PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — A scene familiar in Michigan played out Tuesday morning in Ontario when more than 4,000 auto workers at three Canadian General Motors facilities went on strike at midnight after the expiration of GM’s contract with Unifor, the Canadian auto workers union. However, by 1 p.m., it was all over.
“We were all standing around here watching Facebook and it was posted on our UAW pages,” said Judith Rice of UAW Local 653. “Kind of shocked that it was that fast.”
United Auto Workers members like Rice were paying close attention to the Unifor strike. She’s been holding the picket line at the General Motors Redistribution Center in Pontiac for three weeks.
“It's kind of like, good for Canada but man, no way. No way,” Rice said.
Rice and her fellow UAW members were not satisfied with Unifor’s deal. While it reinstated COLA and improved pensions, it increased wages by about 20% which is half the UAW’s initial demands.
“We would vote this down,” Rice said of the deal. “Our membership would say ‘hell no!’ and Shawn Fain wouldn't even bring it to the group.”
David Zoia is an industry analyst and says Canada’s union followed a more traditional pattern bargaining approach. GM agreed to a similar deal the union made with Ford in recent weeks, a deal similar to ones the UAW has turned down.
“It appears that the Canadian workers are more amenable to a much lower wage increase than what the workers here in the U.S. are looking for,” said Zoia, an Analyst at Ward’s Intelligence. ”Here, the UAW is clearly gaining for something north of 25%, closer to 30% once you add in COLA and all that.”
With Canada’s GM production back up and running, Zoia says additional UAW strikes could have a stronger impact. Any stop in production here could impact those plants from operating as well.
“In some ways, it’s better for the UAW if this is settled,” Zoia said. “It's a slightly bigger trump card for the UAW to play down the road if negotiations drag on here in the U.S.”
However, workers on the picket line hope that won’t be necessary
“Hopefully, you guys won't be out here visiting us next week. Hopefully, we’ll be voting on a contract,” Rice said.
The Unifor members still have to vote on and ratify the tentative agreement. The union told the 4,200 Unifor workers on strike to return to work by 2 p.m. Tuesday.
