The hybrid schedule that the automaker is making permanent for many employees is a drastic paradigm shift for a traditional manufacturer and could prompt a larger modernization for an industry accustomed to 20th century cubicle farms and conference rooms.

The EV600 is a vastly different product than GM’s popular crossover, and it will compete in a market that holds promise but is unchartered territory for the Detroit automaker.

Unifor members ratified a three-year contract with General Motors that includes a $1-billion investment commitment at CAMI Assembly in Ingersoll, Ont., to begin building all-electric delivery vans later this year.

Unifor is upset that about 60 of its members lost their jobs when the automaker changed companies that drive finished minivans off the line and to an auto storage lot about two kilometres away. A blockade could affect production.