Labor strikes have become an international concern for Detroit-based automaker General Motors (GM) as negotiations with Canadian union Unifor reached an impasse. This development sees approximately 4,300 Canadian workers joining the ranks of the 9,200 United Auto Workers (UAW) members in the U.S. who have been on strike since September 15th.
The strikes in Canada, specifically in the province of Ontario, impact an assembly plant responsible for the production of light- and heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado trucks. Additionally, the production of certain V-6 and V-8 engines, used in a range of vehicles including the Chevrolet Equinox, and a stamping facility that manufactures parts for various cars and trucks, are also affected.
Unifor National President Lana Payne expressed her dissatisfaction with GM's stance, stating that the company "continues to fall short on our pension demands, income supports for retired workers, and meaningful steps to transition temporary workers into permanent, full-time jobs." In contrast, GM voiced its disappointment over the failure to reach an agreement but emphasized its commitment to ongoing negotiations with Unifor to achieve a "fair and flexible" deal.
The Canadian union, representing 18,000 workers across the Detroit automakers, has adopted a more conventional negotiation strategy compared to its U.S. counterpart. Unifor has been negotiating separately with each automaker, using a deal initially secured with Ford last month as a benchmark for GM and Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler. Payne highlighted GM's reluctance to align with this "pattern agreement."
Ford's three-year agreement, which covers over 5,600 workers in Canada, was ratified by 54% of the voting workforce. The deal includes provisions such as hourly wage hikes of up to 25%, the reactivation of a cost-of-living allowance to counteract inflation, and a reduced timeframe for workers to attain top pay, among other benefits.
This traditional patterned bargaining approach contrasts with the UAW's new tactic of simultaneous negotiations with all three automakers. The UAW has been incrementally escalating the strikes since their inception, following the failure to secure tentative agreements by September 14th. These targeted strikes are being executed in lieu of national walkouts where all facilities would strike at once.
Currently, only about 17% of UAW members, or 25,200 workers, covered by the expired contracts with the Detroit automakers are on strike. UAW President Shawn Fain had previously indicated that the union would intensify the work stoppages based on the progress of the negotiations. As a consequence of these strikes, thousands of other UAW members have been laid off, including roughly 2,175 workers at other GM facilities. Notably, GM had to halt production at a Kansas assembly plant that manufactures Chevrolet Malibu sedans and Cadillac XT4 crossovers.
