CAW reaches tentative contract with GM, deal with Chrysler said near
May 15, 2008TORONTO - The Canadian Auto Workers has reached a tentative contract with General Motors of Canada that freezes wages for three years but will keep workers on the job at car and truck plants in Oshawa, Ont.
The agreement reached Thursday morning secures production commitments for the car plant and postpones the shutdown of a second shift at the facility from September until 2009. The union also said Thursday it was close to reaching a deal with the last of the Big Three automakers, Chrysler. Existing contracts between the CAW and the automakers do not expire until September.
The GM deal contains "huge improvements" to income security for GM workers, said CAW president Buzz Hargrove.
GM workers will get no wage increases for three years but will see cost-of living improvements in the second and third years of the contract.
"We improved some of our health-care benefits but we did put a cap on some as well," Hargrove said.
The changes include a cap on long-term care benefits and a 10 per cent co-pay on drugs to a maximum of $200 a year in the first year, increasing in the second and third years.
The union began meeting with GM last week and Chrysler this week, covering a total of 22,000 workers, seeking commitments for new products and investments in Ontario assembly and parts plants, as well as attempting to stem job losses.
GM announced Monday it will close its transmission plant in Windsor, Ont., by mid-2010 in a move that will affect 1,400 people.
Earlier this month it said it was slashing 900 jobs at the truck assembly plant in Oshawa because of falling demand due to soaring fuel prices - an announcement that came on the heels of a slowdown at the plant in January, when GM announced it would cut a shift and 1,000 jobs.
The GM deal was similar to one already reached with a deal already reached with Ford.
That contract, covering 9,000 employees, freezes base wages, halts quarterly cost-of-living adjustments until late 2009 and trims a week's vacation in return for $3,500 one-time payments, but ensures base wages stay constant.
It also calls for Ford's assembly plant in St. Thomas, Ont., to stay in operation until at least September 2011, when the contract would expire, instead of the previously scheduled end in 2010.
