Nearly 4,300 autoworkers in Canada went on strike against General Motors early Tuesday.
GM and Unifor, the union that represents autoworkers in Canada, failed to reach a tentative agreement by the time Unifor’s contract with GM expired at 11:59 p.m. Monday, prompting Unifor to order a strike at midnight for 4,280 members, it said.
It is the first strike of an automaker in Canada since 1996 and comes after the union reached a tentative agreement with Ford Motor Co., which the workforce ratified on Sept. 24.
The affected facilities are GM’s Oshawa Assembly Complex and CCA Stamped Products, St. Catharines Propulsion Plant and GM’s Woodstock Distribution Center, all in Ontario. Unifor Local 88 members at the CAMI Assembly Plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, are covered by a separate collective agreement and continue operations.
“This strike is about General Motors stubbornly refusing to meet the pattern agreement” the union got with Ford, said Unifor National President Lana Payne. She said the Unifor members at the GM facilities will stay on strike until a pattern agreement is met.
In a statement, GM Canada Communications Executive Director Jennifer Wright said, “While we have made very positive progress on several key priorities over the past weeks, we are disappointed that we were not able to achieve a new collective agreement with Unifor at this time. GM Canada remains at the bargaining table and is committed to keep working with Unifor to reach an agreement that is fair and flexible.”
