UPDATE: Unifor Ratifies GM Labor Pact by 86% Margin
Hourly workers at General Motors Co.’s CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ont., will vote today whether to accept an agreement to end a strike they began on Sept. 17.
#labor #workforcedevelopment
Today Canadian auto workers ratified a new four-year labor contract at General Motors Co.’s CAMI assembly plant and are returning to work at 7 p.m.
The Unifor labor union says the deal was accepted by 86% of the hourly workers who voted, thereby ending a strike that began on Sept. 17.
The pact does not include a guarantee sought by Unifor to name CAMI as GM’s lead factory for the popular Chevrolet Equinox crossover vehicle. The designation would have made the factory first to add Equinox workers and the last to lay them off. Nor did GM commit to add future products or jobs at the Ingersoll, Ont., facility.
But the union said it did gain contract language that would force GM to pay an additional $100 million if the company eventually decides to close the facility. The agreement also gives workers a 4% wage hike, a C$6,000 ($4,800) bonus and C$8,000 ($6,400) in additional lump-sum payments over the four-year term of the agreement.
The deal leaves CAMI’s long-term future as doubtful as ever. In April GM added Equinox production at two plants in Mexico. The carmaker also cut the hourly workforce at CAMI by 600 people when it relocated output of the GMC Terrain, a variant of the Equinox, from Canada to Mexico.
RELATED CONTENT
-
Young Auto Engineers Say Their Employers Don’t Measure Up
Only one-third of U.S. automotive engineers below the age of 36 agree that their work experience matches the way their employers’ portray themselves publicly, according to new research.
-
CEO Barra Steps into GM-UAW Talks
General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra met secretly with United Auto Workers union leaders yesterday afternoon, according to the New York Post, which first reported the event.
-
Targets of U.S. Aluminum and Steel Tariffs Declare Counter-Measures
As expected, the European Union, Canada and Mexico have announced a broad array of counter-tariffs in response to U.S. import taxes of 10% on foreign aluminum and 25% on foreign steel that went into effect at midnight.