TORONTO — The autoworkers’ union is set to begin formal negotiations on Wednesday with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford Motor Company and General Motors, in what one observer calls “the fight of their life”.
Unifor, which represents about 20,000 Canadian workers between the three companies, said the recent COVID-19 pandemic has stoked uncertainty about future job security as economies struggle.
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“This round of talks is especially unique and challenging,” said the union, on its website outlining the auto talks. “This year’s contract talks will pivot on good jobs and future investment.”
Ford also said that “global economic uncertainties” have stressed the importance of maintaining jobs in Canada.
“We’ll be asking our employees to work with us to help shape this new reality together,” said spokeswoman Rose Pao in a statement.
The negotiations will focus on collective agreements that expire Sept. 21. The union said that it will identify on Sept. 8 its “strike target” — the manufacturer it will target first to set a pattern for the other agreements.
Unifor national president Jerry Dias says he will be on the lookout for any attempts by the manufacturers to use COVID-19 as an “excuse.” He says other than improving wage increases, he expects major battlegrounds will be a new product investment from Ford in Oakville, putting a stop to outsourcing Ford parts depots, and restoring the third shift in Fiat Chrysler’s Windsor and Brampton facilities. Dias is also eyeing the 2023 expiration of major programs in GM’s powertrain operation in St. Catharines.
While recent trade policy changes, when enacted, will improve the state of play, Dias says the government needs to do more to attract electric vehicle investments to Canada.
“This is an industry that pays a lot of taxes,” says Dias. “And it’s a lot of jobs. So everybody’s going to have to start to row together in the right direction.”
Ian Lee, associate professor of management at Sprott School of Business at Carleton University, says the economic pressure on the auto industry has created an uphill battle for unions.
“GM, Ford, FCA, I think they’re increasingly in the driver’s seat,” says Lee.
“Unifor, in these upcoming negotiations, they’re in the fight of their life. I think that there is not going to be so much on wages. I think it’s going to be, ‘Can we save the plants that are left?'”
The new round of negotiations come as the industry is still dealing with fallout from the novel coronavirus. For example, FCA plants in Canada were down from March 18 to May 4, and GM plants were closed between March 16 and May 25, after which they gradually reopened.
Like previous recessions, auto sales also sputtered during the early months of the COVID-19 outbreak. DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. said that auto sales plunged 48 per cent year-over-year in March, but by July, sales had fallen just 4.9 per cent, the smallest decrease since the pandemic began.
Nonetheless, DesRosiers predicted that annual sales rates will remain flat for one to two years.
The new negotiations will be set against the background of the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which went into force July 1.
The deal included a provision that a significant percentage of the value of a car be produced by workers earning the equivalent of at least US$16 per hour, something the Canadian government said could improve Canadian automotive manufacturing’s competitiveness compared to that of Mexico.
While some trade policy changes, when enacted, will improve the state of play, Dias says the government needs to do more to attract electric vehicle investments to Canada.
“This is an industry that pays a lot of taxes,” says Dias. “And it’s a lot of jobs. So everybody’s going to have to start to row together in the right direction.”
Between 1999 and 2017, Canada dropped to the No. 10 auto manufacturing country in the world, down from No. 4 in 1999, Unifor previously estimated.
“Mexico is building smaller cars, in a threat to Canada. But I’ve argued that the biggest threat to Canada is not Mexico. It’s the southern United States,” says Lee.
“In the American South, it’s not only wages that are lower … taxes are lower, state taxes are lower, land costs are lower, cost of living is lower.”
In 2016, GM was targeted by the union, which cited the company’s financial surplus and asked for new allocations for vehicles and powertrain and better incentives for new hires and retirees.
The agreements, which can be hundreds of pages in length, ended up converting 700 jobs at GM and securing a $713-million investment and 500 jobs from Ford, among other issues.
