Chevrolet Equinox Production Shut Down as Workers Go on Strike

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Unionized employees at General Motors’ CAMI Assembly in Ingersoll, Ontario, are on strike. Unifor Local 88 and General Motors were unable to reach an agreement by Sunday’s deadline. At 11:00 p.m. ET, workers at the plant traded the assembly line for the picket one, ending production of the recently redesigned Chevrolet Equinox.

Despite both sides having spent the weekend saying they were making headway in talks, it wasn’t enough to avoid the shutdown. In a post-strike statement, General Motors reiterated this fact.

“While General Motors of Canada and our Unifor partners have made very positive progress on several issues over the past weeks, the company is disappointed that we were not able to complete a new agreement. We encourage Unifor to resume negotiations and to continue working together to secure a competitive agreement,” said GM.

Unifor members at CAMI operate under a different contract than workers at other GM assembly and parts plants in Canada, meaning they weren’t part of last year’s negotiations.

The union’s demands include improved wages, additional benefits, and new product to offset Mexico’s picking up production of the GMC Terrain — which CAMI used to produce alongside the Chevy Equinox until this year. GM had hoped that, by shifting some of its D2XX SUV assembly out of Canada, it could convince its Ingersoll workforce to improve production of the very popular Equinox. However, the shift did not go over well with employees.

As a result, Unifor is seeking a formal commitment from GM that Equinox production will remain in Canada. The automaker spent over $500 million to retool the Ingersoll factory for the current Equinox, though the crossover is also assembled in smaller numbers at two plants in Mexico.

The union issued a statement to workers late Sunday: “Your master bargaining committee has not been successful in securing a tentative agreement with the company. The membership of Unifor Local 88 working at the GM CAMI assembly plant will be on strike at 10:59 pm tonight, Sunday, September 17, 2017.”

Stalling production will affect more than just the CAMI plant. Other operations, including an engine and transmission plant in St. Catharines, Ontario, that supplies powertrains to Ingersoll, will be hampered as a result of the strike. As well, numerous component suppliers will be forced to scale back volume if CAMI remains idled for too long.

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • 1995 SC At least you can still get one. There isn't much for Ford folks to be happy about nowadays, but the existence of the Mustang and the fact that the lessons from back in the 90s when Ford tried to kill it and replace it with the then flavor of the day seem to have been learned (the only lessons they seem to remember) are a win not only for Ford folks but for car people in general. One day my Super Coupe will pop its headgaskets (I know it will...I read it on the Internet). I hope I will still be physically up to dropping the supercharged Terminator Cobra motor into it. in all seriousness, The Mustang is a.win for car guys.
  • Lorenzo Heh. The major powers, military or economic, set up these regulators for the smaller countries - the big guys do what they want, and always have. Are the Chinese that unaware?
  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
  • Lorenzo At my age, excitement is dangerous. one thing to note: the older models being displayed are more stylish than their current versions, and the old Subaru Forester looks more utilitarian than the current version. I thought the annual model change was dead.
  • Lorenzo Well, it was never an off-roader, much less a military vehicle, so let the people with too much money play make believe.
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