Unifor, the union that represents autoworkers in Canada, released the details Saturday of its tentative agreement with General Motors, which largely mirrors the agreement it has with Ford Motor Co. with a few differences.
One significant difference is the conversion of full-time temporary workers at GM Canada. Those employees would be converted to permanent by Aug. 1, 2026, or sooner depending on seniority. GM will then eliminate using temps as full-time. Ford was not using temp workers as full-time so that was not an issue. If the agreement with GM is ratified, hundreds of full-time temps with more than one year seniority will become permanent and receive wage increases and improved benefits.
Another difference with Ford’s agreement, which Unifor members ratified Sept. 24, is the number of retirees who will receive the quarterly Universal Health Allowance. That number is significantly larger at GM than at Ford. That’s because GM has been operating its Oshawa Assembly plant for over a century and there are entire generations who have worked there, so the cost associated with that allowance is higher for GM. All of the data is available publicly.
The GM agreement, which would cover 4,300 members at three GM facilities in Canada, would provide a compounded pay raise of 19.3% for production workers and 25% for skilled trades over the three years of the agreement. It also would reactivate a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and provide a reduction in the amount of time it takes workers to reach top pay from eight years to four, according to the master agreement made public Saturday.
The COLA is forecasted to be $1.61 by the end of the contract and there will be a $10,000 bonus for full-time members and $4,000 for part-time employees over the life of the contract. Due to the cut in the wage progression to four years along with the COLA and bonuses, many GM members will see much higher percentages for their pay increases, a Unifor source familiar with the contract explained to the Detroit Free Press. This person was not authorized to be quoted, therefore is not being named.
For example, the person said, a raise for a worker with one-year seniority will go from $25.75 an hour in the first year to $44.52 an hour by the third year — a 73% wage increase.
The Ford agreement includes a 15% increase in wages over the contract term and employees in a defined contribution retirement plan hired on or after Nov. 7, 2016, would be enrolled in a new pension plan in 2025 that would include monthly pensions for workers and surviving spouses. Other improvements include an increase in the monthly benefit for those workers in a pension plan.
In the GM agreement, employees in a defined contribution retirement plan hired on or after Sept. 20, 2016, also would be enrolled in a new pension plan that provides monthly pensions for workers and surviving spouses. There are increases in the monthly benefit for those in a pension plan as well.
Ratifications meetings and voting will take place for members of Oshawa Assembly plant, St. Catharines Propulsion plant and GM’s Woodstock Distribution Center, all in Ontario, on Saturday and Sunday, the union said. The results will be released Sunday afternoon. Unifor Local 88 members at the CAMI Assembly Plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, are covered by a separate collective agreement.
GM declined to offer a statement until after the results of the ratification vote are released.
Unifor and GM reached a tentative agreement Tuesday, less than a day after the union launched a strike against the automaker and as Unifor’s U.S. counterpart — the UAW — continues with its own targeted strike strategy in the United States.
More:UAW strike hits 1 month mark as some workers grow impatient: Where things stand
The UAW, has been on strike one month in a targeted Stand Up Strike against GM, Ford and Stellantis, the company that makes Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Fiat vehicles. It has expanded the strike three times to include all 38 of GM and Stellantis parts distribution centers and then to include Ford’s Chicago Assembly and GM’s Lansing Delta Township Assembly plants on Sept 29. On Wednesday, the UAW took strike action at Ford’s Kentucky Truck plant. About 34,000 UAW autoworker members are on strike of the 150,000 in the United States.
More:Here are key players negotiating during the UAW strike on the Detroit Three
Contact Jamie L. LaReau: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
