'Our goal was to bring more fairness and equity to auto workplaces and to lift everyone up. We did that'
Unifor members at General Motors (GM) have voted to ratify the similar pattern agreement the union has with Ford of Canada.
“I am proud of our members at General Motors for their solidarity throughout their brief but decisive strike action and for ratifying this contract that contains life-changing improvements,” said Lana Payne, Unifor national president. “This agreement reflects true collective bargaining. Our goal was to bring more fairness and equity to auto workplaces and to lift everyone up. We did that.”
Ratified by an 80.5% vote, the three-year collective agreement covers more than 4,300 workers at the Oshawa Assembly Plant, St. Catharines Powertrain Plant and Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre. It follows the pattern agreement first negotiated by Unifor with Ford.
Unifor members at GM went on strike at midnight on Oct. 10 as the company was “stubbornly refusing to meet the pattern agreement,” said Payne.
Agreement cuts wage progression grid
The new agreement cuts the wage progression grid from eight to four years, reducing the time it takes workers to reach the top rate of pay. The improvement is particularly significant for members at Oshawa Assembly Plant, where the majority of workers were hired since the plant reopened in 2021, according to the union.
Under the agreement, members with one and two years of seniority will see their hourly pay increase by between 63% to 73% over the life of the agreement. Wages for top-of-scale workers will increase by nearly 20% for production workers and 25% for skilled trades.
The pattern also includes the reinstatement of a cost of living allowance for the first time since 2008 “to help protect workers wages from rising inflation and will benefit retirees with a new quarterly Universal Health Allowance,” according to Unifor.
Also, over the life of the agreement, hundreds of temporary part-time (TPT) workers across GM facilities in Oshawa, St. Catharines and Woodstock will also be converted to permanent full-time positions.
The “record” agreement “recognizes the many contributions of our represented team members with significant increases in wages, benefits and job security while building on GM’s historic investments in Canadian manufacturing,” said GM in a press release.
Reaching a deal with Chrysler parent Stellantis is up next for Unifor, according to a Reuters report.
In September, United Auto Workers – the union representing hundreds of thousands of auto workers in the United States – launched a strike action that targets the “Big Three” employers in the car-making industry. GM has furloughed about 2,300 U.S. workers due to the impact of the UAW strike, according to Reuters.
In April, around 5,000 of its white-collar workers opted for GM's buyout offers.
