Windsor, Ontario — A strike deadline in negotiations between Unifor and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has been set for Oct. 14 at 11:59 p.m., said Jerry Dias, Unifor president.
The negotiations affect approximately 9,000 workers at FCA’s Brampton, Ont. and Windsor, Ont. assembly plants, which typically build more than 500,000 vehicles annually, as well as an FCA casting plant in Toronto.
Dias said it remains early in the talks, and bargaining formally resumed last week in Toronto after Unifor reached an agreement with Ford, which will see the automaker’s Oakville, Ont. plant roll out five new electric models between 2024 and 2028.
Unifor is looking to secure at least one new product for the Windsor plant, which currently builds the Chrysler Pacifica, Voyager and Grand Caravan minivans. The third shift at the Windsor plant was cut earlier this year in an effort to “align production with demand,” according to FCA. The cut cost about 1,500 hourly workers their jobs.
“We’re spending a lot of time on local issues,” said Dias. “FCA has yet to tell us they are accepting the pattern, but they will. My preoccupation is about product and stability.”
