Unifor begins contract negotiations with General Motors on Monday, targeting a deal that mirrors the three-year agreement its members ratified with Ford earlier this summer.
The union represents more than 4,600 workers at GM operations across Ontario, including the Oshawa assembly plant, the CAMI facility in Ingersoll, and powertrain and component plants in St. Catharines and Woodstock.
Pattern bargaining strategy
Unifor designated GM as its next target among the Detroit Three automakers in July, shortly after members approved the Ford contract by a wide margin. That deal delivers three per cent annual wage increases over three years, along with improvements to pensions and benefits.
In pattern bargaining, a union negotiates a template agreement with one employer and then seeks to replicate its core terms across the rest of the sector. Unifor president Lana Payne has described the Ford settlement as successful pattern-setting.
The GM talks will test whether that pattern holds. The two sides have a history of difficult rounds; the 2020 negotiations produced a contentious strike at CAMI that lasted more than a month.
Sector context
Ontario's auto assembly footprint has shifted in recent years. GM's Oshawa plant returned to truck production in 2021 after a two-year closure, while the CAMI plant builds the BrightDrop electric delivery van. St. Catharines produces engines and electric motor components, and Woodstock manufactures engine parts.
Negotiations with Stellantis are expected to follow once the GM talks conclude, completing the current round of pattern bargaining across Canada's unionized auto sector.
Based on reporting by Global News.