Ford workers 'ready to go' in contract talks, Windsor Unifor leader says

Job security will be a priority for workers at Ford Motor Co. as they head into contract negotiations, says Chris Taylor, the head of Unifor Local 200.

Ford is next in line for negotiations after Unifor announced a last-minute tentative deal with Fiat Chrysler late Monday.

• Tentative deal between Unifor, FCA follows pattern set in GM agreement

General Motors inked a deal with its workers in September, setting the stage for pattern bargaining.

"We're ready to go," Taylor told CBC's Windsor Morning. "The pattern has been set. It is a good pattern, it puts a lot of gains into our members' collective agreement that we haven't seen for quite some time."

Those gains, however, don't amount to much without job security, Taylor explained.

Tensions in the lead-up to the negotiations with Ford ratcheted up earlier this month when the president of the union local at Ford's Oakville, Ont., assembly plant said his memberswerenot willing to accept the same deal Unifor negotiated with GM.

• Unifor rep at Oakville Ford plant says no to template of GM deal

Taylor has had discussions with Dave Thomas, the Unifor leader who said he didn't like the GM deal.

"I feel moving forward, the Oakville leadership and their members understand what's at stake here," Taylor said.

Ultimately, Taylor said he wants to see a fair deal for his workers.

"You're not always going to be happy to everything you see in a collective agreement, but we never come into bargaining expecting to get everything that we want," he said.