Strike deadline draws near as GM, union talk

Union president Jerry Dias said he knew discussions with the automaker would be hard but he wanted to tackle that head on. He said the union will not extend its strike deadline.

It was not clear if any of the talks have progressed on securing new product and investment for Oshawa and St. Catharines. Unifor is determined to get GM to commit to making new vehicle models there.

A spokeswoman for Unifor said Sunday there has been some progress in the union’s negotiations with General Motors.

A GM spokesman had no comment beyond the company’s existing statement on the talks: “At GM Canada we remain focused on working with Unifor to reach a mutually beneficial and competitive new agreement”.

GM has said it wouldn’t make any commitments on investing in its Canadian operations or allocating any new products to its Oshawa plant until after an agreement with the union was ratified. The automaker said the costs are just one factor in its determining where products are placed.

The plants most at risk include GM’s Oshawa plant, Ford’s engine plant in Windsor and Fiat Chrysler’s Automobiles plant in Brampton, Ontario.

Dias said Friday that GM had acknowledged that the Oshawa plant has a history of being one of Canada’s most productive plants in the world. The automaker has 1,400 unionized employees in St. Catharines, Ont., and another 100 in Woodstock, Ont.

As today’s midnight strike deadline looms for Oshawa GM autoworkers, Unifor officials made a brief update on bargaining talks which they say continue.

Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, said a strike would be hard for his Canadian members, but worthwhile if it means securing the future of GM’s Oshawa plant.

The Ingersoll plant, which is running three shifts, makes the Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles.

Previous year the St. Catharines plant produced almost 600,000 engines for GM, including V-6 and two types of V-8 engines, according to LMC Automotive.

“We are having some constructive conversations, finally”, Mr. Dias said. The facility’s other assembly line, which produces the Chevrolet Impala, the Buick Regal and the Cadillac XTS, has no vehicles scheduled past 2019. Oshawa has seen its employment levels drop significantly over the past few decades and the union wants to secure product for workers’ futures. The facility lost production of the Chevrolet Camaro a year ago as the pony car’s assembly was shifted to GM’s Lansing Grand River Plant.