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“After a short strike throughout the night Unifor has reached now a tentative agreement with Stellantis. The deal came about around 7:00 AM this morning after bargaining throughout the night. And yes, as you can tell all of those here are tired, but also very, very proud of the work that we’ve done for Canadian auto workers,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne late this afternoon at a hotel in Toronto.
Flanked by James Stewart, Stellantis Master Bargaining Chair and Vito Beato, Stellantis Master Bargaining Acting Vice-Chairperson, Payne said, “I want to be clear, there were many challenges in this round of bargaining, including flat-out resistance to many elements of the pattern agreement that we had previously reached with Ford Motor Company and General Motors. Stellantis came to the table aggressively and with demands to outsource work, along with other concessions. It became very clear as we approached our midnight deadline last night that there were still way too many unresolved items, including issues at local and sub-tables.
“We also needed to ensure a strong EV transition support for our members at Brampton Assembly plant, given the length of their retooling period, and we did this. And by the way, this is a model for sectors and other industries who will also be going through transition. But despite very good progress we had run out of time. And the deadline was the deadline. So we took strike action in order to get this tentative agreement across the finish line. It includes the core economic pattern on wages and pensions investments. As well as EV transition supports achieved with Ford and General Motors.
“This deal, which we will present to our members at ratification meetings over the weekend also includes a number of Stellantis specific improvements, including work practices, investments and special measures for workers at Windsor Assembly, who have been navigating their own EV plant retool.
“We also had extensive talks on the options on the joint-venture battery plant in which Stellantis is a minority shareholder. …Our objectives around this plant are crystal clear. These will be good union jobs that pay autoworker wages. And they will be Unifor members. …This agreement has been recommended by our bargaining committee from across the Stellantis chain from assembly plants, to parts depots, office, clerical, engineering and security units, as well as our skilled trades.
I’m very proud of our members at every Stellantis facility for their quick and decisive action during this brief but effective strike action. This agreement will considerably improve living standards of every single Unifor member at Stellantis. Our goal was to achieve investments and job security for our members for the years and decades to come.
