“There’s never been an easy round of collective bargaining … so this is going to be a challenge, and it’s going to be complex, but I’m confident that we can find a way through it.”
Unifor represents almost 5,700 workers at Ford operations in Canada, including at the Oakville Assembly Complex southwest of Toronto and a pair of engine plants in Windsor. Production workers at the plants earn an average of C$36 ($26.90) per hour, not including pension or retirement benefits, while new staff start at C$24.15 an hour, according to the company.
While the company must make the shift to EV production cost-competitively, the current market outlook in Canada remains positive, the Ford Canada official said.
“If you look at the vantage point that we’re at right now as the Canadian automotive industry, with where we stand with everything going on in the global marketplace, I feel really good and really bullish about the future of Canada.”
On April 11, the company pledged to spend $1.8 billion to retool its Oakville assembly plant to build EVs, as well as add a battery pack production line.
The Ford Canada official did not delve into the details of how the company plans to address Unifor’s priorities, but acknowledged the challenges workers are facing.
“It’s been a tough environment in recent years between COVID, between the economic pressures with inflation, with housing prices, and that’s something the entire industry is having to reconcile.”
A counterbalance to high levels of inflation is “something that’s going to be on the table through these negotiations,” the official added.
From the automaker’s side, the official pointed to competitiveness and the role of new technology as among the top areas of focus.
“Over the course of this agreement, we’re going to need to talk about how we work, how our best competitors are working, and we’re going to need to work as they do, or better, to make sure that we continue to grow these jobs.”
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