Unifor Reaches Last-Minute Labor Deal with Ford

Canadian union Unifor has reached tentative agreement on a four-year contract with Ford Motor Co., averting the union’s first strike against the company in 20 years.

The deal follows the pattern set by an agreement in September with General Motors Co. and repeated less than three weeks later with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. Among its elements are a commitment to invest in Canadian facilities, 2% wage hikes in the first and fourth year, a $6,000 ratification bonus and a $2,000 lump-sum payments in years two, three and four.

The pacts also improve the wage progression for new hires, moving them up over 10 years to a maximum top wage of C$34.15 per hour. Ford had insisted it couldn’t match the pattern deals at GM and FCA without offsets such as a more modest investment commitment or the ability to hire temporary fulltime workers at lower wage rates.

Ford pledges to invest C$700 million ($522 million) for what Unifor President Jerry Dias describes as a “major” program for the company’s Essex engine plant in Windsor. Ford also will continue its Oakville plant as an export hub, although it will phase out production there of the Flex crossover vehicle in 2020.

Ford’s investment compares with commitments of C$554 million by GM and C$325 million by FCA in their Canadian plants. The union feared the companies each intended to shut down one factory and move production to the U.S. or Mexico.

Some 6,700 Unifor-represented workers at Ford plants in Bramalea, Edmonton, Oakville and Windsor will vote on the proposed pact this weekend.