Canadian Unifor Workers Ratify Ford Contract

Click for more Unifor.

Unifor represented hourly employees ratified a three-year contract yesterday at Ford of Canada. The collective agreement covers more than 5600 workers at Ford facilities in Canada. Unifor Ford members voted 54% in favor of the  agreement, expiring on 20 September 2026. Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector and represents 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The contract is a significant step forward for Unifor with record gains.* A Ford worker with one year seniority will move from $25.75 to $46.13 hourly during the contract’s three years. By implication the deal will have widespread effects in automotive labor wages, next at GM and Stellantis in Canada, as well as globally starting south of the border. (AutoInformed: UAW Expands Strike at GM and Stellantis; Unifor Has Provisional Contract Agreement with Ford Motor)

 “This contract will change lives in a profound way. It fundamentally transforms pension plans, provides protections during the EV transition and includes the highest wage increases in the history of Canadian auto bargaining,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.

The new agreement covers members of Unifor Locals 707, 200, 584, 1087, 240 and 1324 at Ford’s Oakville Assembly Plant, Annex and Essex Engine Plants in Windsor, Ontario, as well as Parts Distribution Centers in Bramalea, Paris and Casselman in Ontario and Leduc, Alberta.

Unifor Ford Agreement

• Base hourly wage increase of nearly 20% for production and 25% for trades over lifetime of agreement.
• By the end of the 3-year agreement, a top-rate production assembler will be paid $44.52 per hour, in addition to a forecasted $1.61 cost of living allowance (a total of $46.13); a journeyperson skilled trades worker will be paid $55.97 per hour, in addition to a forecasted $1.61 cost of living allowance (a total of $57.58).
• General wage increases in each year of the agreement with 10% in year one, 2% in year two and 3% in year three.
• Hourly wages for production workers at Ford of Canada is now $11.00 per hour (35%) higher than comparable U.S. autoworkers at Ford.
• Reactivation of the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).
• Wage progression reduced from 8 to 4 years.
• Start rate for Temporary Part Time and production workers increasing from $24.26 to $29.67/hr., further increasing to $30.26 within 12 months, and $31.16 by the end of the agreement.
• $10,000 Productivity and Quality bonus for full-time employees, $4,000 for Temporary Part Time.
• Improvements to all pension plans.
• Increased Defined Benefit basic monthly benefit rate from $68.60 to $73.60 for production workers, and from $81.60 to $87.60 for Skilled Trades.
• A production worker retiring at 30 years, under the ’30-and-Out’ pension program will see an increase to their monthly pension from $3,545 to $3,795. For Skilled Trades, their ’30-and-Out’ pension will increase from $3925 to $4225.
• Mandatory company contributions to the DC plan increase from 4% to 7%. For example, this represents an immediate company contribution increase from $3106 to $6172 in the first year of the agreement, for a top-rated production assembler.
• DC plan members will transition to a new DB-style pension for current plan members and all new hires on 1 January 2025.
• New quarterly payment unique to Canadian retirees, called the Universal Health Care Allowance. These quarterly payments will continue in each year of the 3-year agreement.
• Investment for Essex Engine Plant.
• Special EV Transition measures negotiated for members at Oakville assembly plant.
• Improved Supplemental Unemployment Benefit (SUB) program, raising income replacement top-up while on layoff from 65% to 70% of weekly earnings and reducing eligibility from 3 years to 1 year of seniority.
• 556 “retirement incentives” at $50,000 each.
• Two new paid holidays: Family Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Major health benefit improvements for active members and retirees, include:

• Eliminating a quarterly $97 health care deductible.
• Increase glucose monitoring maximum coverage from $1,600 to $4,000.
• Increase massage therapy annual maximum ($200 to $300) and physiotherapy coverage ($200 to $400) and eliminated requirements for doctor’s notes.
• Vision and dental care improvements.
• Legal Services Plan and Dependent Scholarship plan will now be available to workers after 1 year of seniority (previously 8 years).

*Ford of Canada’s hourly employees historic economic gains:

• A 15% in general wage increase over the life of the agreement – the largest in Ford of Canada history and three-times the increase in 2020.
• A record C$10,000 ratification bonus for full-time permanent employees and $4,000 for temporary employees.
• Significant increases to retirement programs including raised pension benefit rate and increased contributions.
• Reduced new hire wage progression period by 50%.

“Our Unifor-represented autoworkers are the heart of Ford of Canada,” said Bev Goodman, president and CEO, Ford of Canada. “This contract invests in our talented and dedicated employees, who remain consistently focused on the critical work of assembling our vehicles, building our engines and components, improving customer satisfaction, and expediting parts delivery service to our more than 400 dealers. Together, we are ensuring our Canadian operations continue to deliver with the skills, knowledge, and processes to compete and win.”