Autoworkers at General Motors Co.'s CAMI Assembly plant in Ontario on Sunday overwhelmingly approved a new two-year contract between the company and Unifor, the union representing them, that provides pay increases and eliminates what the union called "a historic pay lag" with other Canadian GM employees.

Having a two-year deal will put CAMI workers, who approved the deal with 95.7% voting yes, on the same timeline as other Unifor-represented GM employees, who approved new contracts last year. The 2023 GM-Unifor deal, covering GM workers at Oshawa Assembly truck plant, St. Catharines Powertrain plant and Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre, came with wage increases, a reduced progression timeline to get to the top rate, and bonuses.

“For the first time Unifor has successfully negotiated a two-year contract term that will align CAMI members with the union’s Detroit Three negotiations to combine the future bargaining power of more than 5,600 GM members," Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a statement. "Never again will CAMI members have to wait to play catch-up on wages and benefit improvements."

The new CAMI contract provides three years of wage gains, patterned from the Detroit Three negotiations last year, into the two-year life of the agreement. It includes 15% wage increases for production workers and 20.25% for skilled trades workers.

Workers will immediately receive a 10% pay increase with a 2% increase in September 2025 and an additional 3% increase in July 2026.

Unifor Local 88 represents more than 1,300 members at CAMI Assembly and Battery Assembly, where they make the Chevrolet BrightDrop EV 600 and EV 400 delivery vans and Ultium battery modules. GM recently brought the BrightDrop electric delivery vans under the Chevrolet brand to expand their reach.

“CAMI workers have been trailblazers in the EV transition and our bargaining committee was determined to bring home the wage increases, pension improvements and income replacement measures to protect them during this evolution and position them for the future,” Unifor CAMI Plant Chairperson Mike Van Boekel said in a statement.

GM Canada President and Managing Director Kristian Aquilina said in a statement that the company is "pleased our team members at CAMI Assembly, the manufacturing home of the Chevrolet BrightDrop electric van, have ratified a new agreement that supports our employees and our business. I am excited by the opportunity ahead as BrightDrop joins the Chevrolet brand, further strengthening GM’s commitment to electric mobility. Our vehicle production and battery-module assembly operation at CAMI helps position GM as a leader in Canadian EV supply chain development, manufacturing and export. "

Unifor’s next round of negotiations with the Detroit Three will take place in the fall of 2026.

The CAMI deal's highlights include:

—Wage progression to top pay rate reduced from eight to four years

—Skilled trades special wage adjustments

—Reactivation of the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA)

—A $10,000 productivity and quality bonus for full-time employees

—Improved income security provisions to protect workers during EV transition

—Improvements to all pension plans

—Universal Health Care Allowance quarterly payments to retirees

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