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Ford is facing a possible strike by workers on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, as 5,700 workers threaten to walk out of the company’s Canadian factories when their contracts expire at midnight.
“As long as we remain at the table, the likelihood of a strike increases with each passing hour,” said Unifor, the union that represents about 18,000 workers at Canada’s three major automakers, including the assembly plant of Ford in Ontario and two engine plants located just beyond the table. the Detroit River, which separates the United States from Canada.
Ford did not immediately respond to comment.
A new strike would add to Ford’s problems after the United Auto Workers, which represents American workers at Detroit companies, went on strike Friday against Ford and rivals General Motors and Stellantis – the first time the union has struck in all three companies at the same time. . About 13,000 of the UAW’s roughly 150,000 members left three factories, one owned by each automaker.
UAW President Shawn Fain told NPR on Monday that the union had “few conversations” over the weekend with automakers. “So the ball is still in their court,” he said. “We’re going to continue to move forward like we’ve been doing and see how things progress.”
Unlike the UAW, which took on all three automakers at once, Unifor took a more traditional approach to bargaining in the North American auto industry. Unifor has chosen Ford as the company to target first and, after entering into a contract with it, intends to try to obtain similar contracts with GM and Stellantis.
Unifor President Lana Payne said last month when the union began negotiations with Ford that members’ expectations were “high.” The union wants to protect pensions, obtain “substantial” wage increases and obtain more investment in Canadian factories.
“Profits are up, and so are the cost of living,” she told reporters last month. “Workers have shown time and time again that they are prepared to fight – and strike, if necessary – to have their demands met. This is the moment we find ourselves in. And no one, no one should underestimate him.
The union is also demanding company support for workers as the industry transitions to electric vehicles, a concern the UAW shares. Tesla, the leader in electric vehicle sales, fired workers who tried to unionize its U.S. factories, and the batteries that Detroit automakers are expected to make for electric vehicles come from joint ventures with Korean battery makers that employ a workforce -non-unionized work.
“We insist that every electric vehicle or EV-related job is good union work – with the same rights and conditions of employment that auto workers enjoy today,” he said. she declared.
