Toronto, Ontario – After reaching an agreement with Ford Motor Co. two hours before its second strike deadline, Unifor announces a tentative deal that will ensure Canadian auto assembly plant workers avoid striking.
Late Tuesday night, Unifor President Lana Payne released a statement saying that the “tentative agreement, endorsed by the entire master bargaining committee, addresses all of the items raised by members in preparation for this round of collective bargaining.”
She went on to further note that, “we believe that this agreement will solidify the foundations on which we will continue to bargain gains for generations of autoworkers in Canada.”
In avoiding immediate strike actions after six weeks of bargaining processes, Unifor has averted what would otherwise have been the first automotive strike in Canada for the past 33 years.
While Unifor did not release details of the agreement, an inside source with knowledge of the talks did confirm that Unifor was asking for a “substantial wage increase … north of 20 per cent.” The source also said that pensions were a repeated conversation as talks progressed down to the wire.
Ford confirmed it had reached an agreement, but Steven Majer, vice-president of human resources at the automaker would not comment on the details before the deal is put to a vote.
The tentative agreement has the sign-off of Unifor’s bargaining committee, but requires approval from rank-and-file union members at Ford workplaces in Canada before being ratified. Unifor said it will present the full details of the deal to members at ratification meetings in the “coming days.”
In the United States, strike action will continue to escalate if agreements cannot be met.
