Some 5,600 workers employed by Ford Motor Co. in Windsor and Oakville, Ontario were preparing early Tuesday to head out to the picket line.
But Unifor, the union representing Canadian auto workers, agreed to a 24-hour extension of its contract with Ford after a last-minute offer from the company.
Contract extension approved
“Unifor is extending negotiations with Ford Motor Co. for a 24-hour period. The union received a substantive offer from the employer minutes before the deadline and bargaining is continuing throughout the night. Unifor members should continue to maintain strike readiness,” the union said in a statement issued nearly two hours after the expiration of the old contract.
Prior to the extension, Lana Payne, Unifor’s general president, said Ford had failed to meet the union’s demands for pension improvements and substantial wage increase, which are the same issues that prompted the United Auto Workers to strike all three of Detroit’s automakers last week. The UAW’s strike at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis remain unresolved.
The strike could cut off the supply of V-8 engines that power some variants of two of Ford’s most prominent vehicles, the Ford Mustang and the F-150 pickup truck, which are built at plants in the United States. “Our is a small but highly concentrated footprint in North America,” Payne said.
Ford said it was negotiating “to create a blueprint that leads our employees, our business and our customers and our communities into the future.”
But the company appears reluctant to make an offer that could be used as a precedent in increasingly contentious negotiations with the UAW. Ford appeared to raise the tensions in the talks as it issued a broadside disputing UAW President Shawn Fain’s contention the company had boosted the pay of top executives by 40%. Ford says CEO pay is up only 21%.
New deadline for wider strike in U.S.
Before the Canadian workers Fain warned in a message posted on Facebook Monday evening the UAW was prepared to expand its strike against Detroit’s three automakers if there is no agreement by noon Friday.
“I have been clear with the Big Three every step of the way. And I’m going to be crystal clear again right now,” Fain said. “If we don’t make serious progress by noon on Friday, Sept. 22nd, more locals will be called on to Stand Up and join the strike. That will mark more than a week since our first members walked out. And that will mark more than a week of the Big Three failing to make progress in negotiations toward reaching a deal that does right by our members.”
Fain said autoworkers have waited long enough to make things right at Detroit’s automakers. “We’re not waiting around, and we’re not messing around. So, noon on Friday, Sept. 22nd is a new deadline,” Fain added.
Last week, the UAW launched strikes at all three of Detroit’s automakers for the first time in its history as walkout halted production at Stellantis’ Jeep complex in Toledo, a Ford assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan and a General Motors plant in Wentzville, Missouri.
GM also said Monday the company assembly plant in Fairfax, Kansas could be forced to close this week since it depends on stamped parts made in Wentzville.
After Fain spoke, Ford said, “We are developing responsible contingency plans for further work stoppages, including plans to ship the parts that keep Ford vehicles on the road – especially to keep first responders and other essential services running.”
