Over 18,000 autoworkers are affected by the current round of bargaining<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have very clear demands that were presented to the company today,\u201d said Unifor National President Lana Payne<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those demands were presented during the official handshakes Thursday with the Detroit Big Three<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey’re serious about it,\u201d said Dave Cassidy, president of Unifor Local 444. \u201cThey have the UAW going at the same time but they know they also have us that they’re going to be bargaining with as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials at Stellantis, Ford and GM will now have a week to look over contract demands<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe’ll be back up the week of the 20th-21st and start sitting down and bargaining until we get to Labour Day,\u201d said Payne<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s when Payne will decide who will be the lead company during negotiations. Cassidy has made it known he wants Stellantis to set the pattern<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have the largest footprint in Canada for OEM\u2019s [original equipment manufacturers],\u201d he said<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stellantis also has the largest membership for original equipment manufacturers<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have to get a good collective agreement that our members will accept, support and be proud of,\u201d Payne said<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wages and benefits are priorities, but the top issue is pensions<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have a lot of work to do around pensions,\u201d Cassidy told CTV News Windsor<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greg Layson, digital and mobile editor for Automotive News Canada, said the union has to win concessions for two segments of their membership \u2014 current workers who have a pension and current pensioners<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCurrent employees are gonna want a good pension when they retire too but the fact of the matter is pensioners right now have been stuck on a fixed income as the cost of living continues to go up and up and up,\u201d he explained<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stellantis retirees gathered in front of the Chrysler building on Riverside Drive Thursday morning to support the opening day of bargaining and to make sure they aren’t forgotten<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey have had different increases for the workers but unfortunately the pensioners are always, \u2018Okay maybe the next time, maybe next time.\u2019 This has to be the time,\u201d said retiree Cathy Campbell<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Retired union leader Gary Parent feels retirees deserve not to be overlooked during this round of negotiations<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere’s a deservingness but also a payback that has to be recognized for the retirees for their sacrifices during the restructuring days,\u201d he said<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Living on a fixed income, some retirees are having to visit food banks in order to survive, according to Peter Pellerito, chairperson of the Retirees Chapter of Unifor Local 444<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI’m on the board at the Unemployed Help Centre so I know retirees are going there. This is important to us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe haven’t had a raise in 13 years.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over 18,000 autoworkers are affected by the current round of bargaining \u201cWe have very clear demands that were presented to the company today,\u201d said Unifor National President Lana Payne Those demands were presented during the official handshakes Thursday with the Detroit Big Three \u201cThey’re serious about it,\u201d said Dave Cassidy, president of Unifor Local 444. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":20782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"topbottom","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"enable_post_split":"0","post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal","first":"0","enable_toc":"0","toc_type":"normal"}]},"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n