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.”
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
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
Major health benefit improvements for active members and retirees, include:
*Ford of Canada’s hourly employees historic economic gains:
“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.”
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.