The Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW) has reached new tentative labor agreements with General Motors and Chrysler that include wage freezes and cuts in some benefits, the union said Thursday.
The pacts are identical to a deal recently reached with Ford, freezing wages for three years at all of the Big Three US auto makers' assembly plants in Canada, and reducing vacations in a bid to cut costs amid slumping North American sales.
As well, the union agreed to phased-in wages, benefits and time off for new recruits over their first three years of work, starting at 70 percent of base wages, in exchange for slowed job cuts.
GM's 13,000 unionized workers are expected to ratify the deal on Friday, while 8,000 workers at Chrysler will vote on their new contract on Saturday, Canadian Auto Workers head Buzz Hargrove told a press conference.
It is the first time the CAW has signed labor contracts with two auto makers in the same day, and less than a week after starting negotiations.
A deal with Ford was signed at the end of April, a full five months before the existing contract expired.
Hargrove described the pacts as a “win-win” for both CAW's members and the auto makers, given the current “uncertainty” in the North American auto sector, with Ford, GM and Chrysler fighting for their “survival.”
“Overall this is a good agreement that protects as many jobs as we could,” he said.
The union represents about 30,000 auto workers in Canada.
As part of its deal, GM agreed to manufacture new vehicles at its assembly plants in Oshawa, Ontario, and postpone the shutdown of a second shift at its truck plant from September until 2009.
Meanwhile, Chrysler promised to keep its Etobicoke, Ontario, casting plant open to 2011.
