G.M. and Canadian Workers Reach Pact, Averting Strike
With five hours left until a union strike deadline, the Canadian Auto Workers and General Motors reached a tentative three-year contract settlement covering 19,000 workers and setting the pattern for the union?s ongoing negotiations with the Ford Motor Company and DaimlerChrysler (see WIT for Aug. 26,2002). In addition to three percent raises in each of the first two years of the contract, and a two percent raise in the third year, the CAW also won $632 signing bonuses and an extra two-and-a-half days of paid vacation time for all members. Perhaps the greatest victory for the workers, however, was their achievement of the increased job security that was their primary goal in negotiations (see WIT for July 17, 2002), in the form of a commitment from GM to invest $506 million in its Canadian plants.
See "G.M. and Canadian Workers Reach Pact, Averting Strike", BERNARD SIMON, The New York Times, September 17, 2002