Unifor members working at the CAMI Assembly and Battery Assembly plants in Ingersoll, Ontario, have achieved a significant victory in their contract negotiations with General Motors. The new two-year agreement, ratified by a resounding 95.7% of Unifor Local 88 members, delivers substantial pay increases, pension improvements, and other benefits that bring CAMI workers in line with their counterparts at other Canadian GM facilities.
This agreement marks a historic shift for CAMI workers, eliminating a longstanding pay lag that had existed between them and other GM employees in Canada. For the first time, Unifor has successfully negotiated a two-year contract term that aligns CAMI members with the union’s Detroit Three negotiations, combining the bargaining power of over 5,600 GM members. This means that CAMI workers will no longer have to wait for wage and benefit improvements after the Detroit Three negotiations are completed.
The new contract compresses three years of wage gains from the Detroit Three pattern into the two-year agreement, resulting in a significant 15% increase in wages for production workers and a remarkable 20.25% increase for skilled trades. Workers will see an immediate 10% pay increase, followed by a 2% increase in September 2025 and an additional 3% increase in July 2026.
“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,” said Unifor CAMI Plant Chairperson Mike Van Boekel.
The agreement also includes several other notable improvements, including:
* Wage progression to top pay rate reduced from 8 to 4 years
* Skilled trades special wage adjustments
* Reactivation of the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA)
* $10,000 Productivity and Quality bonus for full-time employees
* Improved income security provisions to protect workers during the EV transition
* Improvements to all pension plans
* Universal Health Care Allowance quarterly payments to retirees
Unifor Local 88 represents over 1,300 members at CAMI Assembly and Battery Assembly, who manufacture the Chevrolet BrightDrop EV 600 and EV 400 and Ultium battery modules. The next round of negotiations between Unifor and the Detroit Three is scheduled for the fall of 2026.
Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, represents 320,000 workers across various industries. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.
