General Motors will be the next target in Unifor, Detroit 3 bargaining

General Motors will be the next target company for Unifor’s bargaining with the Detroit Three automakers, national president Lana Payne announced Monday. 

Talks will begin Tuesday, Payne said in an video update Monday afternoon. 

The pattern for the agreement with GM will be based on the pattern-setting agreement Unifor members at Ford ratified on Sunday. 

“Just as we had with Ford Motor Company, we hold a lot of negotiating leverage with GM. Their Oshawa facility is working around-the-clock producing very lucrative pick-up trucks. The St. Catharines engine and transmission facility, like Ford’s powertrain operations, is a lynchpin for GM’s North American operations. Our Woodstock distribution centre is also a key element of the company’s parts network,” Payne said. 

“I don’t expect this to be an easy round of talks and I want to make sure our union is best positioned to move this pattern forward for the benefit of all members, active and retired,” she added.

This latest round of bargaining will include 4,300 workers at the St. Catherine’s powertrain plant, Oshawa Assembly complex, and Woodstock parts distribution centre. 

Payne said the decision to tap GM next in bargaining is based on negotiation leverage, because of demand and the key position. 

The decision not to tap Stellantis next — which operates both the Windsor and Brampton Assembly plants, and is the largest Unifor auto employer — is based on “more information” the union says it needs regarding upcoming investment and re-tooling at the Brampton Assembly Plant, as well as the Windsor Assembly Plant’s re-tooling period. 

On Sunday, workers at Ford ratified a new three-year contract by 54 per cent. 

Ford, in a statement released on Sunday, called the deal “historic” as it announced the company had agreed to the largest wage increase in the company’s Canadian history.

The automaker has about 5,600 unionized employees in Canada, mainly in Oakville, Ont., and Windsor, Ont. 

“I believe when people see and look at it in its entirety, it is such a comprehensive set of improvements for workers,” said Unifor president Lana Payne.