Just the facts
Unifor's pattern agreement
Unifor members' successfully ratified the most significant wage package in the history of CAW and Unifor bargaining. Unifor members secured improvements to all pension plans and income security measures to protect members throughout the EV transition. Unifor now sets out to pattern this negotiated settlement with Stellantis.
Wages
Fact:
Production workers' base hourly wage rate will increase nearly 20% over the three-year agreement plus Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) adjustments.
This equals a 6.4% average annual wage increase.
Fact:
Ford Skilled Trades workers' base hourly wage rate will increase by 25% over the three-year agreement plus Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) adjustments.
This equals an 8.3% average annual wage increase.
Fact:
$10,000 Productivity and Quality bonus for full-time employees.
Fact:
$4,000 Productivity and Quality bonus for Temporary Part Time (TPT) employees.
Fact:
Production workers with one year seniority will move from $25.75 per hour to $44.52 per hour, a wage improvement of 73% over the three-year agreement.
Fact:
Production assemblers with one year seniority will be paid a total of $44.52 per hour by end of the three-year agreement.
Fact:
Top-rate production assemblers will be paid $44.52 per hour plus forecasted $1.61 Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) adjustments, for a total of $46.13 by the end of the three-year agreement.
Fact:
Top-rate Skilled Trades worker will be paid $55.97 per hour plus forecasted $1.61 Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) adjustments, for a total of $57.58 by the end of the three-year agreement.
Fact:
Workers' start rate will increase by 28.4% moving from $24.26 per hour to $31.16 per hour by end of the three-year agreement.
Fact:
The time it takes workers to reach the top wage rate is cut in half from 8 years to 4 years.
Pensions
Fact:
The monthly pension benefit rate for workers is increased by 7.3%. This means a production worker who retires at age 65 will receive an extra $1,800 per year and a Skilled Trades worker an extra $2,160.
Fact:
Current Defined Contribution (DC) Plan members and all new hires will transition to a new Defined Benefit-style pension plan on January 1, 2025. Additional benefits of the new plan include joint survivor benefits, early retirement option, and conditional indexing. CAAT DBplus is not-for-profit so all funds generated by the plan are for plan members and plan members ONLY.
Fact:
Company pension contributions for current Defined Contribution (DC) plan members will rise from 4% to 7% increasing from $3,106 to $6,172 for production workers at top-rate in the first year of the three-year agreement. This means the company will contribute almost $10,000 more to each worker’s pension over the life of the contract (based on 2,080 hours).
Fact:
For workers under the '30-and-out' pension program, production workers will see a $250 per month increase in the special allowance from $3,545 to $3,795 and Skilled Trades workers will see an increase of $300 per month from $3,925 to $4,225.
Retirees
Fact:
Special attention was paid in bargaining to make improvements to the income and benefits our retired members are eligible for. Retired employees in the Legacy DB plan and the Hybrid plan who retired prior to October 2, 2023 will now receive the Universal Health Care Allowance, a new quarterly payment unique to Canadian retirees. Quarterly payments begin in Q4 2023 and continue over life of agreement. Members who retired prior to October 1, 2008 will receive $200 per quarter. Members who retired on or after October 1, 2008 and up to and prior to October 1, 2016 will receive $150 per quarter. Members who retired on or after October 1, 2016 and up to and including October 1, 2023 will receive $125 per quarter. The health care deductible for all retirees and surviving spouses is eliminated. Improvement to multiple health care benefits to aid retirees.
EV Transition
Fact:
SUB benefit rate increased from 65% to 70% for all Unifor members with one year of seniority at all workplaces. During the retooling period, employees with at least one year seniority who exhaust SUB credits during retooling period eligible for Income Maintenance Benefit. EI repayments reimbursed by the company should annual net employment income exceed the annual maximum income threshold as outlined by the Government of Canada. Company contributions to the DC pension plan or CAAT DBplus plan will continue during retooling. Vacation for 2025/2026 prorated based on available months of production in 2024/2025.
Benefits and Paid Holidays
Fact:
Unifor members will receive two additional paid holidays for Family Day, on the third Monday in February, and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30 should it fall on a weekday.
Fact:
Under the pattern agreement, members with 3-10 years of seniority will now receive enhanced vacation pay entitlements.
Priorities met. Pattern set.
Fact:
Unifor's bargaining team met all of its priorities in negotiations and bargained a historic wage package, strong pensions, protections for autoworkers in the EV transition, and secured investment to lock in a pattern agreement that works for Canadian autoworkers.
