GM Faces Strike Deadline in Canada
September 17 2017 - 12:07PM
Dow Jones News
By Mike Colias
Workers at a General Motors Co. sport-utility plant in Canada
are threatening to strike unless a new labor deal is reached by
Sunday night, jeopardizing the supply of GM's top-selling SUV
model.
GM faces a 10:59 p.m. ET deadline to ink a tentative contract
with Unifor Local 88, which represents about 2,450 workers at GM's
CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario. The union scheduled a
meeting for Sunday to instruct members on picket plans and how to
apply for strike pay and benefits.
A tentative contract "does not appear achievable," read a notice
on the union's website posted Saturday. The union local has said it
wants improved wages and benefits as well as commitments for
further investments in the plant that would bolster job
security.
GM said in a statement Sunday that it "will work with our Union
partners toward another innovative and mutually beneficial
competitive agreement."
The plant produces the compact Chevrolet Equinox, which competes
in the most popular category of vehicles as consumers gravitate
toward crossover SUVs and away from passenger cars. Equinox sales
have been surging as GM winds down production of an old model and
rolls out an all-new version.
U.S. sales rose 17% to about 185,000 vehicles this year through
August, making it GM's second-highest-selling product behind the
Chevy Silverado pickup. It also sold about 17,000 Equinox SUVs in
Canada.
For years, the plant in Ingersoll has strained to meet demand.
Early this year, GM began producing limited numbers of the SUV in
Mexico, giving it another option in the face of a strike in Canada.
GM made about 161,000 SUVs at the CAMI plant this year through
July, according to WardsAuto.com.
GM invested more than $600 million in the Ingersoll plant to
gear up for the new Equinox. It also laid off several hundred CAMI
workers earlier this year amid slimmed-down production plans as
Mexico takes on more work.
GM a year ago agreed to a four-year contract with Unifor for its
other Canadian operations, including an engine plant and another
vehicle-assembly facility. The CAMI factory operates under a
separate contract.
The Canadian auto sector has been shrinking in recent years as
auto makers pour investment into Mexico and the U.S., partly to
avoid Canada's relatively high manufacturing costs.
Write to Mike Colias at Mike.Colias@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 17, 2017 11:52 ET (15:52 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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