Catherwood LibraryILR School

Over 20,000 members of Unifor, a Canadian auto workers union, voted in favor of a strike mandate in their contract negotiations with General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, and Ford. Almost unanimously, workers voted in favor of walking off the job if the Big Three automakers and union cannot reach an agreement before the their contracts expire on September 19th. Unifor is pushing the Big Three automakers to further invest in Ontario, the home of Canada’s auto industry. This cause is primarily motivated by the 14,300 Canadian auto jobs that were lost between 2001 and 2013 due to cheaper labor options in Mexico and the southern United States. GM’s 2015 agreement to boost investment in the United States by $1.9M serves as a beacon of hope for Canadian negotiators, who are seeking a similar deal.