Ford Negotiations Update From Local 200

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The following is an update from the Local 200 bargaining committee, which represents Ford workers in this area:

Our Local bargaining committee is writing this update because union members have the right to know what is really happening in these negotiations.

Negotiations are always challenging and tough, but these are different. We have never seen a bargaining committee that openly wants to gamble on the future of all Canadian operations and call a bluff.

At a time when we should be focused on fighting the employer for a contract and securing the future of good union jobs, negotiations and our collective futures are being gambled on by the Local 707 bargaining committee. It’s not right and it’s not fair to all Unifor Ford members.

No matter what the end result of these negotiations are, the Oakville leadership is telling the entire Ford bargaining committee that they will not agree to the pattern even if it contains improvements.

Your bargaining committee has made it clear that we will not allow our livelihoods and the future of jobs to be put at risk!

The implications of demanding more than the pattern Agreement have been clearly laid out by Ford. The company is stating that it will not do business in a jurisdiction that has Ford paying more than their competitors. Ford has gone further to say that if there is a strike based on wanting more than the pattern economics, it will reconsider their Canadian facilities and will exit Canadian operations. This is not something that leadership at any level has the right to risk.

Our commitment and actions to reach a deal are firm, but we cannot do that without the willingness of all of the local bargaining committees and their members. To be clear, our entire bargaining committee will stick with our sisters and brothers from Oakville just as our history clearly indicates but not at the expense of all of our jobs.

Our goal in these negotiations is to deliver a collective agreement based on the pattern and that pattern includes investment for Windsor and a future for all Ford Canada members.

Solidarity must go both ways. We can’t allow the future of our livelihoods to be gambled.

Our Committee has always been clear, we would not recommend a tentative agreement that did not contain investment and security, along with increases for our members and an improvement for the New Hires, and we will absolutely stick to our commitment. It is our hope for our members and our families in Windsor that common sense prevails here. Your bargaining committee will not risk the future of the thousands of jobs and the security of families knowing the consequences that have been clearly laid out to all of us.

In solidarity,
Your Local 200 Bargaining Committee