Unifor National President Lana Payne, centre, and union representatives ahead of bargaining between Unifor and Ford Motor Company on June 22.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
Unifor negotiators opened contract negotiations with Ford of Canada on Monday, setting a July 10 deadline for reaching a tentative labour agreement amid doubts about the future of the North American free-trade agreement and U.S. tariffs.
Lana Payne, Unifor’s national director, said the union did not wait to see if the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is renewed before beginning talks, citing the perils of a delay.
“It’s too risky to wait,” Ms. Payne said at a press conference in Toronto on Monday.
She pointed to the negotiations that will follow those of Ford F-N – with General Motors GM-N and Stellantis STLA-N, two automakers that have idled plants and laid off workers. She said reopening the plants will be part of those talks.
“How do we know when [USMCA] is going to be settled? We don’t know that, but we do know what circumstances that we’re dealing with right now, and we have a lot of members who need answers,” Ms. Payne said. “We need to deal with things now.”
USMCA heads into unpredictable new phase with no extension likely
Unifor is seeking better pensions and retirement security benefits, wages and income security in a three-year agreement, Ms. Payne said. If a tentative agreement is not reached by July 10, the union will discuss its next steps, she said.
Unifor chose to begin bargaining with Ford, which is reopening its Oakville assembly plant to make pickup trucks, because of the “respectful working relationship” between the two sides, Ms. Payne said. The union employs pattern bargaining, using the first contract to set the standard for talks with the other two automakers.
Ford Canada executive Meredith Keenan shakes hands with Unifor's Lana Payne. Ms. Payne says there is a respectful working relationship between the two sides.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
Ford employs a total of about 5,000 workers at the Oakville plant, engine factories in Windsor and Essex, and parts distribution centres across the country.
The U.S. has applied 25-per-cent tariffs on the non-U.S. content of Canadian-made cars, a move the union has labelled a violation of the free-trade agreement. That deal is set for renewal by July 1, but President Donald Trump said last week he wants it to “expire immediately.”
Larry Savage, a labour studies professor at Brock University, said the trade uncertainty makes this round “very interesting,” and puts the union in a defensive position.
The threats of moving production to the U.S. because of tariffs, USMCA questions and Chinese electric car imports are all factors the automakers can use to push for concessions, he said.
“Fear and uncertainty are powerful weapons at the bargaining table because they narrow workers’ room to manoeuvre. They make employers’ threats sound more credible than they might otherwise be,” he said by phone. “For Unifor, I think this is very clearly a defensive round of bargaining.”
The U.S. tariffs have caused some automakers to pause or cancel some investments in Ontario. Stellantis moved planned Jeep production to Illinois, leaving its Brampton factory empty. GM last year closed its electric van plant in Ingersoll and cut a shift of workers at its Oshawa pickup plant.
Ford closed its Oakville plant in 2024 to retool for electric cars, but changed tack as the U.S. market soured. It is gradually ramping up production of Super Duty pickups at the plant west of Toronto.