Denise Hammond, a spokeswoman for Unifor, said a “few issues remain outstanding” and that both sides are committed to keep talking.
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The settlement was announced about a half hour past a midnight strike deadline early Tuesday. Union president Jerry Dias said he knew discussions with the automaker would be hard but he wanted to tackle that head on.
The agreement covers roughly 3,860 GM hourly workers from Oshawa, St. Catharines and a parts distribution center in Woodstock.
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.
Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, said a strike would be hard for his Canadian members, but worthwhile if it means securing the future of GM’s Oshawa plant. The Impala and Equinox are also built at other plants, and the automaker has 38 days of inventory for the XTS and 78 days for the Regal, according to the Automotive News Data Center.
How important is the GM plant to Oshawa, Ont.? The union has said it won’t agree to any contract that doesn’t offer further work on those lines.
“We have found a solution for your facilities”, Unifor President Jerry Dias said to the union’s GM workers.
Unifor’s top priority in negotiations is securing long-term product commitments at GM’s Oshawa, Ontario, assembly plant and at the St. Catharines, Ontario, engine and transmission plant.
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Members of the union voted last month in favour of strike action to back their contract proposals, which in addition to securing more work include wage increases.
