Ford Motor Co. and the Canadian Auto Workers reached a four-year labor agreement, avoiding a strike that would have shut down production of models such as the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKT.
The contract doesn’t allow for cost-of-living raises for workers or for retirees, nor does it change the pension plan to a 401(k)-like defined-contribution plan, the union said in a conference call Monday. Ford agreed to create about 600 jobs, including 230 on a partial third shift at Oakville, the union said.
The union said it will ask General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC to accept the same terms.
The accord is subject to a ratification vote by CAW members. Ford, based in Dearborn, Michigan, has about 4,500 CAW- represented workers in Ontario, including the Oakville factory in Oakville as well as plants that produce V-8 and V-10 engines.
The CAW said Sept. 16 it would focus its bargaining at Ford, intending to use an agreement with the automaker to establish basic terms of new contracts with General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC. Chrysler criticized the CAW’s move in a Sept. 16 statement, saying that Ford isn’t “in the best position to take on this role.”
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