A two-tiered wage system could be on the table when General Motors kicks off contract talks with the Canadian Auto Workers union today, according to a company source familiar with the situation.

“The cost of new hires is uncompetitive and will need to be addressed,” the source said. “This is critical because our demographics are such that we may have the opportunity to begin turning over the workforce.”

GM is the first automaker, so far, to raise the issue of new hires in advance of Detroit Three-CAW bargaining that gets underway this week in Toronto.

“We’re opposed to any kind of permanent two-tier wage system,” CAW president Ken Lewenza said Monday. “In the short-term, it’s nothing but a Band-Aid. And in the longterm, it will lead to individual unrest within the plant, reduced productivity and labour unrest.”