Members of the Canadian Auto Workers union started voting yesterday on a new cost-cutting contract with General Motors, with many members saying they supported the agreement, albeit reluctantly.
As thousands of GM employees gathered in the General Motors Centre in Oshawa to vote on the agreement, many said they realized the deal was necessary, although that didn’t make it any easier on workers.
“It’s painful, but we gotta be realistic,” said Doug Alexander, an electrician who has worked at GM’s Oshawa assembly complex for 25 years and will soon be laid off.
The tentative deal between the union and the struggling automaker includes a wage freeze to September 2012, the elimination of an annual bonus and a reduction in paid time off, among other concessions.
