Canadian Auto Union to Negotiate Labor Pact With Fiat Chrysler

The union representing Canada's auto workers will turn to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV next to negotiate a new four-year labor contract, aiming to win pay raises and factory investments similar to the ones secured earlier this week in a proposed agreement with General Motors Co.

Unifor, the country's largest private-sector union, has been bargaining with Fiat Chrysler, GM and Ford Motor Co. since August for the new labor deals that will help protect Canada's auto manufacturing sector amid a surge in new factory investment flowing to Mexico, where labor costs are far cheaper.

Fiat Chrysler, employing 9,750 hourly workers in Canada, is one of the country's largest auto makers with two large assembly plants in Ontario, producing high-profile models, such as the Pacifica minivan.

Separately, Unifor said it would hold a vote Sunday for factory workers at GM to ratify a new tentative deal reached Monday that secures "hundreds of millions of dollars" in new investment from the company and pledges to keep open a vehicle assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario, beyond a potential 2019 closure.

In a statement, Unifor President Jerry Dias reiterated that securing new factory investment from Fiat Chrysler will take top priority. "We have one simple message for all the Detroit auto makers: there will be no deal without commitments to new investments in Canada," Mr. Dias said.

Write to Christina Rogers at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 22, 2016 15:45 ET (19:45 GMT)

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