#Labor

A merger between the Canadian Auto Workers union and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union passed a ratification vote Monday, which will see the two unions merge and create the largest private-sector union in Canada. The new union won’t be limited strictly to workers either.

More bad news from PSA – production of the brand-new Peugeot 208 subcompact will be cut by one third, as PSA grapples with an imploding market for small cars in Europe.

Good news for Canada’s manufacturing sector; GM has confirmed plans to add a third shift to the Oshawa Flex Line to help meet demand for the 2014 Chevrolet Impala.

Workers at Chrysler plants in Windsor and Brampton, Ontario ratified the CAW’s labor agreement by an overwhelming majority, despite a lack of new product or investment at either plant.

Did Ken Lewenza hose Sergio Marchionne and Chrysler? Ask me that a few days ago and I may have said yes. Now that the terms of the CAW and Chrysler have surfaced, I’m not so sure.

With a CAW labor contract expected to be announced today, Fiat has confirmed that cars built in Italy will be exported to markets like the United States, as Fiat looks beyond its ailing home market for growth.

With negotiations between the CAW moving as quick as a French bureaucrat, Ford is offering eligible workers a new car and a $50,000 buyout as an early retirement gift, while Chrysler is offering the CAW nothing in the way of new jobs.

CAW members ratified an agreement with Ford with 82 percent in favor of the four-year labor deal that brings an overhaul to the automaker’s pension plan for assembly plant workers, and extends the new hire wage climb process.

As the Friday workday winds down, we’re still without an agreement between the CAW and Chrysler. Ford and GM are waiting on ratification by the CAW members at their plants, and it’s looking more and more like Ken Lewenza and the Canadian Auto Workers were able to outmaneuver Sergio Marchionne.

The CAW and General Motors have reached a tentative agreement, sticking closely to the “pattern” set by negotiations between Ford and the CAW.

The Windsor Star is reporting that the CAW “has all but given up” on trying to re-open the Oshawa Consolidated line that was closed earlier this year. The Star quotes CAW President Ken Lewenza as saying

“We’re going to keep raising it until the deal is done…But the reality is vehicle production is based on market and market is based on capacity and GM told us they don’t need the capacity.”

The CAW is still in talks with Chrysler and General Motors to continue hammering out the details of their labor agreements, but the discussions have reportedly slowed as the two companies comb through the “pattern agreement” reached with Ford.

Ford and the CAW have reached a 4 year collective agreement to Sept 2016. Details from the CAW press conference below.

With the CAW’s strike deadline set for 11:59 P.M tonight, the union will apparently focus on Ford as the target for a collective agreement, while also remaining in talks with Chrysler and General Motors.

Union leaders met with Ford officials last week during Ford’s Amsterdam extravaganza, and when the topic of closing the Genk, Belgium plant was raised…nothing was said.