Unifor members ratify agreement with Stellantis in Canada, ending bargaining with Big Three
TORONTO, Ontario (CBS DETROIT) - Unifor announced Monday its Canadian auto members voted to ratify an agreement with Stellantis, ending the bargaining with Detroit's Big Three.
According to an update, the union says the three-year collective agreement covers 8,200 members.
The agreement includes a nearly 20% wage increase for base hourly workers and a 25% wage increase for skilled trades workers. It also includes the cost of living adjustment. The automaker also reduced the wage progression from eight years to four years.
Unifor and Stellantis reached a tentative agreement last Monday, Oct. 30, a day after the strike deadline.
The new contract ends in September 2024.
The deal with Stellantis follows a pattern agreement made with Ford and General Motors, which ratified their contracts in September and October, respectively.
"Unifor members at Stellantis will receive the same significant wage increases, pension improvements, and electric vehicle (EV) transition income security measures as Unifor members at Ford and General Motors," said Unifor National President Lana Payne in a written statement. "This contract also confirms investment and product commitments for Windsor, Brampton, and Etobicoke, including the retooling of Brampton Assembly to build future EVs."
The union is the largest in Canada, representing 315,000 workers "in every major area of the economy," according to its website.
In the United States, the United Auto Workers union reached tentative deals with all three automakers before the end of October, ending a six-week strike.
The first agreement came from Ford, followed by Stellantis and General Motors. Each company agreed to a 25% wage increase and allowed workers the right to strike against plant closures.
The union was also able to bring back the Stellantis assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, which closed back in February.
UAW President Shawn Fain calls the deals "historic," adding "record profits meant record contracts."
"All three of the Big Three now have a tentative agreement with the UAW. All three agreements break records and better unite our union," the UAW said in a statement on Oct. 30.
On Thursday, Nov. 2, it was announced that Ford's first plant to go on strike voted overwhelmingly in favor of Ford's tentative agreement with the union.
Meanwhile, the UAW's casino workers and workers at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan remain on strike. In an act of solidary, striking workers gathered at "Strike City" in Greektown to launch a donation drive on Monday, Nov. 6.
