Entire auto industry at risk now: union boss
OTTAWA — The head of the union representing workers at General Motors’ car plant in Oshawa, Ont., argued Tuesday the company’s decision could lead to the collapse of the auto-parts industry in Canada and demanded a sharp response from Ottawa.
Unifor president Jerry Dias said General Motors “just showed the president of the United States and the prime minister of Canada their middle finger” by moving production out of Canada and the U.S. and threatening the jobs of about 2,500 workers he represents at the Oshawa plant.
“We’re playing with a corporation that plays by their own rules. So we have to have governments that are going to play by very strict rules as well,” Dias said after meeting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Parliament Hill. “I mean, if you’re going to have a company that’s going to show us their middle finger, then I think our government should show them their middle finger as well.”
Dias said GM has moved production of five models of vehicle to Mexico and the United States in the past few years, and if the Oshawa plant closes, the company will have only one left here.
He blamed low labour standards in Mexico, and called on Trudeau to work with U.S. President Donald Trump to keep manufacturing jobs from shifting south.
The revamped North American trade pact — which is set to be signed by the end of the week — should help eventually, but the parts that apply to the auto sector won’t kick in for years and by then it could be too late, Dias said.
In the meantime, Dias said, the Liberals should put tariffs on GM exports coming out of Mexico to dissuade the company from following through on its plans.
A General Motors Canada executive said the company isn’t planning to divest itself of its other Canadian enterprises as Dias claimed. David Paterson said the company is hiring 500 people for its technical centre in Markham, north of Toronto, to help write software for self-driving cars.
“We sell in Canada, we manufacture in Canada, and we’re actually the biggest and fastestgrowing new technology automotive company in Canada,” said Paterson, the company’s vicepresident of corporate and environmental affairs. “We’re growing faster than anybody in the industry in new technology, at the same time as we’re unfortunately going through, next year, this really difficult change with regard to our manufacturing base in Canada.”
Chantal Gagnon, a spokeswoman for Trudeau, said the two men discussed their respective talks with GM, and Trudeau’s call with Trump earlier Tuesday about the auto industry “and how best we can stand up for people affected on both sides of the border.”
Dias will meet his American counterpart this week to decide what, if any, action the union will take, such as having workers walk out at other GM plants alongside the ones slated to close. Dias warned he was ready to have his members take job action unless the plant stays open.