Unifor is targeting Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles as the next company in bargaining talks with the Detroit Three automakers.
The union made the announcement on Thursday and stressed the FCA talks would be contingent on the successful ratification of a tentative deal with General Motors.
"Our members at GM will have the opportunity to vote on the tentative agreement this Sunday. If members support the recommendation and approve the new four-year Collective Agreement we will shift our focus and immediately resume negotiations with FCA," says Jerry Dias, national president for Unifor in a news release. "Unifor will be seeking a pattern settlement that includes our top priority — investment."
The union reached a tentative agreement with GM early Tuesday morning, setting a pattern for other negotiations with the other major Detroit automakers. The union is using pattern bargaining so once an agreement is reached it can be used as the standard for the industry in Canada.
Unifor Local 444 President Dino Chiodo, representing workers at the Windsor Assembly Plant, is excited to see talks shift to Windsor.
"We're ready to go," says Chiodo. "We've done a lot of homework with reference to what the demands are, making sure that we're knowledgeable about them, the discussions that need to take place with reference to them to make sure that we bring a good tentative agreement back to our membership."
Chiodo says securing investment from FCA for the company's Brampton and Etobicoke facilities will be a top priority, but stresses Windsor can't be left out just because of the recent retooling.
"Even Windsor — although we got a $2.6-billion investment with the ever popular Pacifica — the reality is you want to make sure you can guarantee what's coming next because if you don't have that, potentially you lose a plant," says Chiodo.
The message from the union has stayed consistent.
"We have one simple message for all the Detroit Three automakers: there will be no deal without commitments to new investments in Canada," says Dias.
Negotiations with FCA could begin as early as next week. Ford is now set to be the last of the Detroit Three operating in the province to enter into bargaining talks with Unifor.
— With files from Maureen Revait
