Canada is quickly shaping up as an important player in Ford’s future EV expansion, one that seems likely to extend beyond its efforts to retool the Oakville Assembly plant, which is slated to produce all-electric versions of the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator after Ford Edge production ends at some point in early 2024. As Ford Authority reported back in November, that expansion could include a cathode factory in the tiny town of Becancour, for starters. Now, Ford workers in that country could also soon receive a profit sharing check following negotiations with the automaker and Canadian union Unifor, according to Automotive News Canada.
These negotiations are expected to take place in August, and follow news that U.S.-based Ford workers – along with those employed by Stellantis and General Motors – are set to receive their own profit sharing checks, which are historically large, at least in the case of Stellantis. Unifor decided to pursue this same benefit for Canadian workers after a recent member survey found that many are indeed interested in that type of compensation.
“We are asking our research department to do a deep dive into what that looks like,” said Local 444 president Dave Cassidy. “There’s a lot of discussion around ‘is it good? Is it bad?’ The devil is in the detail. It is important to us because it’s important to our members. I want to make sure people understand that this is not Dave Cassidy. This is not the national union. This is what our members are talking about, and our mandate is to make sure we bring home what our members want us to bring home.”
In the meantime, there are plenty of details to work out before Canadian Ford workers can possibly receive profit sharing checks, aside from simply deciding if such a move is the right one. That includes figuring out if North American profits should factor into those bonuses, as well as whether or not absences due to plant shutdowns should be included in the equation, to name just a couple.
We’ll have more on Ford’s electrification plans soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford business news and ongoing Ford news coverage.
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