The Canadian autoworkers union’s president said the newly ratified contract with Ford Motor Co. sets strong expectations as the labor group looks toward negotiating job security measures for thousands of employees laid off at the other two Detroit Three.
Unifor members on Sunday ratified a three-year contract with Ford that secures 3% annual wage increases and $900 million in investments. The new agreement that takes effect Sept. 21 covers 5,150 employees at the Dearborn automaker’s Canadian operations and sets the bargaining pattern for deals at the other Detroit Three — General Motors Co., and Jeep and Chrysler maker Stellantis NV. Unifor has acknowledged it has bigger fights there, with both companies currently idling plants in Canada from tariffs and less-than-expected electric vehicle demand. Unifor will identify its next target later this week, Unifor President Lana Payne said.
“The pattern has been set,” she said. “We shouldn’t be arguing over the economics, and we should spend our time looking at how we make sure we build on security for our members and product for our plants.”
Ford’s idled Oakville Assembly Complex is set to launch Super Duty truck production before the end of the year, and Unifor leaders said the agreement puts Ford members in a solid position for the next three years.
“It’s a strong agreement,” Payne said. “It would be a strong agreement in good and normal times, and I think we can all agree that these are not normal times for the auto industry in North America.”
Ford committed to $500 million investment for facility and tooling for operations in Windsor, Ontario, and $400 million to support Super Duty production at Oakville. The deal renews a no closure agreement, program commitments at all Ford facilities and adds a third shift for the 7.3-liter engine at the Essex Engine plant forecasted for 2029.
“This agreement is about investing in our people and Canada’s future,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement. “With this agreement and our continued investments in Oakville, Windsor and Essex, we’re building on more than a century of manufacturing leadership in Canada and strengthening Ford’s ability to compete and win for years to come.”
He added that an interconnected North American ecosystem is important for Ford’s competitiveness and a revised United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement is critical for fending off advantages enjoyed by imported vehicles from South Korea and Japan.
The annual wage hikes over the full three years are the largest uplift in Ford of Canada history, according to the automaker. That will bring full-rate operator wages to $35.83 (50.20 Canadian dollars) per hour and skilled trades wages to $44.76 (62.71 Canadian dollars) per hour by the end of the agreement. It also secures renewal of a cost of living allowance added in 2023 and a pathway to full employment for hundreds of laid-off workers at Oakville by July 1, 2027.
“This would have been by far a high watermark of the auto industry in Canada, 1999, when we last saw outside of 2023 wage gains of this size,” Payne said, referencing the union’s last contract that secured increases of 10% in the first year, 2% in the second year and 3% in the year after.
Full-time eligible members also will receive a more than $7,000 (10,000 Canadian dollars) productivity and quality bonus — a record ratification check, according to Ford, and temporary workers will receive almost $2,900 (4,000 Canadian dollars). A more than $7,000 special payment will go to those on indefinite layoff from Oakville. And Ford will distribute a nearly $1,500 (2,000 Canadian dollars) bonus in December.
The deal also includes increases in Retirees Universal Healthcare Allowance payments and extend payments to include a surviving spouse.
Unifor Ford members voted 74% in favor of the contract. Salaried members at Locals 240 and 1324 voted 97% and 100%, respectively. The new contract expires Sept. 19, 2029.
At GM, about 1,200 Unifor members are laid off from CAMI Assembly following the end of production of the electric Chevrolet BrightDrop commercial vans in October. Stellantis has around 3,000 employees on layoff from the Brampton Assembly Plant. The Jeep Compass SUV slated for the plant was moved to Belvidere, Illinois, following new U.S. tariffs. Brampton has been idle since the end of 2023 when it ended production of the Chrysler 300 and previous-generation Dodge muscle cars.
The United Auto Workers’ contracts with the Detroit automakers expire in May 2028.
Payne said Canada and the United States are meeting weekly concerning USMCA, though it’s her understanding that formal negotiations haven’t fully happened.
“It’s really, really important that we are working together to make sure that we have a solid trade agreement that works for both of our countries,” she said, “and we have to keep pushing in that direction to make sure that we come out on the other end with an auto industry that comes out of this stronger and not weaker. And when you consider the fact that some of the tariffs that have been put in place by the United States on other countries are causing a major problem for competitiveness for the companies that actually operate in the United States, this has to be looked at and considered on on all fronts.”
bnoble@detroitnews.com
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Unifor president says Ford contract sets expectations for job security
Reporting by Breana Noble, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Breana Noble, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
