Last Thursday evening, the labour contract between American auto workers and the three Detroit automakers came to an end. With no agreement reached, the UAW union launched strategic strikes.
One minute to Midnight
The current contract between Canadian auto workers and the Big Three U.S. automakers comes to an end tonight (Monday evening) at 11:59 pm. The Unifor union has chosen to negotiate with Ford to establish a scale, but talks are stalling and members have been urged to prepare for “all scenarios, including strike” action.
There were no optimistic words from Unifor president Lana Payne, who stated that “at this late stage in the negotiations, the union and the company remain far apart.”
Progress has been made at both the main and local bargaining tables since the union's last update to members on September 14, and discussions are continuing. Unifor's negotiating team has committed to staying at the table Monday to continue working toward a tentative agreement with Ford. But the deadline is fast approaching.
Late last month, recall, the union's negotiating committee won an overwhelming strike mandate late last month, with 98.9 percent of Unifor members at Ford voting in favour of a walkout, if necessary.
Unifor workers at General Motors (GM) and Stellantis will remain on the job regardless of the outcome of today's negotiations. Last weekend, the decision was made to extend the current contracts so that the negotiation effort could focus on reaching an agreement with Ford.