Stellantis workers set to vote on potential strike action this weekend

TORONTO — Stellantis workers in Canada are set to vote this weekend on whether to authorize a strike as their union says contract negotiations with the automaker remain at a standstill.

Unifor is holding the votes on Saturday and Sunday and plans to announce results at the start of next week.

However, the union representing more than 9,000 Stellantis workers in Canada said it is hoping to avoid a potential strike. It said authorization for job action would provide leverage to help reach a negotiated agreement.

“A strike authorization gives the bargaining committee the authority to call a strike if necessary, it does not automatically mean a strike will take place,” said a statement last week signed by Unifor national president Lana Payne and other members of the union’s bargaining committee.

“Strike action remains a last resort, but the ability to strike is an important part of collective bargaining and can help create the conditions for an agreement.”

The previous collective agreement between Stellantis and the union expired Sept. 20 without the two sides coming to terms on a new tentative deal.

Unifor’s bargaining committee and the company are at an impasse over several key issues, including job security and the future of the Brampton, Ont., assembly plant Stellantis wants to sell.

The fate of the Brampton plant, which has been idled since 2023, has been a central issue. Talks came to a standstill on Sept. 11 when Stellantis signed a memorandum of understanding with defence contractor Roshel for a potential sale of the facility.

Stellantis Canada president and CEO Trevor Longley said in a September letter to employees that “market and trade conditions have directly impacted the original business case” for the plant, but that the move to sell could support future operations at the site.

“Stellantis remains committed to bargaining in good faith and is prepared to continue discussions toward a negotiated agreement that recognizes the contributions of our employees while supporting the long-term competitiveness of our Canadian operations,” the automaker’s spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin in a statement this week.

More than 2,000 workers were laid off from the Brampton plant when it halted operations in 2023.

The facility had been slated to be retooled for Jeep production, a process that began early in 2024, before the company paused the plan in early 2025. It later announced it was moving production of the Jeep Compass to Illinois., leaving the plant idled indefinitely.

Unifor has filed a grievance over that move, alleging it violated the previous collective agreement.

For its part, Roshel has said it is willing to consider hiring laid-off workers from the plant as soon as this year “through the federal government’s Light Utility Vehicles procurement program and other automotive and defence opportunities.”

Roshel CEO Roman Shimonov said the company plans to establish a Canadian Centre of Excellence for Defence Manufacturing in Brampton in addition to automotive production, which would involve more than 2,000 jobs.

Payne has written to federal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly urging the government to block the potential sale and clarify whether the MOU breached Stellantis’ previous commitments to Ottawa.

Last fall, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he had expressed disappointment during a conversation with the global head of Stellantis over the company moving Jeep Compass production to the United States. At the time, the prime minister said he reminded Stellantis of its commitments to the government under funding deals — such as keeping the Brampton plant — and warned there would be consequences if it failed to meet those obligations.

Joly’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Contract talks began Sept. 1 in Toronto after Unifor ratified new collective agreements with Ford Motor Co. and General Motors in Canada earlier in the summer, as part of its pattern bargaining process with each of the Detroit Three.