CAW and Ford ratify agreement, Chrysler still pending
Posted Sep 24th 2012 3:30PM
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According to the Detroit Free Press, Canadian Ford employees have ratified their union contract, making Chrysler the only automaker to not have worked out an agreement with its Canadian workforce. Employees from Ford of Canada voted 82 per cent in favor of a new national contract following a weekend's worth of voting.
There are 21,000 Canadian Auto Workers union members, 4,500 of which are from Ford. While General Motors workers are set to ratify a new contract on Wednesday, Chrysler has made no such progress with its staffers.
CAW President Ken Lewenza (shown above) says that a Chrysler deal could come soon, "If they meet pattern, we could wrap up tomorrow," suggesting that Chrysler could follow the lead of Ford and GM's deals. However, the Fiat-owned automaker has reportedly made stronger demands for concessions than that of GM or Ford.
According to the report, the agreement with Ford includes the addition of 635 jobs over the life of the contract, to be filled mostly with previously laid-off employees. 583 workers were laid off from the Windsor plant, while another 280 were released from St. Thomas.
Plans to keep producing engines such as the Windsor-built 5.4-litre V8 engine and the 6.8-litre V8 have helped bolster the deal. Meanwhile, Ford is set to announce that its EcoBoost engine will be built in China because the nation's government has rules requiring domestic production.
