Employees of General Motors in the U.S. will begin the process of voting on their proposed contract this weekend.
The 48,000 employees, represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW), are being asked to ratify the tentative agreement reached on Wednesday. If they do so, it will end an almost five-week-long strike -- the first national strike against the Detroit-based automaker since 2007.
According to the agreement as provided by the UAW, wage increases are provided as four per cent lump sums in the first and third years of the deal, and a three per cent general increase in the second and fourth years.
An $11,000 ratification bonus is included for full-time seniority workers and $4,500 for temporary workers. There are no changes to health care coverage or costs. The $12,000 cap on profit-sharing payouts has been dropped. Instead, all profits generated by the company through its U.S. and Canadian operations will generate payments to members, based on the current $1,000 per $1 billion format, with no limits.
A $60,000 bonus is also offered to 2,000 eligible production and 60 eligible skilled-trades employees if they file for retirement between December 31, 2019 and February 28, 2020, as determined under the retirement provisions of the agreement.
The workers walked off the job on September 16 after their previous contract expired two days earlier.
It was not readily clear how many supplier jobs in southwestern Ontario have been affected by the walkout, but Bloomberg Canada reported that over 5,000 people have been on temporary layoff as a result of the U.S. strike. The Oshawa Assembly plant, slated for closure by the automaker, was hit hardest with 2,100 workers on furlough. Two-thirds of the workforce at GM’s St. Catharines Engine Plant was also laid off. However, there were no strike-related layoffs at the CAMI plant in Ingersoll.
The union has asked its striking members to remain on the picket line until the agreement is ratified, at which time it will be decided when the employees will return to work.