Autoworkers union boss Jerry Dias wants Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to borrow U.S. president’s tactics in battle with General Motors
WASHINGTON — The head of Canada’s largest autoworkers union wants Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to borrow the tactics of the U.S. president and get tough with General Motors, Donald Trump-style.
Unifor president Jerry Dias is also urging both countries to hold off on signing the new U.S.Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade and to join forces on a 40per-cent tariff on GM vehicles built in Mexico.
He wants the company to reverse plans to cut more than 14,000 jobs, including 2,500 production workers in Oshawa, Ont.
“I think both Canada and the United States should put the brakes on immediately,” Dias said as he arrived at the Canadian Embassy in Washington for a meeting with officials to discuss next steps.
“The ink isn’t even dry and you have General Motors completely violating what it is we are trying to accomplish, so I think both Canada and the U.S. should be saying to General Motors,
‘Listen, you are holding up the signing of this deal, this weight is on your shoulders. You’re the one that’s holding all this up.’”
The cuts involve shutting down production at four facilities in the U.S, including Ohio and Michigan. GM plans to end 3,300 production jobs south of the border and do away with 8,000 salaried workers, all in the name of US$6 billion in savings by 2020.
It’s a sign of more to come, said Dias — GM is clearly focused on moving its manufacturing work away from both countries, including Mexico and China, which means job losses will continue unless both Canada and the U.S. ramp up the pressure.
A hefty tariff on Mexican-made imports would “get their attention immediately,” he said, even as he acknowledged the contradiction between battling U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum on one hand, and joining forces in a similar tactic on the other.
“It sounds bold, it sounds aggressive, it’s not productive — but we’re dealing with a corporation that doesn’t care,” Dias said.
“They’ve watched all this unfold, they listened for 15 months and they don’t care. This is all about their shareholders, it’s all about the board. It has nothing to do with people.”
Flavio Volpe, president of the Canadian Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association, said while he understands the union leader’s frustrations, adopting Trump’s hardline tactics would be a grievous tactical error at a time when Canada is trying to negotiate a solution to its own tariff impasse with the U.S.
Canada remains subject to Trump-imposed tariffs — 25 per cent on steel exports and 10 per cent on aluminum — that the U.S. claims are justified on the grounds of national security, and that auto-industry experts acknowledge have made it more expensive to build cars in both countries.