Unifor’s national president wants the federal government to continue holding Stellantis to what he calls prior commitments to Canada and its auto workers.
Lana Payne was responding to a commitment made on Monday by Industry Minister Mélanie Joly before a parliamentary committee to try to recover some of the tax incentives granted to the car manufacturer.
“I think the minister has done a lot here over the last week, and one of the biggest has been what’s happened around the rate remission plan,” Payne told CBC News.
“These companies will not be able to import vehicles without facing a tariff because they have broken their commitments to Canadian workers.”
Canada has started a dispute resolution process after Stellantis decided move jobs around the new Jeep Compass model from its Ontario plant to a factory in Illinois. The 30-day period dates back to Oct. 20, when the government informed Stellantis of the action, according to Joly.
However, Stellantis said Monday that the Brampton facility is paused, not closed, and that “no jobs have been lost,” in a statement to CBC News.
The federal government is beginning its dispute resolution process with U.S. automaker Stellantis to restore production at its auto plant in Brampton, Ont., Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said Monday. Joly told a parliamentary committee that Stellantis moving its Jeep Compass production to Illinois is a violation of a contract.
Payne said that beyond the dispute resolution process, he wants Ottawa to pull any and all levers that can be pulled.
“TThe reality is to keep production in Canada, until we get to a place where we potentially have a new trade agreement with the United States, we are going to have to play hardball or we are going to lose production outside the country like we have.”
The country cannot afford to lose the automotive sector, he said, even holding companies accountable for their commitments.
“We have to fight for it with everything we have.”
The Ontario and Canadian governments previously promised billions in subsidies to Stellantis under contracts. This included a major deal to build an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in Windsor alongside partner LG Energy Solution, and to restructure its factories in Windsor and Brampton for the manufacture of electric vehicles.
