Auto strike possible in Canada
Known as the “Big Three”, North America’s automobile manufacturers could be facing a major strike.
Unifor auto workers union members at Ford, Fiat-Chrysler, and General Motors, voted almost unanimously in favour of giving the union a strike mandate with workers at all three companies all voting over 97 percent in favour of a strike mandate.
A report says a number of models now produced in Canada are to be phased out and so workers are concerned about their jobs and future.
Time for workers to benefit
Statistics show a healthy increase in auto sales from the Big Three, and the auto industry in general and in almost all markets world wide, The union says all three companies have enjoyed strong profits with executives and shareholders benefitting since the last round of negotiations four years ago, adding it’s time now for the workers to benefit. This means securing commitments to maintaining production in Canada with new product allocations.
In June, the union members from the Big Three bargaining units voted to make investment and production in Canada a top bargaining priority.
Unifor National President Jerry Dias, leads the Detroit Three negotiations.
In a Sunday press release, (Aug 28), he said, “The membership took an important step today to support their bargaining committees, but our demand for new investment is not just about us. It is about maintaining and creating good paying jobs, it’s about our communities and it’s about the next generation,”
The vote means the union would be in a legal strike position at 11.59 pm on September 19.
Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector, representing more than 310,000 workers, including 40,000 in the auto industry and more than 23,000 working directly for the Detroit Three. It was formed Labour Day weekend 2013 when the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union merged.
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