Ford to present offer to Canadian auto workers
September 29, 2002
By
TORONTO, Cameron French writing for Reuters reports that Ford of Canada said today it will present a first settlement offer to the Canadian Auto Workers Union, with both sides saying they are confident a costly strike can be averted.
"We have made progress at every local and sub-committee level and significant progress on the tough job situation at Oakville," CAW president Buzz Hargrove said in a statement.
"I am very optimistic that we've made enough progress that we will reach a deal in advance of the strike deadline."
Ford, Canada's second-biggest automaker, will present its offer to the union on Monday morning, just one day before the union's strike deadline of midnight Oct. 1 (the end of Tuesday).
The union will hold a news conference after shortly after the offer is presented.
The union has said it is confident that Ford will match the wage and benefit provisions of the pattern-setting agreement signed with General Motors of Canada last week, but the overwhelming issue remains Ford's plans to close its Oakville truck plant just west of Toronto in 2003 or 2004.
In its negotiations with the big-three auto makers -- Ford, GM, and DaimlerChrysler Canada -- the union targets one company to negotiate with first, then uses the signed agreement as leverage for the other companies to match it.
Hargrove said on Friday the two sides had "made a major step forward" in the Oakville truck talks, raising hopes a deal could be reached for Ford's 1,300 unionized employees before the deadline.
In answer to reporters' questions, Ford has acknowledged in Canada would have a devastating effect on Ford's operations across North America. Its Windsor, Ontario, engine plant, for example, builds a large proportion of the engines for assembly plants across the continent.
A Ford spokesman said on Sunday he couldn't comment specifically on any issues, but that he was confident a deal would be reached by the deadline.
"The negotiations are proceeding well. As we've said all along, we expect to reach a mutually acceptable agreement," said John Jelinek, Vice-President of Public Affairs at Ford Canada.
The Canadian negotiations are under hightened scrutiny this time around, as they are taking place a year earlier than negotiations between the United Auto Workers and carmakers in the United States.
Vehicle and parts production in Canada and the United States are closely linked, so a Canadian strike would have a major impact across North America.
Only in 1993 and 1999 were Canadian automaker contract negotiations settled without strikes. In 1999, Ford was the pattern-setting company, since it was the first of three leading carmarkers to be chosen by the union for negotiations to take place before the customary strike deadline.