Last year marked the culmination of downsizing at a GM plant in Oshawa, Ont. The plant east of Toronto now has about 300 workers, down from about 2,600.
“There’s going to be a great temptation for the three companies: When they close down these particular cars as a segment, they will not replace them. If you don’t replace them, you close up a plant,” says Lee.
This report by the Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2020.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VICTORIA – British Columbia is forecasting a record budget deficit and a rising debt of almost $129 billion less than two weeks before the start of a provincial election campaign where economic stability and future progress are expected to be major issues.
Finance Minister Katrine Conroy, who has announced her retirement and will not seek re-election in the Oct. 19 vote, said Tuesday her final budget update as minister predicts a deficit of $8.9 billion, up $1.1 billion from a forecast she made earlier this year.
Conroy said she acknowledges “challenges” facing B.C., including three consecutive deficit budgets, but expected improved economic growth where the province will start to “turn a corner.”
The $8.9 billion deficit forecast for 2024-2025 is followed by annual deficit projections of $6.7 billion and $6.1 billion in 2026-2027, Conroy said at a news conference outlining the government’s first quarterly financial update.
Conroy said lower corporate income tax and natural resource revenues and the increased cost of fighting wildfires have had some of the largest impacts on the budget.
“I want to acknowledge the economic uncertainties,” she said. “While global inflation is showing signs of easing and we’ve seen cuts to the Bank of Canada interest rates, we know that the challenges are not over.”
Conroy said wildfire response costs are expected to total $886 million this year, more than $650 million higher than originally forecast.
Corporate income tax revenue is forecast to be $638 million lower as a result of federal government updates and natural resource revenues are down $299 million due to lower prices for natural gas, lumber and electricity, she said.
Debt-servicing costs are also forecast to be $344 million higher due to the larger debt balance, the current interest rate and accelerated borrowing to ensure services and capital projects are maintained through the province’s election period, said Conroy.
B.C.’s economic growth is expected to strengthen over the next three years, but the timing of a return to a balanced budget will fall to another minister, said Conroy, who was addressing what likely would be her last news conference as Minister of Finance.
The election is expected to be called on Sept. 21, with the vote set for Oct. 19.
“While we are a strong province, people are facing challenges,” she said. “We have never shied away from taking those challenges head on, because we want to keep British Columbians secure and help them build good lives now and for the long term. With the investments we’re making and the actions we’re taking to support people and build a stronger economy, we’ve started to turn a corner.”
Premier David Eby said before the fiscal forecast was released Tuesday that the New Democrat government remains committed to providing services and supports for people in British Columbia and cuts are not on his agenda.
Eby said people have been hurt by high interest costs and the province is facing budget pressures connected to low resource prices, high wildfire costs and struggling global economies.
The premier said that now is not the time to reduce supports and services for people.
Last month’s year-end report for the 2023-2024 budget saw the province post a budget deficit of $5.035 billion, down from the previous forecast of $5.9 billion.
Eby said he expects government financial priorities to become a major issue during the upcoming election, with the NDP pledging to continue to fund services and the B.C. Conservatives looking to make cuts.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the debt would be going up to more than $129 billion. In fact, it will be almost $129 billion.
NANAIMO, B.C. – Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he’ll be advising the Liberal party to flip some the challenges posed by an increasingly divided and dangerous world into an economic opportunity for Canada.
But he won’t say what his specific advice will be on economic issues that are politically divisive in Canada, like the carbon tax.
He presented his vision for the Liberals’ economic policy at the party’s caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C. today, after he agreed to help the party prepare for the next election as chair of a Liberal task force on economic growth.
Carney has been touted as a possible leadership contender to replace Justin Trudeau, who has said he has tried to coax Carney into politics for years.
Carney says if the prime minister asks him to do something he will do it to the best of his ability, but won’t elaborate on whether the new adviser role could lead to him adding his name to a ballot in the next election.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she has been taking advice from Carney for years, and that his new position won’t infringe on her role.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
