Workers at Magna in Ontario ratify new agreement

Ends contentious third-party workforce: Unifor

Workers at Magna in three locations in Ontario ratified a new four-year contract Nov. 22 by 86 per cent.

The new agreement includes job-security provisions that lock-in existing work and any work that could be upgraded over the life of the agreement. It also includes wage increases, retirement incentives, improvements to benefits and long-term disability coverage, as well as the elimination of the third-party supplementary workforce, according to Unifor.

Ending the use of third-party supplementary workforces was a concern set out in the Independent Parts Sector Task Force in 2015, which established bargaining priorities for the sector.  In order to end the use of temporary staffing agencies, an auxiliary workforce will be created, which will be capped at 15 per cent of the workforce, said the union.

“This is the best auto parts contract we have seen in a long while,” said Jimmy D'Agostino, Unifor Local 2009AP president.

Negotiations began on Oct. 16 and proceeded steadily for more than four weeks, said Unifor.

Local 2009AP represents 343 workers at Mississauga Seating Systems, 300 at Qualtech Seating Systems and 230 at Windsor Modules, all in Ontario.

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