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Breaking: Strike At General Motors’ CAMI Plant Comes To An End

By Alex Luft

October 14, 2017 8:11 am

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General Motors and Unifor Local 88 – the union representing the workers at the GM CAMI Automotive plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada – have reached a tentative agreement on October 14th, 2017, ending a four week-long strike.

The agreement still needs to be ratified, a matter that will be decided Monday morning. Details of the agreement will not be released until then.

2018 Chevrolet Equinox Teen Driver 003

2018 Chevy Equinox

Roughly 2,500 workers went on strike at the plant on September 17th. They wanted GM to designate the CAMI factory as the main producer of the Chevrolet Equinox, as the popular crossover is also assembled at two GM Mexico facilities – GM San Luis Potosi and GM Ramos Arizpe. “Job security” was reportedly another issue for the union and its members during the strike.

“These members have shown incredible courage and strength by standing up for good jobs and a secure future for their families and their community,” Unifor National President Jerry Dias said in a statement. “This strike has shown all of Canada why a renewed North American Free Trade Agreement must address the needs of working people first.”

Though two two sides have reached an agreement, talks did reach several impasses. Yesterday, GM and the parties were reported to be talking but at an impasse over job security. GM has also signaled that it could move Equinox production to Mexico as the strike continued.

A GM official with knowledge of the talks also said that while the automaker was ramping up production in Mexico, it did invest $800 million into CAMI to make the new Equinox, sending a strong signal that GM is serious about keeping work at the plant. But as of yesterday, GM didn’t want to designate one plant as the main producer of the crossover.

The workers will reportedly remain on strike until the agreement is ratified.

Sales Results - USA - Equinox

YearJanFebMar AprMayJunJul AugSepOctNov DecTotal
202418,062 18,06218,062 17,42317,423 17,42312,356 12,35612,356 21,40221,402 21,402207,730
202317,634 17,63417,634 17,65017,650 17,65016,097 16,09716,097 19,52019,520 19,520212,701
202218,679 18,67918,679 20,21420,214 20,21415,549 15,54915,549 16,24916,249 16,249212,072
202121,073 21,07321,073 18,48318,483 18,48310,815 10,81510,815 4,7384,738 4,738165,323
202024,484 24,48424,484 16,93316,933 16,93322,492 22,49222,492 26,42226,422 26,422270,994
201929,500 29,50029,500 28,55228,552 28,55226,600 26,60026,600 30,69730,697 30,697346,048
201826,405 24,05331,940 24,65624,656 24,65526,005 26,00526,005 32,74632,746 32,746332,618
201717,574 22,46422,671 20,65520,908 29,18223,524 28,24527,512 25,27219,667 32,784290,458
201618,574 19,82521,480 20,60721,252 19,58221,882 15,27315,261 19,66421,600 27,195242,195
201519,555 21,72324,335 28,85629,456 21,76021,609 25,21121,537 22,08619,634 21,827277,589
201414,547 21,58719,939 20,31522,695 21,74825,321 21,38717,266 17,60318,536 21,298242,242
201317,223 20,64920,997 20,96522,918 23,64518,507 25,07315,443 17,16318,397 17,212238,192
201213,662 17,85120,064 18,28220,238 20,79319,906 20,23115,835 15,38716,821 19,551218,621
201112,847 15,43414,949 17,06717,587 17,95417,094 16,60615,497 15,10814,936 18,195193,274
20109,513 8,06112,805 11,98713,134 11,4909,869 10,53811,658 12,77315,387 22,764149,979
*** This manufacturer is now publishing only quarterly numbers for this market. Monthly figures may be averages.

Sales Results - Canada - Equinox

YearJanFebMar AprMayJunJul AugSepOctNov DecTotal
20241,082 1,0821,082 964964 964700 700700 1,0911,091 1,09111,510
20231,068 1,0681,068 1,0491,049 1,0491,097 1,0971,097 1,2011,201 1,20113,248
20221,056 1,0561,056 1,0881,088 1,0881,221 1,2211,221 1,2201,220 1,22013,756
2021871 871871 771771 771856 856856 393393 3938,675
20201,261 1,2611,261 797797 7971,152 1,1521,152 956956 95612,499
20191,543 1,5431,543 1,9501,950 1,9501,517 1,5171,517 938938 93817,846
20181,463 1,4762,364 2,3012,316 1,7991,866 1,7371,854 1,5131,624 1,41921,732
20171,291 1,3942,493 3,0722,877 2,3051,706 1,8182,079 1,6222,067 1,72224,446
2016908 1,1511,544 1,7752,032 2,0721,266 1,3631,637 1,6572,133 1,65919,197
2015802 1,0771,658 2,1562,051 1,9661,432 1,7741,876 1,7821,634 1,55819,766
20141,130 1,2522,310 2,5071,994 1,4551,734 1,4451,575 1,4251,346 1,38619,559
*** This manufacturer is now publishing only quarterly numbers for this market. Monthly figures may be averages.

By Alex Luft

GM Authority Executive Editor with a passion for business strategy and fast cars.

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Comments

  1. It’s a wait and see situation on whether General Motors CEO Mary Barra gave in at the last moment or did Barra played hardball with CAMI workers with a final offer, go back to work or we will add a third shift to the GM Ramos Arizpe and increase production of the Chevrolet Equinox CUV to 612 per day (while still less than the 850 CAMI builds, it would make CAMI expendable).

    Reply

    1. Why the focus on Barra?

      There are significantly more parties involved here than her… she’s not the one doing the negotiating, she’s not the one doing production allocation and modeling, or whatever directoral tasks associated with this stuff.

      Reply

    2. Mary gave this to Mark as she was too busy testing the C8 st the Ring.

      The mark of a good leader is their staff and how effectively they delegate and manage it. Mary is very guilty of this in a positive way.

      Reply

  2. If concessions were made by GM, I hope the plan is still to close the CAMI factory at a future date after the Union’s contract with GM is up.

    Reply

  3. Frankly, I have little time for unions. Oh, I know what the union brass say to that. But think about this. The staff at the plant lost a month of work. Sadly, they will NEVER get these lost funds back, regardless what line the union brass feeds them. However, I will say that I am extremely gratified that they are expected to be back to work shortly. I’m sure that I am hearing a collective sigh of relief as they get back to work. I trust that the agreement will be ratified to those who really matter.

    Reply

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