Talks will be tough
ed in July, as the most difficult round since the early 1980s.
“ It’s almost like bargaining is shifting where the companies are putting the demands in and the union is responding,” Hargrove said.
U. S.- based GM and Ford are losing money and market share in North America. They plan to close plants across the continent in the next year.
Big Three negotiators say the companies cannot afford any increases in contracts without savings elsewhere. The union has lowered its wage expectations in bargaining but insists it will make progress on pensions and time off the job.
At Ford, Hargrove said the union is trying to secure longterm commitments for the future of an assembly plant in St. Thomas and engine operations in Windsor.
Shovels are in the ground for a new Ford assembly plant in Oakville but Hargrove said nothing is a certainty.