General Motors strike: Union reaches tentative agreement hours after workers walk off job | FULL

Unifor National President Lana Payne announced in Toronto on Tuesday that Unifor and General Motors have reached a tentative agreement, just hours after 4,300 unionized auto workers hit the picket lines at Oshawa Assembly Plant, St. Catharines Powertrain Plant and Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre.

“We had no choice as a union but to show General Motors how serious we were about meeting this tentative pattern agreement. And we knew that getting this pattern was going to be an uphill battle because of the economic significance of the Ford Agreement — the greatest wage increases that we've ever bargained in the auto sector in Canada, the first improvements to pension plans in over 15 years,” Payne said.

“I expect Stellantis will come here kicking and screaming the same way that General Motors did,” Payne added, noting that Stellantis has the largest footprint in Canada of the three. “Our members at Stellantis deserve this pattern agreement too, and all of the improvements that we've been able to gain here. And so we'll be fighting for them every step of the way.”

The tentative agreement with General Motors follows the pattern of agreement Unifor reached with Ford Motor Company last month, according to Payne. She added that the terms of the agreement included all of the items the company had pushed back against, including pensions, retiree income support, and moving temporary workers into permanent positions.

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