(Reuters) – General Motors Co and union Unifor said on Friday they had reached an interim agreement for the carmaker to invest nearly $ 1 billion ($ 785.42 million) in the CAMI assembly plant. ‘Ingersoll, Ontario, to manufacture commercial electric vans.
Under the interim agreement, which has not yet been ratified by union workers, GM has agreed to start large-scale commercial production of EV600, an electric van, at its CAMI plant, Unifor said in a statement.
The Detroit automaker said in a separate statement that work would begin immediately on the plant.
The new deal is based on GM’s recent investments in Canada, which in November had agreed to invest $ 1 billion at its Oshawa plant to expand production of its full-size vans.
The Canadian government welcomed the deal and said it would confirm its support as soon as union members ratify it.
“We await the results of the ratification vote,” Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in a statement.
Unifor, the union that represents hourly workers in Canada, said more details of the deal would be presented to local union members at an online ratification meeting scheduled for Jan. 17, the results of which will be published a day later.
(1 $ = 1.2732 Canadian dollars)
Bhargav Acharya reports in Bengaluru with additional reports from Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Edited by Simon Cameron-Moore