Canadian HR Reporter

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Learn more: brocku.ca/education/futurestudents/adulted P: 905 688 5550 x5547 E: adulted@brocku.ca Faculty of Education Centre for Adult Education and Community Outreach labouR RElations Auto industry retools Sector rebounds with new investments, renewed push by organized labour By Sabrina Nanji i n canada, the auto industry has long been a delectable slice of the economic pie and, for union leaders, it has been a breeding ground in which to cut their teeth. e automotive sector's past is a storied one of hard-fought contracts and tough negotiations. So when the Great Recession hit in 2008, both sides of the bargain- ing table had to reach a deeper un- derstanding than that provided in a collective agreement. Since then, economic forecast- ers have noted the industry is on the rebound — and however slight that uptick may be, it has already begun to manifest in the employ- ment relationship. Here's a look at some of the trends related to the auto industry the editors of Ca- nadian Labour Reporter (www. labour-reporter.com) covered in the last year. Pattern bargaining task force When the Canadian Auto Work- ers (CAW) merged with the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers to become Unifor, it didn't take long for the new body to flex its muscle and attempt to grow the practice of patterning bargaining. Earlier this year, Unifor an- nounced a new task force devoted to pursuing a pattern bargaining model across the auto parts in- dustry. Previously, the tactic has successfully been applied at the Big ree (Ford, General Motors and Chrysler). Such a rubric would include standardizing provisions such as wages, recall rights and employ- ment conditions across similar employers. While the union toasts the pattern model as a bastion of standardization and consisten- cy, legal labour experts are a bit more wary. "Theoretically, there is more predictability," said David Amyot, a labour lawyer on the automo- tive file at McTague Law Firm in Windsor, Ont. "But the reality is employers have their own unique set of cir- cumstances, whether it be finan- cial or employment, which pat- tern bargaining probably wouldn't take into consideration as much as those employers would want it to." ough the auto parts industry may be a long way off from leg- islated pattern bargaining — akin to the industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) construction contracts in Ontario — only time will tell if the auto parts indus- try will follow the lead of the Big ree when it comes to collective agreements. Chrysler investments Not only did the economic down- turn affect dealings at the bar- gaining table, it has also affected investment and development. In the spring of 2014, Chrysler said it would go ahead with a major redevelopment — regardless of whether the Ontario and federal governments would provide fi- nancial assistance. Then, the company abruptly withdrew its funding request for $700 million of the $3.6 billion it had planned to invest at two On- tario plants — one in Brampton and one in Windsor — after the is- sue became a political hot potato. Now, the automaker is in the midst of a $2-billion investment at its assembly plant in Windsor — home of the minivan. e plant, which employs more than 4,500 workers, is in the midst of a 14- week shutdown and is scheduled to come back on line in late May. As of press time, Chrysler hadn't revealed any investment plans for the plant in Brampton. Toyota unionization An investment of a different na- ture, again in Ontario, did not go as initially planned. For years, the Toyota plants in Woodstock and Cambridge have weathered certi- fication drives: e International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers attempted and failed in 2008; the CAW was equally unsuccessful in 2009. is past year saw Unifor step into the ring again, initially re- porting it had 40 per cent of union cards signed — the number re- quired for a certification vote. But the union put off the vote after the company said 7,500 bargaining unit employees would be eligible — almost 1,000 more than Unifor initially believed. e latest numbers indicated Unifor had about 3,000 of the votes, union president Jerry Dias said at the time, saying he re- mained confident certification would happen. Wage hikes at Ford, right-to-work laws in Michigan South of the border, signs are pointing to a more fruitful labour relationship. At Ford, for instance, the company announced its inten- tion to raise pay for new hires by US$19,000 a year, or 50 per cent. The two-tier wage system, where a veteran autoworker would make more than his en- try-level counterpart, had been agreed to by the United Auto Workers (UAW) when all auto- makers were taking a hit and be- fore GM and Chrysler received federal bailouts from the United States government. Ford said a two-tier wage sys- tem eased financial pressures and allowed the company to hire and invest in plants in recent years. With the U.S. Labor Depart- ment reporting union member- ship as down slightly, Michigan has seen the sharpest drop — from 16.3 per cent in 2013 to 14.5 per cent in 2014. e decrease came in the first full year after the state enacted right-to-work laws. With contracts between the UAW and Detroit automakers expiring at the end of this year, Michigan will be the place to watch for all stakeholders in the labour game. COST: $69 + applicable taxes LIVE WEBINAR TIME: 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. ET REGISTER ONLINE: www.HRReporter.com/CPDCentre For more Live and On-demand Webinars, visit us online. WEBINAR SERIES ACCOMMODATION AND ATTENDANCE MANAGEMENT Learn best practices for managing employee absences and accommodating when necessary TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED INCLUDE: · Accommodation in a unionized environment · Case studies of organizational accommodation practices · Privacy concerns when dealing with personal health information · Best practices for developing and implementing sound accommodation policies and procedures PRESENTER David Whitten | Whitten and Lublin Employment Lawyers DATE March 18, 2015 David Whitten A worker on the line at Chrysler's assembly plant in Windsor, Ont. The automaker is investing $2 billion at the factory, which employs nearly 4,600 people. Credit: Rebecca Cook (Reuters)

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