Automotive News Canada - November 2017 - 13

* N O V E M B E R 2017

Unifor's Dias says CAMI strike sent a message
GM denied
'infuriated'
Unifor members
lead-producer
status for the
Chevrolet Equinox
By JOHN IRWIN
TORONTO BUREAU

UNIFOR PRESIDENT JERRY
Dias said the recent four-week
strike at General Motors'
CAMI Assembly plant was
worth it, even though the
union fell short of its top
objective.
That's because the strike,
which halted Canadian production of GM's popular
Chevrolet Equinox utility
vehicle, sent a message to GM
and to other automakers that
Canadian auto workers will
no longer stand for auto production being lost to Mexico.
"People are legitimately
upset, and for good reason,"
Dias told Automotive News
Canada. "They wanted to let
General Motors know that
their actions have infuriated
the workplace, and they wanted to let GM know in a meaningful, forceful way."
The strike, which ended on
Oct. 16 when the 2,500 workers at the CAMI plant ratified a new four-year contract,
was the first against a Detroit
Three automaker by Canadian
auto workers since 1996.
It began following weeks
of failed negotiations between
GM and Unifor, driven in
large part by the union's
demand that CAMI be designated the lead producer of the
Equinox, GM's top-selling utility vehicle.

Tired of losing jobs to
Mexico, Unifor went on strike
at the CAMI plant to secure
preferential treatment for
production of the Chevrolet
Equinox. ( P H O TO : C H E V R O L E T )

Canadian auto jobs for the
next four years, he antici-

pates tough rounds of negotiations in three years when
Unifor begins negotiating new
contracts at Canada's other
Detroit Three assembly plants.
"Ultimately, until we fix
the wage rates in Mexico,
there's going to be a lot more
fights," Dias said.
The strike cost GM about
20,000 units of the Equinox,
according to Chief Financial
Officer Chuck Stevens. That
lost production significantly
cut into supply, which fell to
39 days in the United States at

the beginning of November,
according to the Automotive
News Data Center. Canadian
inventory numbers were not
available.

REBUILDING SUPPLY
"We're a little tight on supply right now, but manufacturing's doing a phenomenal job of getting a lot more
product built for us," Steve
Majoros, director of Chevrolet
marketing, said in early
November. "Demand is high,
and production is going along

full speed."
The CAMI plant has
resumed running on three
shifts, six days per week, as it
was before the strike.
Equinox Sales in Canada
are up 34.1 per cent on the
year through October to
20,657 units, while sales in the
United States rose 23 per cent
through the first 10 months of
the year. - ANC
Automotive News reporter
Michael Wayland contributed
to this report.

NO GUARANTEE
GM had earlier in the year
shifted GMC Terrain production to Mexico from CAMI,
costing the plant hundreds of
jobs, and began production
of the Equinox at two Mexico
plants, leading union officials
to worry about the plant's
future.
The new contract includes
wage increases and lumpsum payments for the workers at the plant, but it contains no commitment to making CAMI the lead producer
for the Equinox, which is produced there and at two plants
in Mexico.
Dias said that while
the new contract secures

*Up to 80 kilometres at up to 80 kph.
Repairable in limited circumstances.
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Jerry Dias said that
"Ultimately, until we fix
the wage rates in Mexico,
there's going to be a lot more
fights." ( F I L E P H O TO )

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - November 2017