'Their way of living has drastically changed': Hoping for an economic boost from CAMI contract

About 900 workers at CAMI have a new contract with the promise of job stability, and Ingersoll businesses are also hoping to benefit.

While the employees will be the biggest beneficiaries, small businesses in Ingersoll are also banking on seeing benefits from a new contract for workers at CAMI.

Recent years have been a struggle for retailers and restaurants, and upheaval at the CAMI plant has only compounded those issues for businesses in that community.

Chris Kneilands owns the Joker's Crown Restaurant and Pub, "We have a great industry like CAMI. They've been in and out of work for a couple of years now, and it really impacts my business as well."

The Joker's Crown is one of the businesses hoping to see more CAMI workers through their doors (Gerry Dewan/CTV News London)

She says pressures on her business continue to mount, "Sales are down. So I do a lot of it myself now. You know, I'm in the kitchen seven days a week. It just has to be, you know, until the sales can go back up. So, you do what you have to do to survive."

CAMI workers had been on rotating lay-offs while they converted production lines at the plant manufacture the Chevrolet BrightDrop electric vehicles. Post-pandemic supply chain issues further delayed that conversion. A new collectively bargained agreement between UNIFOR Local 88 and General Motors which was ratified on Sunday is expected to stabilize that workforce.

UNIFOR’S CAMI Plant Chair Mike Van Boekel spoke to CTV after the union’s ratification vote at London’s Centennial Hall, "We're about to go back to two shifts, the next couple months. It's a very major, wage increases for everybody, a large signing bonus, better everything. It's just a very good contract for our members."

Still, Chris Kneilands said there continues to be an economic hangover from all the uncertainty we've been facing over the last couple of years; from COVID, to the supply chain issues, to inflation and high interest rates. She says what's really needed is an injection of economic confidence.

While having the community's largest employer achieve this breakthrough should be encouraging, Kneilands feels there will continue to be a chilling effect on the economy until people see longer-term stability, "I'm sure their way of living has drastically changed. I mean, CAMI is a great wage. It's not a great wage, when you're not working. You still have to support your family and pay your mortgage. And the price of food is ridiculous. So, I'm sure they're suffering too, like, very much."

She, like other business owners, is hoping confidence will grow and that will soon be reflected in area stores and restaurants.