Toronto, Ontario, Canada – In recent votes, workers at Ford, General Motors, and FCA each authorized Canadian autoworkers union Unifor’s bargaining committees to initiate strikes if a fair and reasonable settlement is not reached before Sept. 19.
“With this clear mandate, our members have demonstrated they are in full support of their bargaining committees, and our direction in this set of negotiations. The bargaining committee will not accept a deal without a commitment to investment in Canada’s auto sector,” says Unifor National President Jerry Dias, who is leading the negotiations. “The push for new investments in Canada got a lot stronger today.”
Workers at General Motors voted 97.1% in favor of strike action, those at Ford Motor Co. voted 98.9% in favor, and at FCA voted 99.0% in favor.
At Unifor’s June 1 Auto Council meeting, elected representatives voted unanimously to make new investments in Canada, including new product allocations, the top priority of the talks. With this vote, members have authorized the use of strike action if necessary.
Dias says Detroit-based companies have done well in the four years since the last round of negotiations, with both shareholders and executives profiting. It is now time for the workers to be rewarded, and that begins with new investments in Canada. Unifor will be in a legal strike position at 11:59pm on Sept. 19.
“The membership took an important step today to support their bargaining committees, but our demand for new investment is not just about us. It is about maintaining and creating good paying jobs, it’s about our communities and it’s about the next generation,” Dias says.
Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector, representing more than 310,000 workers, including more than 23,000 working for the Detroit’s automakers. It was formed Labor Day weekend 2013 when the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers union merged.
Source: Unifor