Unifor President Praises Ford and FCA, Throws Shade at General Motors

Jerry Dias, Unifor President, isn’t mincing words going into this year’s labor negotiations with the Detroit Three. According to him, Ford and Fiat Chrysler see that they must commit to make investments in Canada to get a labor deal. General Motors? Not so much.

“There’s a clear difference between today’s discussions and the discussions yesterday,” Jerry Dias, president of Unifor, said at a press conference in Toronto on Thursday after discussions opened with Ford and FCA, according to the Financial Post. “Though we have similar challenges with both Ford and Fiat Chrysler, they understand that investment decisions are going to be a part of 2016 negotiations.”

Those are some politically correct, passive-aggressive fighting words.

Negotiations kicked off with a handshake ceremony Wednesday between General Motors and Unifor. Two other handshake ceremonies took place the following day between the union and the two other domestic manufacturers, Ford and FCA.

Of the three companies employing Unifor workers, those working at General Motors’ Oshawa plant have the most at stake.

According to earlier reports, there will be no second (or sixth) chance for Oshawa’s “doomed” Consolidated Line, which produces the Chevrolet Equinox and recently ended production of the previous-generation Impala, dubbed Impala Limited. That line is set to close in 2017.

However, workers on Oshawa’s Flex Line, which recently lost Camaro production last year and currently produces a number of models manufactured in other plans or slated for production elsewhere, still have hope that GM will allot it future production.

GM has stated it won’t make any decisions on the plant until labor negotiations conclude. Unifor’s stance going into the negotiations is there will be no labor deal without a commitment to Oshawa Assembly.

Ford’s engine plants in Windsor are also of concern to Unifor, but Dias said Ford understands the need to allot those plants future product to get a deal signed and ratified.

“I would like to compliment the management teams at both Ford and Fiat Chrysler for understanding our priority, and our priority here is that they must invest in Canada,” Dias said.

[Image: OFL Communications Department (Flickr) [ CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons]