Unifor, General Motors to begin contract negotiation talks today

Unifor and General Motors have begun negotiations on a new labour contract, with talks kicking off at a downtown Toronto bargaining table Monday.

The union represents more than 4,600 members at Ontario GM facilities, including the Oshawa assembly plant, the CAMI facility in Ingersoll as well as operations in St. Catharines and Woodstock.

Unifor national president Lana Payne and Jack Uppal, president and managing director at GM Canada, shook hands to mark the beginning of discussions

Chairs lined the conference room where officials sat on opposite ends, with Payne sitting in the middle of the room and Uppal sitting directly across.

"We're entering this next round of negotiations with the solid foundation established by the pattern agreement with Ford, and we intend to have meaningful discussions on company operations and the future of auto jobs at GM in Canada," Payne said in a news release Monday.

The union has set a target deadline of Aug. 21 to reach a tentative agreement with GM.

Uppal said in a news release Monday that the company is entering into negotiations with "profound respect for the collective bargaining process" as well as the role its employees play in its success.

"Since 2020, we have invested $3.3 billion in our Canadian manufacturing plants, enabling next-generation products that will secure thousands of Canadian jobs for years to come, and our goal is to reach a mutually beneficial agreement that supports our employees while keeping GM Canada competitive for the long term," he said

In July, Unifor members approved a new three-year contract with Ford that included three per cent annual pay increases.

Other elements of the deal, which takes effect Sept. 21, included a renewal of a no-closure agreement.

It also included program commitments at all Ford facilities, like a third shift at its engine plant in Essex, Ont., forecasted for 2029.

Unifor and Ford also agreed to introduce a program that provides laid-off workers from the company's Oakville, Ont., assembly plant a pathway to full employment by July 2027.

The union says the agreement with Ford marked successful pattern-setting negotiations.

In pattern bargaining, a union negotiates with one company to set terms that it hopes to replicate with other companies in the same sector.