General Motors reaches tentative agreement with Canadian union, ending strike
Over 4,000 unionized workers went on strike at GM plants in Canada
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General Motors on Tuesday reached a tentative agreement with Unifor, a Canadian union, ending strikes involving 4,300 workers at three facilities hours after they began.
The union said the tentative agreement follows the pattern agreement Unifor reached with Ford last month and includes wage hikes of up to 25%. The strike had threatened the largest U.S. automaker's profitable full-size truck production if it had continued.
"When faced with the shutdown of these key facilities General Motors had no choice but to get serious at the table and agree to the pattern," said Unifor National President Lana Payne. She added that GM agreed to items it initially fought including "pensions, retiree income supports and converting full-time temporary workers into permanent employees over the life of the agreement."
GM said work will resume at all three facilities on Tuesday afternoon and said the deal "recognizes the many contributions of our represented team members with significant increases in wages, benefits and job security."
Unifor set the deadline for Monday after earlier agreements with the Detroit manufacturer expired on Sept. 18.
Unifor National President Lana Payne joins the workers in front of the Metro at Danforth and Victoria Park. (Richard Lautens/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
'STRIKETOBER' RETURNS WITH VENGEANCE
Led by Unifor, the workers were attempting to net the same deal Ford employees received but said GM was "stubbornly refusing" to match that contract and wage increases of up to 25%.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | GENERAL MOTORS CO. | 55.04 | -0.55 | -0.99% |
| F | FORD MOTOR CO. | 10.98 | -0.15 | -1.35% |
Unifor said Ford offered the desired wage hike in its tentative agreement late last month, while also providing wage increases of 10% for the first year followed by increases of 2% and 3% through the second and third year.
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The Ford offer included a $10,000 productivity and quality bonus to active employees, a spike in monthly basic benefits and a special allowance across defined benefit and hybrid pension plans to help transition from traditional internal combustion engine vehicle production to electric vehicle assembly facilities.
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"GM Canada presented Unifor with a record economic offer that recognizes the many contributions of our represented team members – past, present, and future, however there are some final outstanding items to be resolved at the bargaining table," a GM spokesperson said in a statement sent to FOX Business. "We are committed to quickly reaching a new collective agreement so that we can all get back to work while positioning both our people and GM Canada for continued success in the future."
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The approximate 4,280 GM employees cover the company’s Oshawa Assembly & Operations, St. Catharines Propulsion Plant and Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre facilities.
Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh greets UNIFOR National President Lana Payne in front of the Metro at Danforth and Victoria Park. Thousands of Metro grocery store workers went on strike starting in the early hours of Saturday morning. (Richard Lautens/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Unifor Local 88 members at the CAMI Assembly Plant in Ingersoll, Ontario are covered by a separate collective agreement and will continue operations, the union said.
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Reuters contributed to this report.
This story has been updated to reflect the tentative agreement reached by GM and Unifor