Workers at the General Motors plant in Canada that produces the popular Chevrolet Equinox have ratified a new contract, but they did not get the job security guarantees they were seeking.

It was a negotiation that some saw as an effort to fix — at a local union level — perceived problems with the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Monday's vote in favor of a new four-year contract ends an almost monthlong strike at General Motors' CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, but the union was pushing for more job security in the form of a guarantee that the plant would be the lead producer for the Equinox SUV, which is also produced at two plants in Mexico.

That desire for a guarantee highlights the concerns that some workers in Canada have about NAFTA, the often-criticized trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Jerry Dias, president of the Canadian union, Unifor National, had last week called the CAMI situation the "poster child" for NAFTA's shortcomings.

Kristin Dziczek, director of the industry, labor and economics group at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, noted the challenge of trying to fix big-picture issues at the bargaining table.

“It’s really hard to solve the problems of NAFTA at a local union negotiation," Dziczek said. "These are really big international trade issues and that’s a local union negotiation, essentially one plant, and there's a lot of factors contributing to the position they were in.”

The plant did get a $638.3-million investment ($800 million Canadian) to produce the new Equinox at the plant, but Michelle Krebs, senior analyst for AutoTrader.com, has noted that when production of the GMC Terrain was moved from the plant to Mexico earlier this year, it "shook the union."

Dan Borthwick, president of Unifor Local 88, struck a positive note about the ratification, but he acknowledged that the union was seeking more.

“We just ratified a collective (bargaining) agreement that puts 2,800 of our members back to work along with all of the parts suppliers that supply our plant so it’s a very good day," Borthwick said. “As far as the job security letter, we were not able to obtain an official lead plant letter, but we did improve our current job security language that would provide for new programs that would soften the blow in case of any other future events such as a layoff or restructuring or a plant closure.”

The union also secured 2% raises in the first and fourth years of the contract, $6,000 ratification bonuses and additional $2,000 bonuses paid in each December of the contract.

When asked whether the strike was worthwhile, Borthwick said that it was.

“We believe it was worth it. We had to give it a shot to fight for job security," Borthwick said, noting that the company was not prepared to budge on a production guarantee. "They did not have any interest in it and they made it quite clear ... that we could stay out there for two weeks, four weeks, six months or longer, that we would not get a lead producer plant letter."

Dziczek, of the Center for Automotive Research, said GM would not have wanted to make such a guarantee because of how it would have affected future negotiations elsewhere.

“It certainly would have had an impact. I think that that’s part of why you saw such a strong pushback from the company is they didn’t want to set a precedent of guaranteeing product,” Dziczek said. "The way you get job security is a hot product that sells and that plant has an $800-million investment recently and a hot product that sells. That is what GM considers job security.”

Read more:

Talks resume between GM, striking workers at Chevy Equinox plant

In the market for a Chevy Equinox? Strike could limit your choices

Steve Carlisle, president and managing director of GM Canada, also released a statement praising the vote.

"The ratification of a new 4-year agreement between GM Canada and Unifor Local 88 at CAMI Assembly is welcome news for our company, employees and the community. We have an outstanding new product at CAMI with the Chevrolet Equinox and I am confident that we will quickly pull together to continue to demonstrate to the world the outstanding productivity, innovation and quality that is synonymous with the CAMI workforce," Carlisle said in the statement.

GM employed 2,752 workers, including salaried employees, at the plant as of August.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.