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Ahead of a Monday deadline to reach a deal with General Motors Co., the head of Unifor said the Canadian autoworkers union has encountered “resistance” on a number of elements established in its agreement with Ford Motor Co.
“No one here expected getting this pattern with GM would be easy,” Unifor President Lana Payne said in a video message sent Friday to members. “As I’ve mentioned before, it is wrong to assume that these employers will simply accept the pattern agreement. In the end, we’ve always secured the pattern, but that doesn’t stop the companies from trying to break it and demand less.”
Late last month, Unifor/Ford members ratified a new three-year deal that included the single largest negotiated general wage increase in the history of Unifor, formerly the Canadian Auto Workers.
The deal offers increases of 10% the first year, 2% the second year and 3% the year after, as well as cost-of-living adjustments. It also reduces the amount of time an in-progression employee needs to reach the top pay scale from eight years to four. For those workers who haven’t reached top scale, it raises the percentage those workers get in the first three years.
Unifor’s negotiations with GM cover about 4,300 workers at the St. Catharines Powertrain Plant building engines for the Chevrolet Equinox and Corvette, Oshawa Assembly Complex making light- and heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks and parts for other vehicles, and the Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre in Ontario.
One issue Payne mentioned where Unifor is receiving resistance from GM is with the full-time temporary workers classification.
“At GM we have several hundred full-time workers who are classified as TPTs when they should be transitioned to permanent-employee status with all the benefits that entails, including better wages and job security,” she said.
At Ford, Unifor negotiated a quarterly universal health allowance for retirees and GM “is seeking something lower than what we achieved at Ford and, this too, is a major concern for our union,” Payne said.
Lastly, Payne said Unifor has “yet to receive anything confirming the existing programs and future programs GM has announced including next-generation pickup trucks at Oshawa and E-drive units at St. Catharines. We expect to see these commitments in writing and in the collective agreement. GM knows this, but there have been no advancements on this front to date.”
Unifor previously gave GM until 11:59 p.m. Oct. 9 to reach a deal with the union.
“With days to go before our deadline, we have major issues left unresolved,” Payne said. “I want to be clear, our job here is to fight for this pattern agreement for our GM members and we are doing just that.”
khall@detroitnews.com
X: @bykaleahall
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