Unifor names General Motors as next U.S. automaker for contract talks

The GM-CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ont., on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Spowart

TORONTO — General Motors is the next U.S. automaker chosen for contract talks with Unifor, the union said Tuesday, after it recently reached a deal with Ford.

The union said negotiations with GM will begin in Toronto on Aug. 10.

Unifor represents more than 4,600 members at Ontario GM facilities, including the Oshawa assembly plant, the CAMI facility in Ingersoll as well as operations in St. Catharines and Woodstock.

“GM Canada is committed to working collaboratively with our Unifor partners to reach new labour agreements that support our employees and the long-term success of our Canadian operations,” Jennifer Wright, a spokesperson for GM Canada, said in a statement.

“Since 2020, we have invested approximately $3.3 billion in our Canadian manufacturing plants, enabling next-generation products that will help secure thousands of Canadian jobs for years to come.”

The contract talks with GM come after successful pattern setting-negotiations with Ford, Unifor said. In pattern bargaining, a union negotiates with one company to set terms they hope to replicate with other companies in the same sector.

Workers at Ford over the weekend approved a new three-year contract that included three per cent annual pay increases. Ford workers covered by the master agreement voted 74 per cent for the deal, while members at two locals voted 97 per cent and 100 per cent in favour.

Unifor national president Lana Payne said in an interview on Monday that the agreement with Ford marked a precedent with key gains around wage increases and job security.

“I have confidence in what we’ve negotiated here because history shows us if we do hit a rough patch, that there’s a way to work our way through that,” Payne said.

“Obviously, I don’t have a crystal ball here, but we have done everything we can to show that this auto industry is incredibly important and that our union is going to continue to fight for it.”

But she acknowledged differences between Ford and the other two auto companies could make the talks ahead more complicated. That includes the fact that General Motors’ Ingersoll assembly plant and Stellantis’ Brampton assembly plant both currently sit idle with thousands of workers laid off.

“The difference is that they have taken decisions that were different than Ford Motor Co. throughout the last 18 months,” said Payne, referring to the period of trade uncertainty that Canada has faced since the introduction of auto tariffs.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that those contract talks will also be tough and quite frustrating. But we have to fight for this industry here, and this is one of the ways that we can do it.”

Unifor represents 320,000 workers in Canada, including in the automotive assembly sector.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 21, 2026.