General Motors, Union Strike Tentative Deal at Striking Equinox Plant

After a month-long strike and a war of words that erupted earlier this week, General Motors and the union representing workers at its CAMI assembly plant have struck a tentative deal.

Late Friday, Unifor Local 88 posted a statement claiming a breakthrough in bargaining talks that reached an impasse on September 17th. That means Chevrolet Equinox crossovers could restart production at the Ingersoll, Ontario facility on Monday — easing dealer fears over a shortage of the hot-selling vehicle.

Unifor won’t release details of the tentative agreement until a ratification meeting, which CBC News claims is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday morning in London, Ontario. If the roughly 2,500 members give the agreement a thumbs-up, production resumes at 11 p.m.

On October 1st, GM reported a 41-day supply of Equinox crossovers. While production at two Mexican plants supplements Equinox supply, the lion’s share of volume rolls out of Ingersoll, and Unifor wants to keep it that way.

Earlier this year, the CAMI plant lost the GMC Terrain, now assembled in Mexico. Rather than wages and benefits, this round of bargaining talks centered around product and the continued production of the plant’s sole model. Unifor wants assurances that CAMI will remain the primary assembly location for the Equinox line. A second model, for which the plant has the capacity, would ensure CAMI’s continue operations, Unifor claims.

It isn’t known whether the latter request was granted, but Unifor’s national leadership wouldn’t green-light a deal without having secured the main bargaining point.

Should workers drop the picket signs and pick up tools again, workers will also return to the heavily impacted GM transmission plant in St. Catharines, Ontario. The strike also reduced output at two engine plants in Michigan and Tennessee.

Through the end of September, U.S. Equinox sales are more than 22 percent higher, year-to-date, than the same period in 2016.

[Image: General Motors]