four years instead of eight.
Those with one or two years of service will see a 63% to 73% hourly pay increase over the life of the agreement (from $25.75/hr to $44.52/hr), while those with the highest seniority will see one Benefit from salary increase of almost 20% or 25% depending on the position.
Also planned is a $10,000 bonus for all full-time employees and a new quarterly health insurance benefit for retirees. Eventually, hundreds of employees will move from part-time to full-time status.
Photo: Unifor
However, consumers expect Silverado pickup prices to rise significantly in the coming years.
“Together, we have reached an agreement that recognizes the many contributions of our 4,200 team members, reflected in significant increases in wages, benefits and job security, while positioning GM Canada to remain competitive well into the future,” said Marissa West , President and CEO of GM Canada .
Unifor just needs to reach an agreement with Stellantis, which employs even more workers in Canada than Ford and GM (around 8,200) and has vehicle factories in Brampton and Windsor, not to mention its future battery factory under construction in Windsor.