“They are not going anywhere”, said Dias, who vowed not to make mistakes of the past, where the union signed deals and then GM later closed the truck assembly plant in Oshawa and moved Camaro production to MI.
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Canadian auto workers and General Motors reached a deal late Monday averting a strike.
Dias also said the tentative agreement will see some product coming from Mexico to the GM plant in St. Catharines.
There had been fears the Oshawa facility might shut down in 2019, but Dias said the contract ensures a commitment by the company worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Dias said he chose GM as the target company – meaning any agreement will be used as a pattern to reach similar agreements with Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Canada Inc. – precisely because it poses the biggest challenge.
In exchange, GM gets a defined contribution pension plan for new employees, although current workers will continue to be covered by the legacy defined benefit pension. The facility clearly has a bright future.
Dias wouldn’t identify the new products that will be made at the Oshawa factory, but he said it would become the only GM plant capable of building both cars and trucks.
Unifor selected GM to lead negotiations for new contracts with Detroit automakers.
How important is the GM plant to Oshawa, Ont.? The factory also makes the Chevrolet Equinox crossover SUV, but its production there is scheduled to end in July of next year. “The answer is yes”, said Dias, adding that as a result the plant would be “hiring in the long term and the short term”. “There’s always going to be differences in what Ford workers want, compared to Chrysler workers and compared to GM workers”. Products built at the Oshawa, Ontario plant have been shifted to other facilities.
Smith said the bargaining team was still wrapping up negotiations and he expects details of the deal to be rolled out to union leadership later in the week with the deal presented to members before a ratification vote on Sunday.
But, on balance, protecting jobs is the right priority and auto workers would do well to heed the unanimous advice of their bargaining committee and endorse the deal. The St. Catherines plant also will build more of an existing engine as GM moves production from Mexico, Dias said.
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Unifor, the Canadian autoworkers union, noted that the framework with General Motors sets a pattern in “Detroit Three” negotiations and will help to preserve Canadian auto jobs.
