OTTAWA — General Motors of Canada and the Canadian Auto Workers Union announced a tentative contract on Thursday night, about 72 hours after the union settled with the Ford Motor Company of Canada. But the union and Chrysler Canada appeared far apart in their negotiations. þþGeneral Motors agreed to the central terms of the tentative agreement with Ford, a deal that involves concessions on both sides. þþKen Lewenza, the union’s president, said that the agreement, which provides for annual lump sum payments but no wage increases, met the union’s main objectives. þþ“We wanted to share in the modest success of General Motors,” he said adding that he believes the contract terms would allow G.M. to continue to invest in Canada, a production center whose longtime cost advantage has evaporated with the rise of the Canadian dollar to parity with its United States counterpart. þþDavid Wenner, the general director of labor relations at G.M. Canada, said in a statement that the talks “have been candid and constructive, reflecting the challenges facing Canadian manufacturers.” The company declined to comment further. þþAs has been the case throughout the negotiations, which began in mid-August, the sticking point with Chrysler appears to be its insistence that the Canadian Auto Workers adopt a wage system that the automaker uses in its plants in the United States, which allows the company to permanently pay new employees substantially lower wages. þþLike Ford, G.M. agreed on Thursday to a variation of that plan. Under it, new hires in Canada will be paid 60 percent less than established workers for 10 years and then move to the higher wage scale. That represents an extension of four years compared to the previous contract in Canada, which provided new employees with 70 percent of the full wage scale for six years. þþChrysler is best positioned to take advantage of lower wages for new employees in Canada, even under the modified Canadian system. Currently, it has only 70 union members on layoff, according to the union, suggesting it may be hiring soon. Ford Canada, by contrast, has about 900 laid-off employees and General Motors an even greater number, perhaps making hiring new workers theoretical at those companies. Under the terms of the four-year contract, new employees cannot be hired until all laid-off workers are recalled. þþMr. Lewenza, the union’s president, said that Chrysler had still not indicated that it would accept the same contract terms as Ford and General Motors, a demand of the union, nor has it presented the union’s negotiators with its main economic proposals. þþIn a statement following the announcement of the G.M. pact, Chrysler Canada said only that it looked “forward to continuing our discussions with the C.A.W.” þþThe union extended its strike deadline on Monday night to continue talks with G.M. and Chrysler, after reaching its agreement with Ford. On Thursday, Mr. Lewenza declined to say when the union’s patience with Chrysler would wear thin. þþ“We’re not fearing of providing a strike notice,” Mr. Lewenza said. “But, as we’ve said many times, that’s the last tool in the toolbox. þþWhile General Motors matched the broad terms adopted by Ford, which include substantial changes to pension plans, it did not follow its competitor’s lead and promise new products for its plants. It did, however, agree to extend the operation of an assembly line in Oshawa, Ontario, which was slated to close next year, until June 2014 with at least one shift employing about 750 union workers. þþThe company also agreed to add 900 jobs by adding a third shift to another assembly line in Oshawa and agreed to increase employment at an engine and transmission plant in St. Catharines, Ontario, by about 100 jobs. þþG.M. currently has about 5,500 unionized employees in Canada. Mr. Lewenza noted that when the Canadian Auto Workers union broke away from the United Automobile Workers in 1985, G.M. Canada employed more people on its own than the 21,000 Canadians now working at the three Detroit automakers combined. þ
Source: NY Times
