Canadian auto workers pick GM as strike target

Associated Press

DETROIT

The Canadian auto workers’ union has picked General Motors Co. as a potential strike target in contract talks with the Detroit Three automakers.

GM will be the focus of bargaining as the two sides hash out a new contract agreement. The union’s contracts with GM, Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler expire at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 19. If an agreement isn’t reached by the deadline, the union could call a strike.

Any deal reached with GM also would be used as a pattern for the other two companies. The union, Unifor, represents 23,000 GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler workers in Canada.

Talks so far have been contentious, especially with GM. The company wants a contract that’s more cost-competitive with the United Auto Workers union in the U.S. Unifor wants guarantees that new products will go into a GM factory in Oshawa, Ontario.

The Oshawa plant employs 2,400 hourly workers and builds the Chevrolet Impala, Cadillac XTS and Buick Regal. All three cars have been slow sellers as the North American market shifts away from cars to trucks and SUVs.

GM has said about 75 percent of the workers at the Oshawa plant are eligible for full retirement benefits, leading some workers to believe that the company wants to close the factory.