Ford Motor of Canada and trade union federation Unifor have ratified a new three-year labour agreement, committing C$1.25bn ($891.3m) to Canadian manufacturing investment.
The contract applies to over 5,000 hourly staff represented by Ford-Unifor and provides for a 9% general wage rise spread across the agreement’s duration.
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Full-time permanent staff who qualify will receive a C$10,000 ratification payment, and temporary staff will receive C$2,000.
Pension benefit rates will also rise, alongside other benefit enhancements and a revised starting wage for new employees under the hire progression schedule.
Of the total, C$700m is earmarked for the Essex Engine Plant in Windsor, Ontario, aimed at increasing output of the 5-litre engine, with plans for a possible third production shift, as well as sustaining production growth of the 7.3-litre engine.
This comes on top of an already-confirmed C$550m for the Oakville Assembly Complex over the course of the agreement.
Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley said: “This agreement is about investing in our people and Canada’s future.
“With this agreement and our continued investments in Oakville, Windsor and Essex, we are building on more than a century of manufacturing leadership in Canada and strengthening Ford’s ability to compete and win for years to come.”
The latest funding adds to Ford’s earlier C$5bn investment that transformed Oakville Assembly Complex into its Super Duty assembly site and brought the company’s first stamping operations to Canada.
Together with close to C$4bn spent across Ford’s Canadian sites over the last ten years, the new agreement continues what the company refers to as 122 years of manufacturing presence in the country.
Separately, Farley voiced support for the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which the Trump administration has yet to agree to renew.
“A strong, integrated North American manufacturing system is essential to our competitiveness, and a revised USMCA is critical to fending off the cost and currency advantages enjoyed by imported vehicles from Korea and Japan”, Farley added.
Ford of Canada has around 6,500 direct employees in Canada, with an additional 20,000 working across close to 430 Ford and Ford-Lincoln dealerships across the country.
Unifor, which represents roughly 320,000 workers across various sectors of the Canadian economy, was established in 2013 through the merger of the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union.
