Chrysler deal OK’d

TORONTO—Unionized workers at Chrysler’s Ontario plants yesterday voted to accept a new contract, marking the Canadian Auto Workers’ successful negotiation of fresh agreements with all the three big U.S. automakers.
The Chrysler workers voted 90 percent in favour of the tentative deal reached last week.

It was not immediately clear how many of the 8,000 workers at Chrysler’s plants in Toronto, Brampton, and Windsor cast ballots in the ratification votes held this weekend.
The deal was based on agreements already accepted by CAW members at Ford and General Motors by margins of 82 percent and 73 percent, respectively.
The four-year contract includes lump sum payments as well as job security provisions.
It also pays new employees less and extends the time it takes them to get to the top of the pay scale.
CAW president Ken Lewenza said the ratification now will allow the union to focus on winning a national auto policy.
“One of our objectives coming into these talks was to position our industry for future growth and success, and we did as much as we possibly could on that front,” Lewenza said.
“But without a comprehensive sector development strategy, the future of auto manufacturing in Canada remains uncertain, at best,” he warned.