Automotive News Canada - April 2023 - 12

12
* APRIL 2023
Unifor ponders
profit-sharing
At the UAW's special bargaining convention in Detroit, Unifor
President Lana Payne advocated for cooperation between the
unions while UAW President Shawn Fain said he would fight
" multibillion-dollar corporations and employers who refuse to give
our members their fair share. " PHOTO: UNIFOR
Unifor, UAW prep
for 'war' against
Detroit Three
The two unions pledge
to work together as
they bargain new
contracts - and
bargain for new
investments -
at the same time
By MICHAEL MARTINEZ
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
UNIFOR PRESIDENT LANA
Payne and UAW President Shawn
Fain struck defiant tones while
speaking to union members on
the first day of the UAW's special
bargaining convention, laying
the groundwork for potentially
contentious contract
talks with
the Detroit Three
automakers this
year.
2023
It was Fain's
inaugural address
as president.
" We're here to
DETROIT THREE
CONTRACT
NEGOTIATIONS
come together to ready ourselves
for the war against the one and
only true enemy: multibillion-dollar
corporations and employers
who refuse to give our members
their fair share, " Fain said on
March 27 in Detroit. " It's a new day
in the UAW. "
Fain was sworn in as the UAW's
fifth president in five years a day
before the convention opened following
a prolonged and heated
election.
He defeated former President
Ray Curry by fewer than 500 votes.
As the count neared an end, Curry
filed a protest alleging widespread
disenfranchisement.
Fain has promised a more
aggressive approach to bargaining
with the Detroit Three this fall. The
union is expected to fight for better
wages and benefits as well as more
job commitments.
In his speech, Fain quoted
Martin Luther King Jr. and said
the union is stronger than ever.
" We have the discipline we need
to organize better than ever before.
We have the understanding we
need to regain the trust of the membership.
We have the organization
that, if united in a common goal,
we cannot be defeated. We have
the will to sacrifice for the greater
good, including on the picket line. "
Fain said the UAW planned to
fight to gain what it lost during the
Great Recession, when the automakers
asked for concessions to
remain afloat financially.
" Our members have very high
expectations, and rightfully so, "
Fain said. " They demanded equality
of sacrifice from us. Today we
demand equality of gains for our
membership. "
UNIFOR, UAW: IT'S COMPLICATED
With both unions' contracts
expiring later this year, for the
first time in decades Unifor and
the UAW will be simultaneously
attempting to win investments
from the Detroit Three.
Unifor was created in 2013 when
the Canadian Auto Workers union
merged with the Communications,
Energy and Paperworkers Union of
Canada. The CAW originally separated
from the UAW in 1985, and
it has bargained with the Detroit
Three separately ever since.
Payne, who focused her speech
on the commonalities between
the two unions, said the UAW and
Unifor could both find success in
upcoming talks.
" This timing creates a unique
opportunity for auto workers on
both sides of the border, " she said.
" We have a moment here to develop
our unions and our bargaining
strategies in ways that are both big
and bold. "
She said Unifor will stress
wages, pensions, health and safety
benefits and clarity on product
plans " whether the companies
want to or not. "
Fain reiterated Payne's stance
that the that the two would work
together.
" These are global corporations,
and they are unified in defeating us
and hurting us so we have to come
together, " he said. " I look forward
to what the future holds with us
working together. " - ANC
The Canadian union
has historically
wanted guaranteed
pay, but can it
ignore the large
cheques being
written to U.S.
auto workers?
By ROSEANN DANESE
WINDSOR CORRESPONDENT
UNIFOR IS CONSIDERING
the merits of negotiating a
profit-sharing agreement for
the first time in its history as
the union prepares for bargaining
with the Detroit Three.
" We are asking our
research department to do a
deep dive into what that looks
like, " said Dave Cassidy, president
of Unifor Local 444, which
represents hourly workers at
the Stellantis minivan assembly
plant in Windsor, Ont.
" There's a lot of discussion
around. 'Is it good? Is it bad?'
