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In a vote on August 27, 2017, workers at the GM CAMI Assembly Ingersoll plant authorized Unifor Local 88’s Bargaining Committee to initiate strike action if a fair and reasonable settlement is not reached before the September 17 deadline.
“This strike mandate provides a crucial tool for successful bargaining,” said Unifor Local 88 President Dan Borthwick “The 99.8 per cent vote by members sends a clear message to GM that the members stand behind the Bargaining Committee and the proposals that Local 88 put forward on behalf of the membership.”
Unifor Local 88 is an amalgamated local union in Ingersoll, Ontario, first organized in December 1988. Today it represents more than 3,200 members at GM CAMI Assembly Ingersoll, Auto Warehousing Canada, SGS Canada Inc. and Doug Coleman Trucking.
This month’s negotiations come amid growing concerns around the effects of NAFTA and free trade policies on workers in Canada, the US and Mexico. Workers at the GM CAMI plant are facing frozen wages and a company that has exported production of some vehicles to Mexico, where workers endure poverty wages and a lack of legal protections.
The local recently partnered with Unifor’s political action department to host a town hall on developing a people’s trade agenda. On July 11, more than 100 people gathered to discuss to discuss NAFTA, CETA and other trade deals.
The Bargaining Committee stated that this round of negotiations also has a focus on recognition of the high quality work that members continue to do, “The membership needs to be rewarded for meeting all of the quality and productivity targets, along with working 24 hours a day, six days a week for the past eight years. GM CAMI Assembly Ingersoll makes more than $2 billion per year.”
Unifor Local 88 will be in a legal strike position at 11:59 p.m. on September 17, 2017.
For more details and background information, go to http://unifor88.ca/bargaining-2017/
To get involved in Unifor’s ongoing campaign for #ABetterNAFTA, go to www.unifor.org/nafta
