Dive Brief:
- Unifor, a union representing over 4,300 autoworkers employed by General Motors in Canada, ratified a three-year collective bargaining agreement with the automaker, the organizations said Sunday.
- The vast majority (80.5%) of Unifor members employed by GM approved the labor contract, which follows the pattern set by Ford last month.
- Union members with one to two years of seniority will get a 63% to 73% hourly wage increase over the life of the agreement, while autoworkers at the top of the pay scale will get raises up to 25%.
Dive Insight:
Now that the union has inked deals with both Ford and GM, it will use these agreements to negotiate a new labor agreement with Stellantis. The union, however, has not announced when negotiations with Stellantis will begin.
“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,” Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a statement. “This agreement reflects true collective bargaining.”
In addition to wage increases, the agreement reduces the time required to reach the top of the pay scale from eight to four years. It also reinstates cost-of-living adjustments and provides retirees a new Universal Health Allowance.
Hundreds of temporary, part-time autoworkers will also be converted to permanent, full-time employees.
“... [T]he abuse of the temporary worker program will come to an end,” Jason Gale, Unifor’s GM master bargaining chair, said in a statement.
The tentative agreement covers autoworkers at three GM facilities in Ontario, Canada, including the Oshawa Assembly Complex and Customer Care and Aftersales Stamped Products plant, St. Catharines Propulsion Plant and Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre.
“With a strong manufacturing footprint, one of the largest automotive software engineering clusters in North America, an emerging [electric vehicle] battery supply chain and a best-in-class workforce, we have everything we need to build a vibrant and successful future in Canada,” Marissa West, president and managing director at GM Canada, said in a statement.
The new labor agreement between GM and Unifor expires Sept. 20, 2026.
