Ontario car manufacturer's strike could drag on

General Motors plants in Canada and the US face uncertainty after 2500 staff walked off the job

Ontario car manufacturer's strike could drag on
A strike by 2,500 General Motors employees in Ontario could last weeks, if not months, with both sides refusing to budge.

Workers at the Cami plant in Ingersoll walked off the job three weeks ago, with the abrupt end to production causing 255 layoffs at another  GM plant in St Catharines, Ontario, which supplies 90% of Cami’s transmissions.

Cami workers assemble the Chevrolet Equinox crossover utility vehicle, and the strike has also affected a GM plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, that supplies Equinox engines.

Magna International Inc., which supplies parts to Cami for the Equinox, including the seats, has stopped shipping components to the plant.

General Motors has declined to comment on its ongoing negotiations with Unifor.

However, a union official told the Globe and Mail: “There is no meaningful dialogue happening on the big issue, and that this [the talks] is going nowhere fast.”

Workers want the company to guarantee their job security amid concerns about offshoring work.

Earlier this year, GM announced it would shift production of the Equinox’s twin, the Terrain, to Mexico.  There are also two places in Mexico that house plants assembling the Equinox.


Related stories:
Unifor shifts sights to Ford
Striking workers mark one year of labour dispute

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