Canada labor talks: Unifor deal with Ford contains 22% raise

Wages for starting workers in Canadian dollars, including a $1.21 cost-of-living allowance fold-in, will jump 22 percent as of Sept. 25, rising to $29.67 from $24.26 previously. For workers already at the top-end of the pay grid, wages will increase 13 percent, to $42.39 from $37.33.

(Note, the Canadian dollar is worth $0.74 in U.S. dollars at current exchange rates.)

Pay for workers at all levels of the wage grid will then rise two and three per cent at the start of the second and third years of the agreement.

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The deal also halves the grow-in time for new workers. Under the previous collective agreement, new hires started at 65 percent of top-end pay and it took eight years to progress to 100 percent. The new tentative deal gives new hires 70 percent of high-end pay and shortens the grow-in time to four years.

Signing bonus

Active Ford members will also get a C$10,000 ($7,411 USD) “Productivity and Quality” signing bonus.

The tentative deal offers a path back to defined benefits pension plans for workers hired after 2016 as well. Members currently on defined contribution plans will be able to transfer to the more “stable and beneficial” defined benefits plan as of Jan. 1, 2025, according to the master bargaining committee.

A range of other improvements to both sets of pension plans are also included in the tentative deal.

Support for workers during retooling periods was another of Unifor’s key priorities heading into talks. To assist members during shutdowns, the supplemental unemployment base rate increases to 70 from 65 percent.

Notably, it will remain at that rate through the estimated eight-month retooling period for the Oakville Assembly Complex. That project is scheduled to start next year.

Production promises

While the Oakville plant already has a C$1.8 billion ($1.3 billion) investment commitment, the tentative deal also includes unquantified spending in Windsor.