GM workers at three Ontario facilities go on strike

Unifor workers have kicked off a strike at General Motors Canada, affecting three Ontario operations, after failing to reach a new contract with the US automaker.

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Unifor national president Lana Payne said in a statement early Tuesday that GM has refused to meet the pattern agreement the union negotiated with Ford of Canada.

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“The company knows our members will never let GM break our pattern — not today — not ever,” Payne said.

“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.”

The union said its members will remain on strike until the pattern agreement, as established in the ratified collective agreement with Ford, is met.

The strike covers about 4,280 autoworkers from Unifor Locals 222, 199 and 636. It includes unionized GM members at the Oshawa assembly complex and CCA Stamped Products, the St. Catharines powertrain plant and the Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre, one of four such parts distribution centers the company has across Canada.

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Unifor Local 88 members at the Cami assembly plant in Ingersoll are covered by a separate collective agreement and will continue operations.

General Motors said it is committed to keeping working with Unifor to reach a collective agreement.

It said while it has made progress on several key priorities over the past weeks, it is disappointed that it has not been able to achieve a new collective agreement with Unifor at this time.

Unifor’s deal with Ford last month included wage hikes, pension and benefit improvements, and special EV transition measures for workers at Ford’s assembly plant in Oakville, Ont. It also added two new paid holidays.

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