Building a Wall: Unifor Announces Boycott of Mexican-made GM Vehicles

Two days after blockading roads leading to General Motors’ Canadian headquarters, autoworkers union Unifor rolled out an invisible wall to be placed between Canadians and GM vehicles built south of the Rio Grande.

The union’s call to boycott Mexican-made GM products doesn’t come as a surprise; Unifor president Jerry Dias threatened it in the past as a way of prodding corporate bosses in Detroit to keep the century-old Oshawa, Ontario assembly plant open. With the union now escalating its protest action, the boycott call is out. GM Canada isn’t happy about it, claiming it will only end up hurting Canadian workers.

Under current plans, all product heading into Oshawa will dry up by the end of 2019. That includes the legacy versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, Cadillac XTS, and Chevrolet Impala. Those products are dead and, with their departure, so is Oshawa Assembly. Unifor feels there’s still a chance to change GM’s mind.

“GM is arrogant enough to think it can rob Canada of jobs without repercussions,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias in statement. “GM is making a choice to increase manufacturing in Mexico while it abandons communities that have supported it for generations, but make no mistake Canadian and American consumers also have a choice.”

Dias railed against GM following the company’s decision to turn out the lights at three North American car plants. Oshawa has been bleeding product for years, leaving its future in doubt even before the union reached a new collective agreement in 2016. The union prez claims that, while investment in Canada dwindled, GM’s Mexican assembly operations took off, fueled by an automaker intent on reaping the rewards of low-wage labor.

Chevrolet’s 2019 Blazer, which Dias said should have gone to Oshawa, is instead built in Mexico. The union has issued a product guide showing supporters which vehicles use Unifor or UAW labor.

“If GM closes Oshawa, by 2020 the company will have cut annual production in Canada by 418,000 vehicles (67 per cent), while increasing annual production in Mexico by 304,000 vehicles (47 per cent) since before the announced Mexican expansion,” Unifor wrote.

Touting union-made vehicles is hardly a new thing, and one wonders how broadly the boycott message might resonate. Speaking to The Detroit News, Kristin Dziczek, vice president of the Center for Automotive Research, said, “It’s an effective message for a small population of people, but I don’t know how much impact it can have.”

In response to Unifor’s boycott call, GM Canada issued a release. “In today’s integrated auto industry, a call for a boycott of Mexico made automobiles, if successful, could create collateral damage across the wider Ontario economy which has over 60 Ontario-based auto parts companies supporting Mexico production,” the company stated. “GM is also one of 10 automotive companies that import vehicles from Mexico and is among five who also build here in Canada.”

It added, “GM Unifor members make North American transmissions in St. Catharines and stamp body panels in Ingersoll that go into Mexican made vehicles sold in Canada.”

Dias refutes the claim that a boycott would hurt Canadian workers.

The Oshawa assembly plant, which opened in 1907, employs 2,600 workers.

[Image: General Motors]