Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / Why Unifor's president wants the sale of Stellantis's Brampton plant stopped

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Why Unifor's president wants the sale of Stellantis's Brampton plant stopped · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Automaker Stellantis is looking at selling its plant in Brampton, Ontario. Now,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: that plant halted production of Dodge Chrysler cars back in 2023.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: It was slated to be retooled for Jeep production, a
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  Speaker 1: process that began early in 2024. But that was paused
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  Speaker 1: in early 2025. Well, last Friday, Stellantis said it had
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  Speaker 1: signed a memorandum of understanding to potentially sell the plant
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  Speaker 1: to Canadian armored vehicle maker Rochelle. A decision that Unifor
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  Speaker 1: president Lana Payne says will only result in significant damage
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  Speaker 1: to the Canadian economy. Earlier this week, Industry Minister Mélanie
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  Speaker 1: Joly said the government is putting maximum pressure on Stellantis
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  Speaker 1: to have car production restart.
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  Speaker 2: When it comes to any potential sale of the plant
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  Speaker 2: to any other company, we will make sure that we
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  Speaker 2: protect Canadian workers. We want a new model. from Stellantis
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  Speaker 2: at the Stellantis plant, and we'll put maximum pressure to
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  Speaker 2: make that happen.
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  Speaker 1: For more on this, I'm joined by Unifor National President
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  Speaker 1: Lana Payne. Lana Payne, good to see you again. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you for some time and a very busy day for you.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you, David.
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  Speaker 1: You've written this open letter to Industry Minister Mélanie Joly
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  Speaker 1: asking for more communication and understanding on the government's involvement
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  Speaker 1: in this MOU. What have you heard back from the
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  Speaker 1: government at this point?
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  Speaker 3: Nothing from the minister yet. So we're hoping to get
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  Speaker 3: something very, very soon. It's critical that we have more
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  Speaker 3: information as we're at a bargaining table right now, as
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  Speaker 3: you know, although we're at an impasse with Stellantis at
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  Speaker 3: the moment. But we need to know what occurred here
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  Speaker 3: because right up until August 12th, we were under the
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  Speaker 3: impression and the company left this impression, not just with us,
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  Speaker 3: but with the government, I understand too, and also with
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  Speaker 3: the public, that they were committed to the Brampton Assembly plant.
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  Speaker 3: And that changed, as we know now, when Rochelle got
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  Speaker 3: involved in this situation, defence contractor here in Canada.
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  Speaker 1: So do you have any sense as to whether the
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  Speaker 1: government or federal officials or anybody played a role or
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  Speaker 1: had knowledge of what was happening with Stellantis and Rochelle?
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  Speaker 1: Do you have any insight on that?
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  Speaker 3: That is what we're trying to ascertain. Is this an
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  Speaker 3: acceptable position to the government? Obviously, you know that there
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  Speaker 3: is a contract dispute right now between Stellantis and the
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  Speaker 3: federal government. And as part of that, there have been
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  Speaker 3: ongoing discussions between those parties. And now all of a sudden,
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  Speaker 3: Rochelle is in the picture. And what we would say
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  Speaker 3: is that a sale of that plant still amounts to
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  Speaker 3: a breach of the contract with the federal government, and
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  Speaker 3: that is what we want to get clarified right now.
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  Speaker 1: Okay. Is Rochelle part of this, maybe as part of
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  Speaker 1: the remedy to that dispute, or just are these two
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  Speaker 1: separate and unrelated things that have been happening as you
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  Speaker 1: understand it?
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  Speaker 3: I think that that is a very good question and
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  Speaker 3: one that we need an answer to. I don't see
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  Speaker 3: it as a solution. Our members don't see it as
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  Speaker 3: a solution. We are doing everything we can right now
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  Speaker 3: to protect Canada's auto footprint, its manufacturing footprint. And to
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  Speaker 3: lose a vehicle assembly plant like this would be disastrous.
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  Speaker 3: It would be the first plant that would fall in
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  Speaker 3: this trade war. As you know, we just concluded just
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  Speaker 3: a few weeks back negotiations with General Motors. We had
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  Speaker 3: an idle plant with them as well, the Cami plant
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  Speaker 3: in Ingersoll. We were able to make sure that there
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  Speaker 3: was a no-sale, no closure of that plant during the
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  Speaker 3: term of the collective agreement, and to make sure that
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  Speaker 3: we are looking at other opportunities and product for that facility.
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  Speaker 3: And that's what we want to try and do here, obviously,
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  Speaker 3: for our Brampton plant.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so you're still waiting for answers from the government.
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  Speaker 1: What has Stellantis told you about this in terms of
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  Speaker 1: what this could mean, why they're necessarily doing it, and
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  Speaker 1: what it means for their broader operations? Do you have
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  Speaker 1: clarity from the company?
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  Speaker 3: Their position has been throughout two weeks of bargaining that
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  Speaker 3: this is their only plan right now for Stellantis, Brampton facility,
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  Speaker 3: is to sell it and to sell it to Rochelle.
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  Speaker 3: And they've entered into a memorandum of understanding with Rochelle.
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  Speaker 3: And we are not party to that memorandum of understanding.
