Workers at Stellantis auto plants in Windsor, Toronto, and Brampton have voted overwhelmingly to go on strike, producing a 97% “yes” vote. Currently, bargaining between Unifor which represents the workers, and the auto giant Stellantis are at an impasse.
Unifor represents over 9,000 Stellantis workers across Canada, most of whom are in Ontario. Local 444 in Windsor reported thousands attending polling stations over the weekend. Currently, the union is not in a legal strike position, as neither Stellantis nor Unifor has filed a formal notice to Ontario’s Ministry of Labour.
Job precarity is a major grievance held by many workers. Currently, the 3,000-worker plant in Brampton is idled. Initially, this plant was closed in 2023 to retool for the latest Jeep Compass production line, but now Stellantis claims the current trade war between the United States and Canada has made that development economically unfeasible. Stellantis moved production of the Jeep Compass to a plant in Belvidere, Illinois.
In August of this year, Stellantis reported its intentions to sell the plant to Canadian defence contractor Roschel. Also in this year, Roschel was awarded a sole-source contract by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) for a fleet of 20 bullet- and blast-resistant tactical vehicles. Unifor says that this sale will negatively impact benefits, pensions, and wages for workers should it go through.
In the union’s press release, bargaining chair James Stewart states, “Strike action is always a last resort, but we will not back down and accept a deal that weakens Stellantis’ footprint within Canada’s auto industry due to broken commitments that further cause devastation for our members, families and communities that rely on good union auto jobs.”
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