Ford offers Unifor wage increases up to 25 per cent
Ford Motor has offered Canadian union Unifor wage increases of up to 25 per cent in its tentative agreement, the union said on Saturday.
The agreement provides a 10 per cent wage increase for the first year followed by increases of two per cent and three per cent through the second and third year and a $10,000 productivity and quality bonus to all employees on the active roll of the company, Unifor said.
The proposals also include an increase in the monthly basic benefit and special allowance in all class codes across defined benefit and hybrid pension plans and investments to help transition from traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle production to electric vehicle (EV) assembly facilities.
Unifor, which represents about 5,600 Canadian autoworkers, on Friday said that its Ford leadership group has voted unanimously to support the tentative agreement.
Ford is also in the midst of contract negotiations in the U.S. with a strike by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union at the automaker's Wayne, Mich., assembly plant.
The UAW began strikes on Friday against 38 parts distribution centres across the United States at GM and Stellantis, extending its unprecedented, simultaneous strikes that began with one assembly plant each of the Detroit Three.
The additional facilities added about 5,600 workers to the 12,700 already on strike.
The UAW said on Friday that Ford had improved its contract offer, including boosting profit sharing and agreeing to let workers strike over plant closures but said the union still has "serious issues" with Ford and its workers would remain on strike at the Wayne assembly plant.
Unlike UAW, Unifor chose one of the Detroit Three as a "target" to negotiate with first -- in this case, Ford -- in a pattern bargaining tactic used to set the tone for subsequent deals with other companies.
UAW president Shawn Fain said in a Facebook live event that by targeting distribution centres the strike becomes a nationwide event. He said he expected talks to continue through the weekend.
The standoff is fuelling worries about prolonged industrial action that could disrupt production and dent U.S. economic growth. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday showed significant support by Americans for the striking autoworkers.
U.S. President Joe Biden said in a social media post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he would come to Michigan on Tuesday "to join the picket line and stand in solidarity with the men and women of UAW," while former president Donald Trump, who is seeking a new term, will be in Michigan on Wednesday to address autoworkers, his campaign said.
(Reporting by Gokul Pisharody in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Alistair Bell)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Monster storm in North Atlantic stretches cloud from Atlantic Canada to Portugal
A large low-pressure system centred about 750 kilometres to the northeast of Newfoundland is causing clouds to stretch all the way to Portugal.
'Trudeau can end it all': Conservative carbon tax filibuster stretches into second day
With no signs either side is ready to retreat, the marathon voting session in the House of Commons has stretched into its second day, after MPs stayed up all night rejecting Conservative attempts to defeat government spending plans over the Liberals' refusal to scrap the carbon tax.
Shohei Ohtani watch kicks into higher gear in Toronto as Blue Jays fans track private plane
Shohei Ohtani watch in Toronto has kicked into another gear.
Canadian alleges discrimination, sues federal government in effort to get grandchildren out of Gaza
A Palestinian-Canadian is suing the federal government in an effort to get his four grandchildren out of Gaza. Mohammed Nofal, 74, is alleging Global Affairs Canada and immigration officials created a discriminatory policy that denied his family help in evacuating a war zone in the days following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
'We're inside the patient, looking directly at the tumour': Gaming experience aids surgery
An Ontario teen is among the first patients in the country to have a rare type of cancer surgically removed by doctors who trained using a virtual reality system that allows them to 'walk' inside a patient's body.
'Pseudoscience': Alberta's health minister under fire for naturopathic medicine meeting
Alberta's health minister is facing pushback after taking a meeting focused on naturopathic medicine's role in the province's primary care.
2 Ontario men charged after allegedly producing recruitment videos for listed terrorist entity
Two men from Ontario have been arrested on charges of terrorism after allegedly producing recruitment videos for a listed terrorist organization and circulating far-right manifestos online, police say.
1 in 9 Canadian adults have had long-term symptoms from COVID infection: StatCan
About one in nine Canadian adults have had long-term symptoms from COVID-19 infection, according to a Statistics Canada report issued Friday.
Pompeii archaeologists uncover bakery that doubled as a prison
An ancient bakery operated by slaves has been discovered in the ruins of Pompeii, the Pompeii Archaeological Park said in a statement released Friday.