A significant majority of workers at three major automobile manufacturers have voiced their approval for their union to initiate a strike, should their negotiation committees fail to secure new collective contracts in the upcoming months. These confirmations are carried by Unifor, the largest private-sector union of Canada, having members across Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Stellantis.
The union membership consensus, which saw an approval range of 98 to 99 per cent for the strike proposition, was carried out over the past weekend during a hiatus in bargaining discussions. The existing selection of collective contracts, encompassing approximately 18,000 workers at the three renowned ‘Detroit Three’ automakers, are marked to expire prior to midnight, September 18.
The approval ratings echo a similar strike endorsement given out by members belonging to the United Auto Workers union in the USA on the preceding Friday, who are also amidst negotiations with the same triplet set of automakers.
In a public statement, Unifor National’s president, Lana Payne, stated that their negotiation teams, buoyed by the support from union members across the automobile sector, are gearing up to restart discussions, ready to take whatever course of action necessary to meet their objectives. She also emphasized that their negotiation committees are centered on elevating pensions, stepping up the wage structure, and ensuring the continuation of good union jobs in an era likely to be dominated by electric vehicles.