Strike Averted: CAW Reaches Deal with Ford

The Canadian Auto Workers union reached a tentative contract agreement with Ford Motor Co. on Monday afternoon, hours before the existing pact expired at midnight.

The four-year national accord is subject to ratification by Ford's 4,500 CAW members. A vote is scheduled for the weekend.

The CAW has indefinitely extended its contract deadline with Chrysler and General Motors, with which it will bargain next. The union says it expects the Ford agreement to serve as a pattern for its deals with the other two companies.

The new Ford pact freezes wages but grant workers a C$2,000 (US$2,060) lump-sum cost-of-living payment and a C$3,000 ratification bonus, according to the CAW.

The company will be allowed to hire new workers at 60% of the current top wage of C$33.89. Those employees would gradually attain the top wage scale in 10 years. The previous contract started new hires at 70% of base wages and phased them up to 100% over six years.

Ford promised to create about 600 jobs over the life of the contract, most of them at its Oakville, Ont., assembly plant, which makes midsize and fullsize crossover vehicles.