The Canadian auto workers union has reached tentative agreement with Ford, averting a strike as negotiations continued Wednesday in Detroit where US labor leaders have threatened to expand a stoppage at three major automakers.
Unifor, which represents Canadian auto workers, said late Tuesday its deal covers more than 5,600 employees at Canadian Ford facilities who were poised for a potential walkout.
The tentative agreement still must be ratified by Unifor members, but the accord contrasts against the situation in the United States.
About 12,700 United Auto Workers (UAW) members are on strike at three US plants after failing to agree on a new contract with the “Big Three” automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
But the automakers have now sent thousands of additional employees home through temporary layoffs they characterize as a ripple effect from the strikes.
GM said Wednesday it “idled” the Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas following the strike at its Wentzville, Missouri facility.
“There is no work available… due to a shortage of critical stampings supplied by Wentzville’s stamping operations to Fairfax,” said GM, which added that the action affects “most” of Fairfax’s 2,000 UAW members.
“We have said repeatedly that nobody wins in a strike,” GM added. “We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”
Earlier Wednesday, Stellantis announced layoffs potentially involving more than 350 workers in Perrysburg, Ohio and Kokomo, Indiana due to effects of the UAW strike at its Toledo, Ohio factory.
Ford has also temporarily laid off 600 workers impacted by the strike at a Wayne, Michigan plant.
Next up: ratification
In Canada, the collective agreement between Unifor and Ford expired on September 18 at 11:59 p.m. but Unifor agreed to a 24-hour extension to see if negotiators from both sides could reach an accord.
The Unifor tentative deal “addresses all of the items raised by members in preparation for this round of collective bargaining,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.
“We believe that this agreement will solidify the foundations on which we will continue to bargain gains for generations of auto workers in Canada,” Payne said in a statement.
Payne has pursued a quieter and less confrontational strategy than UAW President Shawn Fain, who last week launched the first-ever simultaneous strike on the three major Detroit carmakers after failing to reach a deal.
The strike has reverberated across US politics, with US President Joe Biden backing worker demands.
In attending the United Nations General Assembly, Biden wore a red tie out of solidarity with the UAW strike, according to a White House press pool report.
Unifor said it was withholding details about the agreement, pending ratification meetings with union members. But Payne earlier this week said Unifor was looking for substantial increases in pensions and wages.
Ford confirmed the tentative settlement but declined to discuss specifics of the proposed contract “to respect the ratification process,” a company spokesman said in an email.
Fain has warned the UAW could expand its strike beyond three plants, if current negotiations do not yield any signs of progress by Friday morning.
The UAW is also keeping up pressure through public events, such as a practice picket near Stellantis’ headquarters later Wednesday in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Fain is seeking 40 percent wage hikes and other significant labor reforms, including the elimination of different pay tiers and the reinstatement of pensions for young employees.
