FCA LOSES BARRICADE BID
Judge allows union blockade to stay
A Windsor judge has temporarily denied FCA Canada's bid to get a court injunction ordering Unifor Local 444 to remove a barricade at the Windsor Assembly Plant.
The company argued Friday that the labour dispute threatens local vehicle production beyond Monday, but Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul Howard ruled that FCA Canada hadn't met several of the jurisdictional requirements to proceed with its motion for an injunction.
The two sides will exchange paperwork over the weekend and conduct cross-examinations on Monday before returning to court Tuesday at 11 a.m.
“These jurisdictional issues need to be resolved,” Howard said. “I'm satisfied the plaintiff (FCA) be given the opportunity to satisfy these concerns.”
With the blockade of the gate at Vimy Avenue and Walker Road preventing anyone from getting in to drive the new minivans off the production line, FCA Canada lawyer Cliff Hart said the company faces shutting down production next week.
“830 cars per day won't be built and millions of dollars are at stake,” Hart argued in looking for quicker relief or an interim injunction.
That argument made Friday only earned FCA Canada a further hearing on Tuesday.
The blockade has been in place since Jan. 5 as part of a dispute between Local 444 and Motipark, which recently won the contract to take over the work of driving new minivans off the production line.
Unifor is claiming employment successor rights while Motipark has shown no interest in hiring the 60 Local 444 workers who had been doing the work under the former Auto Warehouse Company contract.
Unifor Local 444 president Dave Cassidy said it would be business as usual Monday at the plant until the yard surrounding Windsor Assembly Plant is filled.
Cassidy said there's enough space to store 700 to 800 vehicles, or one day's production.
“The bottom line is we don't want to impede production at Windsor Assembly,” Cassidy said. “Motipark has caused this whole situation to happen. I told FCA for six months this was going to happen and it's come to a head.
“We'll work hard this weekend to see if we can try to reach a solution. The solution is for (Motipark CEO Tony De Thomasis) to sit down and talk with me like I've been asking before Christmas,” Cassidy added.
In a emailed statement, De Thomasis said Motipark is already stocked with enough employees.
“Motipark Limited is proud to have been awarded a service contract for vehicle-handling work at FCA Canada's Windsor Assembly
Plant effective Jan. 1, 2021,” De Thomasis said.
“We have our own workforce in place, represented by the Teamsters Union. Should the need arise in the future for new hires, we will be happy to consider the prior vendor's employees.”
During Friday's Zoom court hearing, FCA Canada lawyer Bevan Brooksbank reasoned the dispute wasn't between Unifor and FCA, but it was the company's assembly plant that was being held hostage.
“In our case, we're a third party and it's FCA property being barricaded,” Brooksbank said. “It's our position that Section 102 (of the Labour Act) is not applicable.”
Howard took the lunch break to study several precedents presented by union lawyer Tim Gleason before siding with Unifor's interpretation that it was a labour dispute.
With that issue established, Howard also agreed with the objections the union raised over proper notice, hearsay evidence and reasonable efforts to engage police to solve the issue.
In addition, the union successfully argued individual action against labour unions is against the Rights of Labour Act and no individuals were named in these motions.
“For all these reasons, the injunction cannot be issued today,” Howard said.
FCA Canada had argued that a letter sent Jan. 6 was proper notice to Unifor, but Howard said the formal notice only came around 2 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 7.
Howard said Unifor wasn't given the two days' notice required to properly prepare its case.
“How could the defendant prepare if they didn't know exactly what they were preparing for?” Howard said.
Once the jurisdictional issues are sorted, Howard will consider the motion for an injunction.
Gleason also successfully argued that the company's effort to reasonably engage the Windsor Police Service to solve the issue and the lack of documented evidence of those efforts and witness statements didn't meet the standards needed.
“It's very brief,” Howard said of the information about FCA'S efforts in engaging Windsor police.
“Three sentences don't supply the particulars required.
“We don't know who called the police, what the police were asked to do or what the response was.”
There's also a second front to this labour dispute, outside the courts, as Unifor is claiming employment successor rights.
Cassidy has said the union would file the required papers to argue that case before the Ontario Labour Relations Board on Monday.