Unifor autoworkers overwhelmingly vote to authorize strikes at GM, Ford, Stellantis

TORONTO –

Workers at a trio of main automakers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of permitting their union to name a strike if bargaining committees cannot safe new collective agreements within 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 per cent in favour of the strike mandate.

The vote came about over the weekend amid a pause in bargaining talks. The present batch of collective agreements, which cowl 18,000 staff on the “Detroit Three” automakers, are set to run out earlier than midnight on Sept. 18.

The outcomes mirror a strike mandate handed down by members of the U.S.-based United Auto Workers union on Friday, who’re negotiating with the trio of automakers on the identical time.

Unifor National President Lana Payne issued a launch saying the union’s bargaining groups are set to renew talks with assist from members throughout the auto sector and are ready to take any mandatory motion to attain their objectives.

She says their bargaining committees are targeted on bettering pensions, rising wages and securing good union jobs in a future set to be dominated by electrical automobiles.

This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Aug. 27, 2023.