Canada’s Unifor union is targeting GM’s “massive” profits in its latest attempt to try to reverse General Motors’ decision to idle its Oshawa, Ont., assembly plant.
The union claims GM earned US $8.1 billion in 2018, but still plans to idle the Ontario plant and “sacrifice tens of thousands” of Canadian jobs.
“General Motors is raking in money. Executives and shareholders continue to do incredibly well while they callously plan to take away the very livelihood of Canadian workers in Oshawa,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “GM is risking the very core of their future financial success with their relentless pursuit of production at $2 per hour in Mexico.”
Prior to their recent message, Unifor struck hard with a well-timed Super Bowl advertisement urging Canadians to boycott GM vehicles made in Mexico.
The carmaker had threatened to sue the union if they did not “cease any and all publication” of the ad, claiming the information was misleading the Canadian public. In a company news release, GM said it had repaid its 2009 loans in full post-bankruptcy, and fulfilled all the terms of its agreements with the Canadian government years ago.
GM plans to stop producing a number of car models that are not deemed profitable, which is likely the result of consumer interests shifting away from sedans towards larger vehicles like SUVs and trucks.
Even so, Unifor claims GM is in violation of a signed collective agreement that would see the plant remain open past 2019. Closing the Oshawa plant is expected to result in 24,000 employees losing their jobs and a loss of $1 billion per year in government revenue.
“This is GM’s third highest profit level ever,” said Dias. “The company has plenty of options available to do the right thing in Oshawa, instead of shifting even more jobs to Mexico.”
