Canadian Auto Workers Union

Canadian auto workers have overwhelmingly given their union the go-ahead to call a strike at the Big Three auto makers, as contract talks that could affect the entire North American car industry head down to the wire. The Canadian Autoworkers Union, which represents about 46,000 workers with the Big Three auto makers, said 97% of union members at General Motors Corp. of Canada gave the union the mandate to call a strike, while the numbers were 95% at Ford Motor Co.

The Canadian Auto Workers and General Motors Corp. agreed Wednesday to resume serious bargaining aimed at quickly settling a 2-week-old strike that is disrupting GM's operations in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The breakthrough came after John F. Smith Jr., GM chairman and chief executive, flew to Toronto for a two-hour face-to-face meeting with CAW President Basil "Buzz" Hargrove. "I think we might have found a way to break the logjam," Hargrove said after the meeting.

In an apparent first for the auto industry, General Motors Corp. agreed Tuesday to extend employment benefits to the same-sex partners of its 26,000 employee members of the Canadian Auto Workers. The provision was included at the last minute as bargainers in Toronto reached tentative agreement on a new contract to end a 20-day strike, said Basil "Buzz" Hargrove, the union's president. Company executives said they were unaware of any comparable policies at other U.S.-based auto companies.

The Canadian Auto Workers union today picked Chrysler Corp.'s Canadian subsidiary as its strike target in contract talks with the Big Three car makers.

Ending a weeklong holdout that jeopardized Canadian Airlines' survival, the Canadian Auto Workers union reached agreement with the airline and federal government on a rescue plan that includes employee pay cuts. Long after the airline's five other unions had accepted the plan, the CAW resisted, insisting that the government should contribute more money or re-regulate the aviation industry to improve the airline's chances for profitability.

General Motors laid off second-shift workers at a Detroit Cadillac plant, the latest Americans caught in the cross fire of a strike against the auto maker in Canada. Already, the 10-day-old strike by the Canadian Auto Workers union has shut down all GM plants across Canada and has been blamed for hundreds of layoffs at American GM plants that depend on factories struck by CAW. The Cadillac plant here depends on trim parts from a Windsor, Canada, plant to make Eldorados, Sevilles and DeVilles.

Unionized workers of Ford Motor Co. of Canada voted overwhelmingly to approve a three-year labor contract with the automaker, the Canadian Auto Workers union said Sunday. The workers voted 95% in favor of the deal, which sets the standard on wages and other issues that the union expects DaimlerChrysler Canada and General Motors of Canada to match in talks this month.

Contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers union and the Big Three auto makers tentatively are set to begin five weeks from today, company officials said today. Contracts between the UAW and each of the Big Three expire Sept. 14, the first time in 11 years the three contracts have had common expiration dates. Company officials who declined to be identified said the talks will open with General Motors Corp. July 18, with Ford Motor Co. July 19 and with Chrysler Corp. July 20.