Vehicle assembly at GM plant ends in December
Following months of negotiations, Unifor secured closure agreements with Inteva Products, Lear Corporation Whitby, Auto Warehousing Canada and Robinson Solutions, all in Ontario, on Oct. 30.
“We allocated resources, developed a coordinated bargaining plan, and we had the strong commitment of our leadership and membership. That is why we were successful in getting fair agreements for our members,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “They deserved more than legislative minimum severance, and Unifor was successful in negotiating enhanced packages for our members.”
The agreements were the last of 11 negotiated by Unifor at companies that will be significantly impacted by the discontinuation of vehicle assembly at GM Oshawa. The 11 agreements cover more than 1,200 Unifor represented workers in the independent auto parts sector, says the union.
In November 2018, General Motors announced that the Oshawa assembly plant would not allocate vehicle assembly past December 2019.
Following the union’s negotiations with GM for enhanced severance packages for Oshawa workers, the union engaged in bargaining for more than six months to secure fair closure and restructuring agreements for its members, says Unifor.
Unifor represents 315,000 workers.
