CAW Reaches New Agreement at CAMI

LONDON , ON, Sept. 19 /CNW/ - The CAW has reached a new tentative agreement with CAMI in Ingersoll, Ontario. CAMI is a joint venture of General Motors and Suzuki, the only one of its kind in Canada .

"The bargaining committee worked extremely hard to negotiate a deal that would best position the plant, our members and their families for the future," said Mike Van Boekel, CAMI plant chairperson. "This year has been extremely difficult and we hope this new agreement will create greater security for CAMI workers."

Workers will vote on the deal tomorrow, with results expected in the early afternoon. Results will be released via CNW. The agreement comes after three weeks of negotiations between the union and the company.

"A critical part of this deal was GM and Suzuki's commitment to a manufacturing footprint for the CAMI facility, which will go a long way to ease the terrible uncertainty of the past year or more at CAMI," said CAW President Ken Lewenza .

Unlike the agreements at both Chrysler and General Motors, which came into effect shortly after ratification, many of the elements of the agreement at CAMI take effect in September 2010 , following the expiration of the existing contract. Other details of the deal will be released following ratification.

The approximately 2,250 workers are represented by CAW Local 88.

For further information: please call CAW National Representative Keith Osborne, (cell) [phone]; CAMI Chairperson Mike Van Boekel, (cell) [phone]; or CAW Communications Director Shannon Devine, (cell) [phone]