The so called grow in period for new hires to reach full wages from the 60% they now start at was extended from six years to ten years under the new contract, first at Ford, now at GM.
CAW members at General Motors have overwhelmingly approved a new collective agreement by 73% after voting took place at a series of ratification meetings Wednesday and Thursday in Oshawa, St. Catharines and Woodstock, Ontario. The union did not release the actual number of members who voted, but said that 72% of production workers approved the deal, with skilled trades members 79% in favor. The CAW represents 21,000 workers at the Detroit Three auto companies, including more than 8,000 GM workers including 2,500 at CAMI in Ingersoll, Ontario.
The agreement with General Motors follows the pattern agreement reached with Ford on 17 September. Ford workers voted in favor of that agreement by 82%, even though it extended contentious two-tier wages for the first time to Ford of Canada after they were established at GM and Chrysler as part of their deals to receive taxpayer funding to reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy.
The GM agreement also includes a $3,000 quality and productivity bonus for workers upon ratification, as well as cost of living lump sum payments of $2,000 in each of 2013, 2014 and 2015. It offers protection of current pension benefits for existing workers, as well as investment and employment commitments in all locations.
CAW President Ken Lewenza said the GM agreement shows the importance of pattern bargaining in the auto sector.
“Pattern bargaining allows the CAW to concentrate its collective strength on one company at a time and create a level playing field on compensation that extends throughout the auto industry,” Lewenza said.
What Lewenza didn’t say is that the pattern sword cuts both ways. The so called grow in period for new hires to reach full wages from the 60% they now start at was extended from six years to ten years under the new contract, first at Ford, now at GM.
The CAW has also reached a tentative agreement with Chrysler. Ratification meetings are scheduled in Windsor, Brampton and Etobicoke, Ontario this Saturday and Sunday. CAW shop floor leadership from Chrysler workplaces in Windsor, Brampton and Etobicoke unanimously endorsed a new four-year collective agreement at a meeting held yesterday in Toronto.
