The labor union representing Canadian autoworkers said on Thursday that pensions, higher wages and job security in the shift to producing electric vehicles are the priorities at the bargaining table this year with Detroit’s three automakers.
Delegates from Unifor’s locals met for the union’s Special Auto Council on Wednesday and Thursday in London, Ontario, to discuss proposed resolutions and priorities for the “most closely watched and highly anticipated rounds of Detroit Three bargaining that we’ve seen in a long time,” Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a statement. Those will kick off in August. It’ll be the first time in years the Canadian union representing 20,000 autoworkers will be negotiating with General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV at the same time as the United Auto Workers, which have signaled similar expectations.
Delegates raised concerns over inflation, temporary layoffs as automakers retool plants for EVs, hiring and retention challenges and the unionization of new EV facilities.
“We are in an extraordinary time in the sector, with thousands of members bracing for a transition to electric vehicles,” James Stewart, Unifor’s master bargaining chair for Stellantis, said in a statement. “One of our primary priorities in addition to pensions and wages will be to secure details of these investment commitments including specific product allocation, transition timeline and income security protections during the transition.”
Stellantis’ decision on Monday to pause construction of an EV battery module assembly facility it owns with LG Energy Solution in Windsor, Ontario, over a disagreement on what the Canadian government has committed to provide in tax credits, shows what is at stake in the EV transformation as automakers seek cost reductions to produce more-expensive EVs. Payne told The Detroit News on Wednesday that she fears losing the battery plant could risk other investments from Stellantis in the country that is seeking to win back auto investments lost in recent decades.
“There is quite frankly too much at stake,” Payne said about the situation with the Windsor module plant, where 300 jobs are at stake. “This company is hard bargaining. We understand hard bargaining with this company. That is the situation we’re in.”
If Stellantis does stick to building the $3.7 billion battery plant, Unifor would look to organize the plant, putting it in a similar situation as the UAW that has called for workers at these joint-venture battery plants to be included in the union’s master agreements, the contracts that promise top wages, health care and other benefits for seniority assembly and traditional powertrain workers.
Currently, a contract for the only organized JV battery plant, in Warren, Ohio, is being negotiated separately with Ultium LLC, the partnership between GM and LGES. Workers there start at $16.50 per hour, about half of what traditional seniority autoworkers make.
“It is important that auto manufacturing jobs continue to be family and community supporting jobs, with solid, stable pensions and strong wages,” Jason Gale, Unifor’s master bargaining chair for GM, said in a statement. “Our members have been very clear with us that pensions and wage improvements form the core of our bargaining proposals.”
bnoble@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @BreanaCNoble