‘Not there yet:’ Unifor rejects 2 offers ahead of auto workers’ contract deadline Monday

The union representing Canada's autoworkers is "meeting resistance" in ongoing talks with Ford Motor Company, the union's national president said Thursday in an update to members, saying there has been little movement on key issues such as pensions.

Lana Payne said, however, that talks were not stalled as the union and its members approach the expiration of their collective agreements at 11:59 p.m. Monday.

"If I was to summarize the status of talks with Ford right now, I would say things are moving, but we are certainly not there yet," Payne said.

She said Ford has made two offers so far, both of which the union has rejected. She said, "those offers did not come close to meeting our expectations."

She did not elaborate on the specifics of either deal.

Payne said the union remained "completely focused" on the four priorities it had outlined before and during the early days of bargaining: pensions, wages, EV transition support and investments.

Pensions were the top issue, she said, and the most-asked question from members.

These contract talks affect 18,000 Canadian workers at Stellantis, Ford and General Motors.

Bargaining began on Aug. 10 when Unifor presented the three companies with proposals.

Ford was selected as the union's target on Aug. 29, so bargaining with the other two companies is currently paused until a deal is reached with Ford — a deal that will become the pattern for the agreements with the remaining companies.

Update comes as UAW prepares for possible strike

The update comes as members of the United Auto Workers, representing workers at the Detroit Three automakers in the United States, prepare for a potential strike ahead of a Thursday night deadline.

Shawn Fain, president of UAW, has publicly slammed offers made by all three of the automakers and has indicated that members will conduct "stand-up strikes" where small percentages of the union's 146,000 members will walk off the job.

He has not ruled out a broad strike of all members at the Detroit Three automakers, and such a strike would mark the first time the union has struck all three companies at once.

Addressing the UAW negotiations, Payne said she'd been in touch with Fain to offer Unifor's "support and solidarity."

But Payne also stressed key differences between the two unions and their respective bargaining conditions: She noted Canada's access to universal healthcare, as well as lower wages and weaker worker protection laws in the United States.

"All of this accounts to completely different political, social and economic context for our members," she said.

Other members of key Unifor bargaining committees also gave updates addressing questions they said they've been receiving from members.

Union rejects offers on pensions

John D'Agnolo, the Ford master bargaining chair and president of Local 200 in Windsor, said the company was "just not there yet."

In delivering his update, Shane Wark, Unifor assistant to the national officers, said the union's demands on pension improvements for all members, both active and retired, "remain on the bargaining table" and are unaltered, he said.

"But unfortunately as of today, Ford has made minimal improvement on pensions," Wark said. "In fact the movement was so insignificant the ERC [Unifor's bargaining committee responsible for pensions] rejected their proposal outright at the very moment it was received."

The company has also made "aggressive" demands on wages and wage grid improvements, representatives said.