Canadian Labour Reporter

stance in 2006, to come up with a flexible plan to manufacture the Chevrolet Camaro. "When we have those types of investment's infrastructure, then (the company) builds on long- term commitments," said Ron Svajlenko, president of Unifor's Local 222 in Oshawa. "When they put a plant in, and they com- mit long term like they did with a shelf agreement, there are ben- efits down the road." But negotiating a shelf con- tract is akin to walking the edge of a knife. According to David Amyot, a labour lawyer on the automotive file at McTague Law Firm LLP in Windsor, Ont., a shelf agree- ment puts the union at a vantage point — in that it sits at the table as a legitimate business partner — but at the high price of its bar- gaining power. "The rationale for doing that is to secure the work, and once the employer or company commits significant capital investment for that product in that facility, they would hope to achieve gains at the bargaining table in future years based on roots being put down in that facility with that new product," Amyot explained. "(Unions) might operate under the motto: short-term pain for long-term security and gain." Eroding a union's bargaining clout is one such painful short- term concession, Svajlenko agreed, adding that the ends jus- tify the means. "No one really ever wants to negotiate a shelf agreement, it's more of a result of circum- stance. You do it when you feel it fits your membership and your products," he said, citing this summer's forthcoming bargain- ing between GM and the U.S.- based United Auto Workers union. "We know the product that GM has available across the board is limited, so obviously we've taken the more aggressive step to try and get ahead of them and say, 'What about us?'" Particularly in Oshawa, the fecund garden is primed for har- vesting. Svajlenko pointed to the plant's demographic, two-thirds of which will be or become eli- gible for retirement in 2015, as a contributing factor during the upcoming round of negotiations. But traversing a shelf agree- ment can have benefits in Os- hawa that will outlive the pro- visions of a specific contract. Survival, for instance — and the guarantee of work — are worth making concessions for, Svajlen- ko added. "There has been a host of con- cessions, and some of that was driven by the United States, be- cause I can't compete with Mex- ico or Indonesia or China, but if I can't be competitive with the United States, I won't exist," he explained. Labour pains Should the company commit to Oshawa, brokering a shelf agree- ment has its benefits — particu- larly one that determines what the cost of labour will be without making any definitive or con- crete commitment to put the product there. "You're mitigating the risk of many hundreds of millions of dollars of investment and you're kind of sharing a little bit of that with the union," he said. "It's a known labour component." And presumably, the auto- maker will be satisfied with the workforce up for consideration — a facility with trained and fa- miliar employees will mitigate false expectations, he added. Trust test Such a gamble will be felt on both sides of the table. "A high level of trust is re- quired to negotiate a shelf agreement," Amyot said. "To some degree, each side is expos- ing more of their strategic plans than they may otherwise want to. But they're doing it for the common purpose of trying to get a business case that makes sense to put the particular prod- uct into the facility." The automaker is open to such an arrangement at its Os- hawa operation, according to GM Canada's president Stephen Carlisle. "Who's to say what's possible at this stage? It's been done be- fore — so let's see. I wouldn't rule it out," Carlisle told Reuters. The current contract between GM and Unifor's Local 222 chap- ter expires in 2016. 7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 CANADIAN LABOUR REPORTER news < from pg. 1 Unions may erode bargaining clout Negotiating a collective agreement early can secure jobs, the development of a new product and help knock out the competition, according to Unifor, which said it must remain competitive with GM's operations in Michigan. Photo: Rebecca Cook (Reuters)

• Cover