Posted Aug 27, 2023 8:47pm ET
Unifor National President Lana Payne leads the way for a meeting with Stellantis as part of the Toronto Auto Talks Thursday, August 10, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin
TORONTO – Workers at three major automakers have voted overwhelmingly to allow their union to call a strike if collective bargaining boards fail to secure new collective agreements in the coming months.
Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, says its members at Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Stellantis all voted between 98 and 99 percent in favor of the strike mandate.
The vote took place over the weekend amid a lull in negotiation talks. The current contract, which covers 18,000 workers at the Detroit Three automakers, is expected to expire before midnight on September 18.
The results echo a strike mandate issued Friday by members of the US-based United Auto Workers, which is negotiating simultaneously with the three automakers.
Unifor National President Lana Payne issued a press release saying that the union’s negotiating teams, with the support of members across the auto sector, are reopening talks and stand ready to take any action necessary to secure their to achieve goals.
She says her bargaining committees are focused on improving pensions, raising wages and securing good union jobs in a future dominated by electric vehicles.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 27, 2023.
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