Unifor to hold GM ratification vote this weekend

Unifor members at General Motors Canada will vote on whether to approve a new collective agreement with the automaker over the weekend after a short-lived strike Monday secured the tentative three-year deal.

The union plans to hold ratification meetings for members Saturday and Sunday across locals in Oshawa, St. Catharines and Woodstock, Ontario, with voting to take place either on-site or online, depending on the preference of the local.

Unifor represents nearly 4,300 workers at GM Canada under its master agreement. Its roughly 3,100 members with Local 222 at Oshawa Assembly will take part in an in-person ratification meeting but vote online. Local 199’s 1,100 members employed at GM’s St. Catharines powertrain plant, meanwhile, will carry out the entire process in person on Saturday.   

The hybrid approach differs from the fully online route taken for ratification of the union’s deal with Ford Motor Co. of Canada last month. Members at Ford workplaces in the country narrowly approved that accord Sept. 24, with 54 percent voting in favor.

Union gains in the tentative GM agreement closely track with those in the Ford deal. They include wage gains of nearly 20 percent for longtime members over the three-year term and one-time bonuses of $10,000 for full-time staff.

Despite pushback from members at Ford, labor experts anticipate the more junior work force at GM will vote convincingly in favor of the deal this weekend.

Results are expected late Sunday afternoon.