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Workers at Cami Assembly in Ingersoll have ratified a two-year deal with GM Canada, a contract that increases wages and returns the automotive plant to two shifts starting in January.
The contract – affecting about 1,300 workers represented by Unifor Local 88 at the Ingersoll plant – was ratified by 96 per cent of production workers and 82 per cent of trades workers in a Sunday vote at London’s Centennial Hall, the union says.
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“We’re very, very happy,” said Mike Van Boekel, chairperson of Unifor Local 88.
“In the two years, production staff will get 15 per cent raise increases, trades will get 20.25 per cent increases.”
The new Cami Assembly contract is in line with what the union had seen in other recent auto sector negotiations in the region, Van Boekel said Sunday.
“Except what they did in three years, we squeezed it down to two years,” he said.
The plant, which had been rotating on a single shift for nearly three years, will return to two shifts in early January, Van Boekel said. Workers now are scheduled for two-week shifts and then have two weeks off, receiving 65 per cent of their pay during the off-time through unemployment benefits and a supplementary fund from the employer.
“Everybody will be back to work by January. There are also retirement packages if people want to retire,” he said, adding there were also general increases to workers’ pensions and benefits in the newly ratified deal.
“We have a job security letter that the company won’t sell or close us over the life of the contract.”
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The Ingersoll plant assembles two versions of the Chevrolet BrightDrop, a fully electric commercial van.
In a statement Sunday, the head of GM Canada said she is pleased the Cami Assembly workers ratified the new deal.
“Thank you to the entire Unifor bargaining committee and our GM Canada labour team for your leadership and collaboration,” Kristian Aquilina, GM Canada president and managing director, said in a statement.
“Our vehicle production and battery-module assembly operation at Cami helps position GM as a leader in Canadian EV supply chain development, manufacturing and export.”
The tentative deal was announced by the union and GM Canada on Tuesday. The exact details of the proposed contract were not disclosed, pending ratification by union members.
The union had been in bargaining with GM Canada since early September. A deal was reached after intense negotiations and a last-minute deadline extension.
“It turned out very well,” Van Boekel said. “I’m happy that the members are happy. Having everybody back to work will be good for the community.”
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