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  Speaker 3: But as what's very clear here, is this isn't a
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  Speaker 3: done deal yet. The company even sent a notice to
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  Speaker 3: all of our members this morning that basically said they
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  Speaker 3: are doing their due diligence right now. And yet while
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  Speaker 3: they're doing their due diligence, they expect us to take
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  Speaker 3: this as a fait accompli and agree to this scenario
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  Speaker 3: that is being proposed here. And we are saying, no,
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  Speaker 3: what we need is time because we know things can
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  Speaker 3: change in this world, David. We know in six months,
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  Speaker 3: eight months, a year from now, the circumstances that are
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  Speaker 3: basically pushing a lot of this, whether it's the trade war,
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  Speaker 3: whether it is even the conditions that the company is
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  Speaker 3: currently experiencing for itself, can change. So we're saying, let's
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  Speaker 3: take some time here. Let's look at other alternatives in
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  Speaker 3: the auto world for this plant. And we proposed any
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  Speaker 3: number of things. And what we're saying to the federal
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  Speaker 3: government is you have to be with us here to
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  Speaker 3: make sure that we maintain this plant in Canada.
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  Speaker 1: So clearly, if this is the only plan that Stellantis
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  Speaker 1: has for this plant, that means the promise of hunting
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  Speaker 1: for a new model to put in there is, it
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  Speaker 1: sounds dead, at least for the moment. As you said,
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  Speaker 1: things can change, right? But for the moment, they're not
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  Speaker 1: going to deliver on that. And that's where the contract
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  Speaker 1: conflict with the federal government comes in.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I mean, David, we weren't expecting in this
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  Speaker 3: round of bargaining that Stellantis was going to come and
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  Speaker 3: table a product or two or three for the Brampton plant.
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  Speaker 3: We understand the economic environment we are in. We understand
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  Speaker 3: the trade environment we're in. We understand the impact that
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  Speaker 3: that is having on the auto sector in Canada. All
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  Speaker 3: we are saying is we want a future for this
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  Speaker 3: plant in full vehicle assembly because that's important to our members.
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  Speaker 3: It's also important to the supply chain. It's important to
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  Speaker 3: the entire auto industry. So let's take our time here.
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  Speaker 3: Let's work through a solution. Let's find a way to
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  Speaker 3: get there. We have done this before. When the Oshawa
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  Speaker 3: plant was closed for vehicle assembly, we kept it alive
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  Speaker 3: for a period of time. doing something else auto-related, and
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  Speaker 3: we live to fight for another day. That is what
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  Speaker 3: we can do here in Brampton, too.
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  Speaker 1: What options and what rights do your members have if
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  Speaker 1: the future of this facility is with Rochelle? Would you
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  Speaker 1: have successor rights there as a union? I know they
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  Speaker 1: have suggested they're willing to hire Rochelle Wood, some displaced
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  Speaker 1: auto workers, because, I mean, it's going to need some training,
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  Speaker 1: but there's obviously some overlap in the skill set that
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  Speaker 1: would be required. I mean, what kind of an opportunity
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  Speaker 1: would a Rochelle armored vehicle facility offer for your workers?
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  Speaker 3: David, the reality is, is that this we have people
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  Speaker 3: who've been working in this plant for quite a long time.
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  Speaker 3: They've built up very strong wages. They've built up very
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  Speaker 3: strong benefits. We have very strong collective agreements in the
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  Speaker 3: auto sector. there is no guarantee that that is going
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  Speaker 3: to be transferred to another owner. That collective agreement would
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  Speaker 3: be transferred. There's no guarantee that all of our members
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  Speaker 3: would get work here. There are no guarantees that they
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  Speaker 3: are even going to get the contract that they're bidding
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  Speaker 3: on from the federal government. So, you know, there's a
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  Speaker 3: lot of unknowns here is what I would say to you.
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  Speaker 1: But have you heard anything from Rochelle on what they
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  Speaker 1: might be willing and able to do at this point?
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  Speaker 1: Or is it all still too uncertain at this phase?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I have not met with Rochelle. Our job here
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  Speaker 3: is to bargain a collective agreement for our members and
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  Speaker 3: to make sure that we are protecting the auto industry
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  Speaker 3: for Canadian workers for today and into the future.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so as you're trying to get some answers on this,
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  Speaker 1: you're still in collective bargaining with Stellantis, though as you say,
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  Speaker 1: you've been at an impasse for some time. The collective
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  Speaker 1: agreement expires Sunday evening, just before midnight. Now, you're not
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  Speaker 1: in a strike position, so it would toll, and I
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  Speaker 1: presume you'd have a chance to keep going, but How
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  Speaker 1: close do you think things might be that you end
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  Speaker 1: up moving to a strike mandate if you're not able
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  Speaker 1: to get an agreement and the company seems intent on
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  Speaker 1: selling the facility here?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, obviously, in any set of negotiations, you
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  Speaker 3: have to be prepared to take those steps, David. And
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  Speaker 3: we will be prepared to take them. But I would
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  Speaker 3: say to you, it will be an absolute last resort.
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  Speaker 3: We want to come to a tentative agreement with Stellantis.
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  Speaker 3: We want them to continue to employ thousands and thousands
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  Speaker 3: of people in this country to build vehicles in Canada
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  Speaker 3: and to be part of the manufacturing footprint. That is
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  Speaker 3: our goal here. And obviously, this week has been about
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  Speaker 3: trying to create pressure and leverage. If I had to
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  Speaker 3: take every corporate decision that was ever made and not
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  Speaker 3: fight back and not push back, we'd have poor outcomes
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  Speaker 3: for workers every single time. So fighting back does make
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  Speaker 3: a difference, and that's what we're doing right now.
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  Speaker 1: Lana Payne, national president of Unifor. Nothing is easy these days,
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  Speaker 1: is it? Thank you. Thank you for giving us some
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  Speaker 1: of your time.