Stellantis has announced it is rehiring 1,400 workers for the reinstatement of the third shift at its Windsor Assembly Plant. The plant, which hasn’t run three shifts in five years, is gearing up for a mid-February production boost to meet surging demand for the Chrysler Pacifica and the new Dodge Charger Scat Pack and R/T models, powered by the new SIXPACK engine.
James Stewart, President of Unifor Local 444, declared that the Windsor facility is currently an “anomaly in the automotive sector”. This success is attributed to the plant’s unique position, being the sole producer of two “solid products” that are performing well in their respective segments. As we said, the venerable family hauler and the new muscle car lineup.
In the near term, he states, Windsor is in “great shape.”However, this employment boom comes with a geographic wrinkle and a dash of corporate irony. Local Windsor applicants will not be first in line. Instead, the priority goes to recently laid-off workers from the Brampton plant, following Stellantis’s decision to relocate Jeep Compass production to Illinois. Stewart confirmed that the collective agreement mandates that those displaced Brampton employees get the “first opportunity to come and fill those spots”.
Whether or not those four-hour commuters from the Greater Toronto Area will actually relocate remains a point of speculation and mild humor. Stewart isn’t expecting a mass exodus, but any positions not filled by the Brampton transfers will result opened up to the general public. Anyway, Stellantis will first review the 3,000 applicants who previously applied for a shift a year and a half ago.
Despite the hiring spree, the union continues to sound the alarm on the broader state of the Canadian auto industry, arguing for aggressive negotiation tactics. Stewart emphasizes the need to leverage Canada’s vast resources to protect and stabilize the manufacturing sector. For now, though, the focus is strictly on getting those 1,400 new workers on the floor by the middle of February and cranking out more Pacifica and Dodge Charger units.
