Canadian autoworkers have voted to ratify a three-year contract agreement with General Motors. Members of Unifor, the union representing about 4,300 Canadian workers at three Ontario GM facilities, voted 80.5% in favor of the deal, the union said Sunday in a statement. The vote followed the pattern of an agreement reached earlier with Ford, and it leaves only Jeep maker Stellantis without a contract.
The GM agreement came after a brief strike last week by the workers at GM factories in Oshawa and St. Catharines, Ontario, and a parts warehouse in Woodstock, Ontario. The strike lasted less than 24 hours and ended when the union and the company reached a tentative deal on Thursday.
The new contract includes pay raises of nearly 20% for production workers and 25% for skilled trades. Workers would get 10% in general pay raises in the first year, with 2% in the second and 3% in the third. The company also agreed to restore cost-of-living pay raises starting in December of 2024.
GM Commits to Invest $1 Billion in Canadian Operations
One of the key achievements of the contract negotiations was securing a $1 billion investment from GM in its Canadian operations. The investment will be used to upgrade the Oshawa plant to produce full-size pickup trucks starting next year. The plant had been idled since 2019 when GM stopped making sedans there.
The investment will also support the production of engines and transmissions at the St. Catharines plant, as well as the expansion of the parts warehouse in Woodstock. The union estimates that the investment will create or maintain about 2,000 jobs across the three facilities.
Unifor President Jerry Dias said that the investment was a “game-changer” for the Canadian auto industry and a “major victory” for the workers. He also praised GM for showing “vision and leadership” in committing to Canada.
GM Workers to Benefit from Improved Pension and Health Care Plans
Another significant aspect of the new contract was improving the pension and health care plans for the workers. Workers who get defined-contribution retirement plans will move to a new defined-benefits pension on Jan. 1, 2025. This means that they will receive a guaranteed monthly income based on their years of service and salary, rather than relying on market returns.
The contract also enhanced the health care benefits for both active and retired workers. It increased the coverage for dental, vision, hearing, and prescription drugs, as well as added new benefits for mental health, physiotherapy, and chiropractic services.
Temporary workers would also get pay raises, and those with at least one year of service would get permanent jobs. The union said that this would improve job security and stability for many workers.
Unifor Turns Attention to Stellantis Negotiations
With GM and Ford contracts settled, Unifor now turns its attention to Stellantis, which has the largest Canadian manufacturing footprint of Detroit’s three automakers. Stellantis operates five plants in Ontario that employ about 8,000 workers. Talks have yet to start with Stellantis, but Unifor said it expects to begin bargaining soon.
Unifor is Canada’s largest private sector union, with 315,000 workers in many industries. In the United States, strikes continue by the United Auto Workers union with nearly 34,000 workers off their jobs at all three Detroit companies.
