At least 90% of workers at the newly-reopened GM truck plant in Oshawa will be paid $23.67, less than 65% of the rate of the few UNIFOR members left who were hired before 2016. This tiered-wage system translates into a monetary windfall for GM. It also creates divisions in the union, as the new workers earn less for doing the same work and receive fewer benefits and inferior pensions. Tiered wages started in the 1990s in the parts plants owned by the big 3 automakers. The UAW then agreed to it for the Auto majors in 2007 and UNIFOR agreed to it for GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler in Canada in 2009.
Two-tier wages have been illegal in Quebec since 2001, discrimination on the basis of length of seniority is against the Labour Act. This great achievement of Quebec workers hasnât been talked about enough by most union leaders in English-Canada (the Steelworkers are a notable exception). Quebec workers achieved a further victory in 2018, when their government outlawed discrimination in pensions as well.
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Interview with Tony Leah
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