‘POCKETS OF RISK’
Federal finance minister creates working group to study hot housing markets in Toronto and Vancouver,
With labour talks heating up, the union for the Big Three automakers in Canada sounds a dire warning,
DETROIT— At least three of the eight unionized auto plants in Ontario could close in coming years unless union leaders, during contract negotiations this summer, persuade Detroit’s Big Three to commit to more products at those factories.
Unifor, which represents the workers, is worried about the future of General Motors’ assembly plant in Oshawa, Ford’s engine plants in Windsor, Ont., and Fiat Chrysler’s plant in Brampton. Together, they employ 7,200 workers, or about a third of union members employed by the companies in Canada.
Each makes products scheduled to be phased out or that could be moved elsewhere, unless the automakers decide to overhaul the plants with new equipment and make new or redesigned engines and vehicles there.
“This really is about the future of the auto industry in Canada. Plain and simple, no way around it,” Unifor president Jerry Dias said in an interview.
There has been growing alarm in Canada about the loss of investments as the Detroit Three and other automakers have planned to build most new plants in Mexico in recent years.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne appeared at events with GM, FCA and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in recent weeks to talk about the importance of keeping auto industry investments in the country.
Unifor represents about 23,500 autoworkers in Canada at plants operated by the Big Three and another 16,000 employed by automotive suppliers.
“We are in one hell of a dilemma here in Canada, and if we do not fix it in 2016, then we are not going to fix it,” Dias said.
“If I can’t solidify our footprint when things are going well, then we are not going to solidify it at all.”
Unifor’s four-year contract with GM, Ford and FCA expires on Sept. 19. Preliminary discussions have started and formal discussions are expected to ramp up next month.
Dias said Unifor plans to push for a raise for members and wants to persuade automakers to shorten the time it takes a new worker to get to the top pay rate.
Workers hired by the Big Three in Canada start at $20.40 an hour and reach the top wage of $34 an hour after 10 years. Dias said Unifor members understand Canada’s automotive industry is slipping away.
Last year, GM moved production of its Camaro from Oshawa to its Lansing-Grand River plant in Michigan. In 2014, Ford considered a new engine program for its Windsor and Essex engine plants in Windsor, and asked for government aid. But ultimately Ford decided to build a new plant in Mexico.
“We are going to bargain some increases in economics, but I have no intention of negotiating economic suicide,” Dias said. “It doesn’t matter what your wages are, or your benefits, if you don’t have a plant or a product.” Plant concerns GM and Oshawa GM’s Oshawa plant, where 2,600 hourly workers are employed, has Dias most concerned. It has two assembly lines. The flex line builds the Chevy Impala, the Buick Regal and the Cadillac XTS. But all three are scheduled to either be discontinued or moved to other plants.
The consolidated line builds the Chevrolet Equinox. Last year, GM decided to continue building the Equinox in Oshawa until 2017, temporarily saving 700 jobs. But GM plans to move all Equinox production to GM’s CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ont., next year.
“The reality is that they don’t have anything earmarked for Oshawa right now,” Dias said.
“And we need to solidify the footprint because I am 100 per cent convinced that they are going to close Oshawa if we don’t.”
June10, GM said it plans to hire 700 engineers and software developers at Oshawa and will establish a development centre in nearby Markham.
But GM executives said that commitment should not be viewed as a commitment to the keep the assembly plant open. Ford and Windsor/Oakville Ford makes engines at two engine plants in Windsor and at an assembly plant in Oakville.
In 2014, workers at engine plants in Windsor and Essex along with Canadian politicians and the community were hoping their plant would be picked for new engine programs.
After all, Unifor signed a contract with Ford in 2012 that guaranteed the union a shot at new engine programs — as long as certain criteria were met, including government support. But the Canadian and Ontario governments said the financial request from Ford was too high to justify the investment and Ford decided to build a new plant in Mexico.
“Again, I’m completely, 100 percent certain of the belief that if we don’t solidify a product for Ford in Windsor they are going to close,” Dias said. FCA and Brampton FCA builds the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger at its plant in Brampton. The cars are distinctive members of FCA’s lineup, but they’re made on an aging platform that hasn’t been fully redesigned in years. In May, FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne said the automaker could make the next Chrysler 300 off the same platform as the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivan and suggested it could be made in Windsor.
Earlier this month, Reid Bigland, president and CEO of FCA Canada, said the automaker is not in any discussions right now for government aid for the Brampton plant. Still, Bigland also noted that the company recently spent $100 million to upgrade the paint shop at that plant.
“Brampton is not as big of a problem,” as Oshawa or the Ford engine plants, Dias said.