• Canadian union Unifor postpones first strike action by 24 hours.
In the current negotiations between North American auto workers and the Big Three U.S. automakers, we're seeing different plots play out in the U.S. and in Canada. South of the border, the UAW (United Automobile Workers) union launched a first, strategic strike action last Thursday at the stroke of midnight.
Today, UAW president Shawn Fain threatened to step up the pressure this Friday if negotiations don’t progress. This would involve a larger-scale walkout, in other words, in more plants than the three currently affected.
“If we don’t make serious progress by noon on Friday, September 22nd, more locals will be called on to Stand Up and join the strike. Autoworkers have waited long enough to make things right at the Big Three. We’re not waiting around, and we’re not messing around.”
It is not known how many other plants could be affected. Currently, some 13,000 workers are on strike in the United States.
In Canada
On the Canadian side, the labour contract deadline expired last night, but the Unifor union received what it calls a “substantive” offer from its initial negotiating dance partner Ford. That offer was evidently strong enough that Unifor chose to continue negotiations today. As a result, the deadline for reaching an agreement has been extended to tonight.
Union president Lana Payne issued a statement that “The union received a substantive offer from the employer minutes before the deadline and bargaining is continuing throughout the night. Unifor members should continue to maintain strike readiness.”