TORONTO (AP) -- Ford Canada workers have overwhelmingly accepted a new labor deal, even though it offers some of the lowest wage gains in their union's history and allows for hundreds of layoffs.þþThe Canadian Auto Workers union said Sunday that 95 percent of Ford union workers accepted the three-year deal, which had been tentatively reached by negotiators last week.þþAbout half of Ford's 11,600 union workers voted on the deal in the Ontario cities of Windsor, St. Thomas and Brampton.þþThe result appears to be a win for CAW President Buzz Hargrove, who acknowledges the deal was a difficult one for members since it allows Ford to trim its union work force by 1,100 positions over the next three years.þþ''It shows that even in tough bargaining, if the union and the company meet their responsibilities, a deal can be reached,'' Hargrove said after the results of the vote were released Sunday afternoon.þþThe deal also includes the closure of a casting plant in Windsor and offers base wage hikes of roughly 1.5 percent in the first year, followed by two annual increases of 1 percent. Those are the lowest raises negotiated for assembly plant workers since the CAW split from the United Auto Workers union in the mid-1980s.þþFord Motor Co., based in Dearborn, Mich., is preparing a broader restructuring plan of its North American operations, which will seek to cut costs amid profit declines and intensified auto market competition.þþThe CAW is now negotiating with DaimlerChrysler AG on a new deal and were in talks with the automaker all weekend. There is a midnight strike deadline on Tuesday for the union to reach a deal for 11,400 DaimlerChrysler workers.þþDaimlerChrysler and the union are far apart on what the union says is DaimlerChrysler's move to outsource hundreds of jobs.þþA new contract with more than 17,000 General Motors workers also needs to be worked out in coming weeks.þþ
Source: NY Times
