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Unifor, which represents more than 20,000 autoworkers, is
pushing General Motors Co <GM.N>, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles <FCHA.MI>
and Ford Motor Co <F.N> to invest further in the province of
Ontario, home to nearly all of Canada's auto industry, in talks
that began this month.
Members voted close to 100 percent in favor of granting Unifor a
mandate to strike, according to a statement from the union.
That means workers are in a position to walk off the job if the
parties cannot come to terms. The union's current four-year
contract with automakers expires on Sept. 19.
Unifor President Jerry Dias has said the union is asking for
higher wages and would not agree to a deal unless GM commits to
building new vehicles in Oshawa, and Ford decides to keep its
engine plant operating in Windsor.
GM's Oshawa plant could shut one of its two assembly lines, with
several vehicles already produced elsewhere or expected to move
in 2017.
Between 2001 and 2013, some 14,300 jobs were lost in vehicle
manufacturing in Canada, according to Hamilton's Automotive
Policy Research Center. Some automakers have found cheaper labor
in places such as the southern United States and Mexico.
GM Canada has said the negotiations are separate from the
carmaker's future investments because labor is not the only cost
it considers when deciding where to make new products.
GM said it will make future product decisions for Oshawa only
after a labor agreement.
Automakers, however, had agreed to make investments during
bargaining with the United Auto Workers in the United States.
GM's 2015 deal with the UAW generated $1.9 billion in additional
investment in U.S. plants.
GM, Fiat Chrysler and Ford did not immediately respond to
requests for comment.
(Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by Bill Trott)
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