OTTAWA – Stellantis and Canadian auto workers union Unifor forge a tentative deal this morning, ending a brief strike that had been called at midnight after two days of bargaining failed to deliver a new three-year contract.
Work stoppages at all of Stellantis’ Canada facilities, including its assembly plants in Brampton and Windsor; its Etobicoke Casting Plant; and a parts distribution center in Mississauga, all in Ontario; and a parts distribution center in Red Deer, Alberta, are now over, a Unifor spokesperson says. The factories employ 8,200 Unifor members.
Lana Payne, Unifor national president (pictured, below left), says: “I am proud of our members at every Stellantis facility for their quick and decisive action during this brief and effective strike action. This agreement will considerably improve the living standards of every Unifor member at Stellantis.”
Unifor Stellantis master bargaining chair James Stewart adds: “The agreement puts in place all the elements of our pattern agreement, the protections autoworkers need throughout the EV transition and next-generation products our members will build for years to come.”
The union claims the deal, which will be put before members for ratification later this week, followed the pattern agreement already struck with Ford and General Motors.
Some details include base hourly wage increases of nearly 20% for production and 25% for skilled trades over the three-year deal, meaning a top-rate production assembler will be paid C$46.13 ($33.36) per hour by 2026; and skilled trades C$.58 ($41.64). Pay rises will be front-loaded: 10% in year one, 2% in year two and 3% in year three. Wage progression scales to top rates will be reduced from eight to four years.
A C$10,000 ($7,232) bonus will be paid to full-time employees and C$4,000 ($2,900) for temporary part-time workers. There are improvements to all pension plans and two new additional paid holidays.
Mark Stewart, Stellantis North America chief operating officer, adds: “I am very proud of the negotiating teams and thankful for their commitment and focused effort in reaching a tentative agreement with Unifor. Once ratified, this agreement will reward our 8,000 represented employees and protect the long-term health of our Canadian operations.”
Progress in the talks had been slow until Friday, says Payne, who commented that day: “There has been a lot of foot-dragging by the company and a lot of needless posturing and comments about not meeting ‘pattern,’” referring to the earlier agreements struck with Ford and General Motors in Canada.
Revised proposals offered Friday had put negotiations “back on track,” however, Payne says, with the union stressing it needed “Stellantis-specific” issues to be resolved, including pensions; accepted vehicle assembly times; protection of permanent staffing at Stellantis fire, security, office, clerical and engineering units; protections against outsourcing at Stellantis parts distribution centers; and the extension of union bargaining rights to the upcoming LG/Stellantis NextStar battery plant now being built in Windsor.
A tentative agreement between Stellantis and the UAW covering the automaker’s U.S. workers was reached over the weekend.
