The possible sale of Stellantis’ Brampton Assembly Plant to Roshel is holding up contract negotiations covering more than 9,000 Stellantis workers in Canada. In its September 24 update, Unifor said the company continues to tie an agreement for its other operations to the closure of the Ontario auto plant. The union rejects that condition and continues to demand a return to automotive production at Brampton.
Brampton dispute blocks contract deal for more than 9,000 Stellantis workers
The dispute has also reached the federal government. On September 16, Unifor sent a letter to Industry Minister Mélanie Joly asking Ottawa to clarify its involvement in discussions between Stellantis and the Canadian armored-vehicle manufacturer. The union wanted to know whether the proposed transaction had received political support beyond the companies directly involved.
According to Unifor, officials from Joly’s office and the Prime Minister’s Office told the union that the federal government had neither promoted nor approved the sale. Unifor plans to continue discussions with government officials while pushing Ottawa to protect automotive production and oppose the proposed solution for the plant.
Around 2,200 Brampton workers remain on indefinite layoff, with no production program that would give them a clear return date. Stellantis moved the previously planned Jeep Compass program to the United States, while Unifor fears that ending vehicle assembly in Brampton could also hurt suppliers and affect other operations.
The negotiations cover far more workers than those at Brampton. They also include employees in Windsor and Etobicoke, along with workers in Mississauga and Red Deer. Unifor wants to extend the economic pattern it already negotiated with Ford and General Motors to those Stellantis employees. The disagreement over Brampton has therefore prevented the two sides from completing a deal covering several different facilities and operations.
The previous collective agreement expired on September 20, but Unifor later explained that the legal conditions for a strike had not yet taken effect. Ontario’s conciliation process must run its course before workers can legally stop work, while the terms of the previous agreement continue to apply in the meantime.
As of September 24, Unifor had not scheduled a strike vote, and the two sides had no new formal bargaining sessions on the calendar. Informal contact continues, while some members of the union bargaining team have returned to their workplaces. The economic review team has remained in Toronto, ready to resume negotiations and put Brampton’s future back on the table.
