Batteries Are Included
Last week, GM Ingersoll and Unifor Local 88 reached an agreement to include the new Battery plant as part of our manufacturing site. The new building will now be referred to as the Battery Assembly Department. This is great news for us as it gives total control of the battery supply to our plant and provides hundreds of more jobs for our members. These are Local 88 jobs that will become part of our collective agreement. These jobs will be posted at some point in the future as the new Battery department continues to be built and the equipment will begin to be installed.
Civic Holiday
Within this collective agreement, we now recognize the August Civic holiday weekend. This is a reminder, that we observe August 7 2023 as a statutory holiday.
C shift does not report until Tuesday, August 8 2023
REMINDER – PAYDAY FOR NEXT WEEK WILL BE FRIDAY DUE TO THE LONG WEEKEND
Detroit 3 Bargaining
It will be an interesting September in the world of Auto Manufacturing. Both the Canadian and American Detroit 3 will be bargaining new contracts. With profits reaching record levels and the cost of living across North America climbing at alarming rates, auto members should expect extremely good contracts on both sides of the border. The car companies have made billions in profits during the past 3 years which have proven to be 3 of the most difficult years for our members. While almost everyone suffered significant monetary loses during Covid, the car companies made record profits that continue to this day.
Bargaining for Unifor Detroit 3 kicks off next week on August 9 and Brent Tree and Mike Van Boekel will both be attending. Pushing for one main item in this contract- everything monetary – pensions, raises, bonuses, tier 2 issues (that are mainly monetary based).
One Shift vs Three Shifts
We have been tied up in the battery talks for the past month. That has now been resolved so our attention is now on figuring out our future staffing needs. In any scenario the top 1/3 must have the ability to work full time, that is clearly defined in our contract. That is the reason we don’t rotate only 2 shifts, half in, half out every two weeks – we cannot force the top 1/3 to stay home and rotate layoffs. We have made it no secret that we have been trying to keep everyone employed, but something must change. GM can’t expect to have members survive only working 2 weeks out of 6. Too many members are suffering financially, and we can’t just keep going in this current pattern. We are in heavy talks with leadership of CAMI and continue working towards an agreement. Even thought Brent and I will be in Toronto for bargaining we will continue working on an agreement.
CAMI Gym
The CAMI gym has been undergoing a complete facelift. They are hoping to open at some point in September. We are still awaiting new flooring but the work that has been completed is extremely good.
Enjoy your long weekend!
In Solidarity,
Inplant Committee