Navistar International’s Chatham, Ontario, plant will resume production on July 22 following ratification of a new contract by the Canadian Auto Workers union Monday.

The CAW went on strike June 1 after the two sides failed to agree on $14 million in wage concessions and other cuts. Earlier this year, the company said the company might have to close the plant unless the cost reductions were made.
The new agreement reached over the weekend guarantees that the plant won’t close until at least June 2003, and avoids wage concessions, according to published reports. Instead, it boosts productivity with a 48-hour work week, including scheduled overtime.
According to the company, before the strike, production at Chatham had been averaging 39 trucks per day on one shift. The same number of employees will produce 46 trucks per day when they return to work. Under the new contract, the plant will be able to produce up to 57 trucks per day including overtime.
“This new contract positions the company to be market responsive over the business cycle with a more variable cost structure,” read a statement issued by the company. It went on to say, “While the new contract does not achieve all necessary cost savings sought by the company to make the assembly plant fully competitive, it increases productivity and provides for flexible work schedules.”
During the bitter six-week strike, Navistar moved production to its plant in Mexico, then tried to bring in replacement workers – a move that resulted in violent clashes with strikers.