Toronto, Ontario — In this weekly Tuesday Ticker, Unifor authorizes workers at Ontario’s CAMI Assembly Plant to strike, should an agreement not be met in talks later this month. Meanwhile, Tesla reportedly seeks lower tariffs for its Chinese-built models following the government’s recent announcement.
Strike watch
Unifor members working at the General Motors CAMI Assembly Plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, have overwhelmingly voted to approve a strike mandate ahead of bargaining talks scheduled for September.
Members of Unifor Local 88 voted 97 percent in favour of strike action, should a collective agreement not be reached with GM in September.
Job security remains a top-of-mind issue for the union workers, Mike Van Boekel, the local’s plant chairperson, told CBC. He said the plant remains on one shift and some workers work a two weeks on, two weeks off schedule.
Formal talks will begin on September 9. If an agreement is not reached by 10:59 p.m. on September 17, a strike will occur.
The CAMI Assembly Plant employs approximately 1,400 workers. The plant was recently retrofitted to accommodate van production in December 2022.
Please, Mr. Trudeau
Tesla has reportedly approached the Canadian government seeking lower tariffs on its Chinese-built Teslas, following the announcement earlier this week that Canada would apply a 100 percent surtax on Chinese-made EVs.
A source cited by Reuters claims Tesla asked the Canadian government for reduced duties before the 100 percent surtax was even announced. The OEM allegedly asked for a rate similar to what it was able to secure with the European Union (nine percent).
Tesla has yet to comment on the allegation, though Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland reportedly denied the automaker’s requests to meet.
Canada’s 100 percent tariff is expected to become effective October 1, 2024.
