Stellantis Canada workers vote on strike mandate, results due Monday
Unifor members at Stellantis in Canada began a two-day vote Saturday on whether to give the union a strike mandate, the Canadian Press and CTV News reported. Talks are stalled over the company's plan to sell its idled plant in Brampton, Ontario. Results are due Monday.
Stellantis workers in Canada began voting Saturday on whether to give their union, Unifor, a strike mandate, the Canadian Press and CTV News reported. The two-day vote ends Sunday, and Unifor is expected to announce the results on Monday, the outlets reported.
Talks between Unifor and Stellantis have stalled over the future of the company's idled assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario, the outlets reported. Stellantis plans to sell the plant to Roshel, they reported. Roshel makes armored vehicles, CTV News reported. The plant has been idle since 2023, and Stellantis moved production of the Jeep Compass to the United States, the outlets reported. More than 2,000 workers were laid off when the plant stopped work, the Canadian Press reported.
Stellantis says market and trade conditions have hurt the case for keeping the plant, and that the sale could support future jobs there, the Canadian Press reported. The union says a strike is a last resort and that it still hopes to reach a deal, the outlets reported.
In Windsor, thousands of Unifor Local 444 members packed the Colosseum at Caesars Windsor on Saturday morning to vote, CTV News reported. "I think this is probably the highest I've seen," Jonathan Klein, a worker at the Windsor Assembly Plant since 2014, said of the turnout, CTV News reported. Andrew Alford, who works the midnight shift, said, "It affects everyone's livelihood. It's do or die," the outlet reported.
Unifor represents more than 9,000 Stellantis workers in Canada, including 6,400 at the Windsor Assembly Plant, CTV News reported. Local 444 president James Stewart has said the union cannot let Stellantis walk away from its commitments, the outlet reported.
Talks broke down on September 11, and the contract expired September 20, the Financial Post reported. A strike mandate does not mean a strike will happen, the union said, according to the Financial Post. "Taking a strike vote is very different than going on strike," said economist Jim Stanford of the Centre for Future Work, the Financial Post reported. Stellantis has said it remains committed "to bargaining in good faith," the outlet reported.
What we know: Stellantis workers in Canada are voting on a strike mandate, with results due Monday.
What we don't: How members voted, and whether a deal on Brampton can be reached.
Where outlets agree The Canadian Press and CTV News report that Stellantis workers in Canada are holding a two-day strike mandate vote, with results due Monday, amid a dispute over the Brampton plant.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.