Unifor — the union that represents autoworkers in Canada — on Tuesday chose Ford Motor Co. as the automaker it will negotiate a new labor contract with first.
That means the union’s bargaining committees at General Motors and Stellantis will pause negotiations while the master bargaining committee works with Ford to come up with a master contract to serve as a pattern for contracts with the other two carmakers.
Unifor National President Lana Payne told the media that in choosing Ford, she saw the clearest path to a new contract. She said she reflected on the opening weeks of talks, listened to the opening reports from the committees across all three automakers and assessed conversations the union has had with company officials.
“The progress we’ve made in the past week, the timelines they’ve laid out for their plans in Canada … all of it, it became pretty clear where we needed to go,” Payne said.
She referenced Ford’s plan to invest $1.8 billion to retool its Oakville Assembly plant to make electric vehicles by 2025 as a strong reason to start with Ford. Payne said she is confident that they will reach a deal with Ford by the time the current contract expires at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 18.
“We wouldn’t have selected Ford as the target if we didn’t feel confident about where we could get to,” Payne said.
In reaction to the news, Ford of Canada said it and Unifor have a long track record of productive collaboration.
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“For our industry, this is a time like no other and success requires us to adapt,” said Steven Majer, vice president of Human Resources at Ford of Canada. “At Ford, we are committed to finding new approaches, new solutions, and the flexibility required to be successful in the short- and long-term in Canada. We look forward to working together with Unifor to create a blueprint that leads our employees, our business, our customers and our communities into the future.”
Unifor started its bargaining process earlier this month with General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. It is taking a more traditional approach than its U.S. counterpart, the UAW. It is customary for the UAW to pick one automaker to bargain the first deal with as a model for the other two. It’s called pattern bargaining.
But the UAW, which officially started its negotiations with the Detroit carmakers in mid-July, has decided to forego naming a target company. On Friday, after union members voted to give leaders the OK to strike if a tentative contract agreement cannot be reached by Sept. 14 when the current contract expires, UAW President Shawn Fain told the membership during a Facebook Live presentation, “We’re not picking a target company. We expect all three to bargain with us and all three to be done by Sept. 14. We want contracts by Sept. 14 by all three.”
Unifor members have also given leaders the OK to strike if needed. Unifor paused negotiations over the weekend to hold strike votes. At Ford, the measure passed with a 98.9% vote, GM 99% and Stellantis 98.1%. Unifor did not provide raw numbers or how many members turned out to vote.
“Canadian autoworkers have sent a strong message to D3 automakers that they are united behind our bargaining committees in an effort to improve pensions, increase wages, and secure good, union jobs in the EV future,” Payne said in a statement released Sunday. “Make no mistake, our union is fully prepared to take any and all necessary action to achieve our collective bargaining objectives.”
When asked whether a strike in the United States would affect bargaining with Unifor given the UAW contract expires first, Payne said the union is prepared for all scenarios. She said the two unions have been keeping in touch but each is negotiating on its own with a different agenda.
The four key demands Unifor has made for its 18,000 autoworker members are: pensions, a “very strong wage package,” investments in facilities and support for the EV transition. In choosing Ford, Payne said she gauged the companies’ reactions to those demands to see “who was best engaged and aligned with our positions and best to lead.”
Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.