The devil is in the detail. "
Negotiations covering
22,000 hourly
workers at Ford,
General Motors and
Stellantis assembly
and powertrain
plants in Canada are
expected to begin in
August. On Labour
Day weekend, Unifor
President Lana Payne
will select the first
automaker to bargain
with, Cassidy said.
The strategy is likely
to set the pattern for
the other two.
age of US $12,750 (about $17,100
Cdn) and Ford workers US
$9,176 (about $12,300 Cdn). Each
automaker has a formula to
calculate the amount, but generally
it's based on the number
of hours worked.
'EXPLORING IT' WITH MEMBERS
In preparation for bargaining,
Unifor recently sent questionnaires
to its members asking
them to highlight their priorities.
Profit-sharing is something
that workers would like
their bargaining committee to
consider.
" It is important to us
because it's important to our
members, " said Cassidy.
The profit-sharing cheques,
which amount to a yearly
bonus tied to the companies'
financial performance, were
negotiated in the 1980s by the
UAW. Profit-sharing has long
been resisted by Unifor, which
instead pursued annual pay
increases.
" Our principle has always
been to put it into our wage
increase and our cost of living, "
Cassidy said. " We don't
get to control the way
the company runs
the business. That's
the downside I have
always seen with profit-sharing. "
The
potential shift
on profit-sharing follows
news of unprecedented
profit-sharing
cheques that Stellantis' U.S.
hourly workers are expected
to receive this year. " These are
some of the largest cheques
that Stellantis U.S. has [paid
out] in 35 years, " Cassidy said.
For 2023, Stellantis workers
were expected to receive
an average of US $14,760 (about
$19,700 Cdn) in profit-sharing.
GM workers will get an averCassidy:
" There's
a lot
of discussion
around. 'Is
[profit-sharing]
good? Is it
bad?' The devil
is in the detail. "
FILE PHOTO
There are many
factors, he said. For
instance, would
Canadian auto workers
be entitled to profit-sharing
bonuses
that are based on
Canadian profits or
North American profits?
If the bonuses are
based on attendance,
are the weeks when
plants are shut down
included in the equation?
" Or
[we can] craft our own
profit-sharing agreement and
what our idea of it is. That's
what bargaining is all about, "
said Cassidy.
SOUNDS GOOD, BUT...
Tara Penny, a 32-year-old
hourly worker at Stellantis'
minivan plant for the past
seven years, said she's pleased
that her union will be crunching
the numbers. ProfitPenny:
Supports union's
decision to look into
profit-sharing but opposes
trade-offs such as a wage
cut or a freeze.
SUPPLIED PHOTO
sharing has been a topic of discussion
on social media chat
groups, where her coworkers
have been sharing information
about the profit-sharing
amounts being doled out to
U.S. workers.
" Obviously, when you see a
big number from people in the
States, it sounds great, " Penny
said. " But at the same time,
there are a lot of factors that
go into it. It's based on hours
worked and it's based on downtime,
and we've had a lot of
downtime. If you take a lot of
time off work, you're not going
to get the same amount that
they do. "
Penny opposes a wage cut or
freeze to bring in profit-sharing.
For
the current three-year
contract, all Detroit Three
hourly workers in Canada
received signing bonuses
of $11,250, with $7,250 paid
upfront and $2,000 paid out in
each of the next two years. In
addition, they received a fourper-cent
lump-sum payment in
September 2021 based on earnings
of the previous 12 months.
Wage increases of 2.5 per cent
were received in September
2020 and in September 2022.
In this, the final year of the
contract, the top-tier Detroit
Three hourly workers in
Canada earn $37.33 an hour,
not including a cost-of-living
allowance. In the United States,
GM hourly workers earn US
$32.32 an hour (about $43.30
Cdn), while workers at Ford
and Stellantis earn US $29.71
(about $39.80 Cdn) an hour.
" Where I'm sitting right
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
WHAT UNIFOR IS EYEING
Expected average 2023 profit-sharing
payouts for U.S. auto workers
Stellantis: $14,760 (about $19,700 Cdn)
General Motors: $12,750 (about $17,100 Cdn)
Ford: $9,176 (about $12,300 Cdn)
Automotive News Canada - April 2023

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