with its opening demands at separate meetings on Thursday in Toronto, ahead of the Sept. 18 expiration of the existing collective agreements.national president, said the union is seeking better pay and pensions, income guarantees during assembly plant retooling and new investments at factories that make parts and vehicles.
The automakers say they are seeking agreements that will allow them to remain competitive as they spend billions of dollars to convert factories to electric auto production.plants to make plug-in vehicles and batteries in moves aimed at reducing climate-changing pollution and complying with government sales quotas.
The automaker has announced investments of more than $8.6-billion in Canada over the past 18 months, and says it will add more than 3,000 jobs as it retools plants in Brampton and Windsor. Stellantis, whose brands include Dodge and Chrysler, recently won as much as“We value our partnership with Unifor and have important work to do together as we create a blueprint for the Canadian automotive industry,” said Steven Majer, Ford of Canada’s vice-president of human resources.
“When it comes to the transition, we have the clearest picture of what the Ford Oakville EV retool will look like,” she said, “and we think that provides us with a useful baseline on which to negotiate.”