GM workers go on strike in Ingersoll

ALICJA SIEKIERSKA

The Ontario plant where about 2,800 General Motors of Canada Co. auto workers decided to strike Sunday is “the poster child for what’s wrong with NAFTA,” the union president said after negotiators failed to reach a tentative agreement.

Members of Unifor Local 88 at GM’s CAMI plant in Ingersol, Ont. began to strike after negotiations fell apart, in part over commitments to prevent production from shifting to Mexico, according to the union.

Local88presidentDanBorthwick said a priority through the bargaining process was obtaining a commitment from GM to designate the plant as the lead producer of the next-generation Chevrolet Equinox, a move that would ensure the plant would maintain core production levels in the event of a downturn or manufacturing changes in the auto industry. The Equinox is currently produced at the CAMI facility and two plants in Mexico.

Long-term production commitments were a particularly significant concern for unionized workers after about 400 employees were laid off from the plant when GM shifted production of the GMC Terrain to Mexico this summer.

“If you can do that with the Terrain, you can certainly do that with the Equinox, and people are legitimately concerned,” Unifor president Jerry Dias said in an interview with the Financial Post.

“This is one of the most productive plants in the world, and it’s losing out because they pay their workers $2 an hour in Mexico. It’s ridiculous.”

Since talks began in August, Dias has repeatedly pointed to GM’s CAMI plant as an example of why NAFTA is “a disaster” and needs to be significantly revamped. He said that Unifor, which represents about 23,500 autoworkers in Canada, will not support a renegotiated NAFTA that does not address the issue of significantly lower wages for Mexican workers.

GM said in a statement that it was disappointed that a tentative agreement was not reached before the strike deadline.