Union reaches tentative deal with Ford with nearly $2B in EV contracts

Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd. has agreed to spend nearly $2 billion on its Canadian plants as part of tentative contract deal with Unifor announced Tuesday.

Under the proposed settlement, Unifor national president Jerry Dias said $1.95 billion will be invested in Ford’s Canadian plants, including $1.8 billion toward the production of five electric vehicles in Oakville, Ont., and an engine contract that could yield new jobs in Windsor, Ont.

The 6,300 union workers at Ford will vote on the deal this weekend, Dias said.

Talks between the union and the automaker came to a head on Monday ahead of a bargaining deadline of 11:59 p.m. ET.

Workers had voted to support a strike if a deal could not be reached, with the future of the Oakville, Ont. plant potentially on the line amid the end of the Ford Edge production deal.

The plant will now be re-tooled for electric vehicle production starting in 2024, Dias said, with the fifth and final model of the new deal hitting the assembly line in 2028.

“This is a major commitment from Ford,” Dias said. “This is going to be a key facility, for not for the short term, but for the long term ... this is a decadelong commitment.”

Dias thanked local and federal politicians for support during the negotiations. When asked about government contributions toward electric vehicle production, Dias declined to confirm earlier news reports on the topic, saying the government will have to announce how much they plan kick in.