Thousands of Canadian General Motors employees walked off the job Tuesday.
Unifor, the Canadian union representing over 4,000 GM workers, announced this week that contract talks failed, sparking a strike at several GM plants in the Ontario province.
“This strike is about General Motors stubbornly refusing to meet the pattern agreement. The company knows our members will never let GM break our pattern — not today, not ever,” Unifor President Lana Payne said.
Ms. Payne went on to say the company has “continued to fall short” on issues like retirement benefits and the elimination of employee tiers.
The strike comes after Unifor reached a deal with Ford Motor to avoid a strike. The union’s contract with Ford likely is being used as a template during Unifor’s talks with GM and Stellantis.
The strike makes labor unrest an international issue for GM, which is dealing with a United Auto Workers strike in the U.S.
Unifor’s strike methods differ from the UAW’s in scope. While the UAW has opted to gradually increase the strike pressure as talks continue, Unifor has had all its workers walk off the job immediately to try to squeeze GM.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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