General Motors (GM) and the union representing Canadian autoworkers have reached a tentative contract agreement, ending a strike at the automaker’s Ontario facilities 14 hours after it began.
About 4,300 Canadian employees of GM who had walked off the job quickly returned to work Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 10) and now plan to vote on the new three-year labour pact.
Unifor, the union that represents Canadian autoworkers, said that, when faced with the strike, General Motors had no choice but to follow a similar collective agreement that had been previously reached with Ford Motor Co. (F).
GM said that it reached the deal with Unifor at around 2 p.m. on Oct. 10 after workers went on strike at three Ontario manufacturing facilities just after midnight.
Full details of the new collective agreement have not been made public. But the automaker said the deal includes significant pay and benefit increases and additional job security.
The union said the new agreement with GM includes improvements to pension benefits, retiree income supports, and provisions to convert temporary workers to permanent employees.
Specifically, Unifor said that the deal with GM includes pay raises of nearly 20% for production workers and 25% for skilled trades. The company also agreed to restore cost-of-living pay raises starting in December 2024.
Additionally, GM employees who currently receive a defined-contribution retirement plan (RRSP) will be moved to a new defined-benefits pension on January 1, 2025, said the union.
The new labour agreement covers autoworkers at GM’s assembly plant in Oshawa, a powertrain plant in St. Catharines, and a parts distribution center in Woodstock, Ontario.
Unifor is planning to hold a ratification vote on the new GM deal by week’s end. If approved, only Stellantis (STLA) would be left without a new contract with the Canadian autoworkers.
The labour unrest in Canada comes as GM, Ford and Stellantis are grappling with targeted strikes in the U.S. by the United Auto Workers (UAW).
The stock of General Motors has declined 7% this year and currently trades at $31.48 U.S. per share.