The bargaining process has officially begun between Unifor and the top North American automakers.
Unifor National President Jerry Dias held symbolic document exchanges with representatives from Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles, Ford Canada, and General Motors as bargaining officially opened Wednesday at the Sheraton Hotel in Toronto. The union will negotiate new collective bargaining agreements with each of the Detroit "Big Three".
Unifor has dubbed this round of talks with the theme "The Future is Made in Canada". During a media conference Wednesday, Dias said the COVID-19 pandemic had brought this round of negotiations to a critical point.
"There is no secret our members are looking to secure and manufacture new products to build this industry and create good jobs for the future," said Dias. "It is not lost on us that auto sales were slowing before COVID-19 forced plants to shut down, but we also see an opportunity here to find a 'Made in Canada' solution as the industry rebounds."
The future of Canadian assembly plants will undoubtedly be a key point during these talks. In Windsor, for example, the phasing out of the third shift at FCA's Windsor Assembly Plant is heavy on the minds of union officials.
"Our plants in Windsor, Brampton, Oakville, and Oshawa all present an opportunity to increase volume and capacity, and the pandemic exposed the fact that Canada has a well-established infrastructure, secure supply chain, along with research and development expertise that must be built upon," said Dias.
Jacqueline Oliva, FCA's head of human resources, said the automaker is looking forward to a productive bargaining session.
"FCA remains committed to Canada, and we look forward to negotiating a fair agreement that will help us continue to invest in our future while creating opportunities for our employees, their families and our communities," said Oliva. "We have the largest hourly workforce, and, in 2019, FCA Canada produced the most vehicles of the domestic three automakers. As the automotive industry continues to rapidly change, our goal in this round of negotiations is to reach a labour agreement that will sustain the company's competitiveness."
Representatives from Ford and GM echoed the sentiment.
"We will work collaboratively with Unifor to ensure we remain operationally competitive amidst intense global competition," said Ryan Kantautas, Ford Canada's vice-president of human resources. "Over the last decade, Ford has invested nearly $2-billion in its Canadian operations, and we are always looking for new investment opportunities that improve our competitive position."
"GM Canada looks forward to contract negotiations with Unifor," said Matt Hough, GM Canada's director of human resources and labour relations. "Our focus is to reach a new fair, flexible four-year agreement for the 1,600 represented employees at our St. Catharines Propulsion Plant, the new Oshawa OEM Stamped Products and Service Operations and the Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre."
Unifor will continue with the practice of pattern bargaining by selecting an automaker as a template for negotiations with the other two companies.