Unifor continues to ramp up the pressure on General Motors in hopes of reversing the company’s plans to shutdown its Oshawa, Ont., assembly plant.
In its latest move, the union promoted a hard-hitting message during Sunday’s Super Bowl, in which the televised ad asked Canadians to boycott Mexican-produced vehicles.
“Canadian consumers have the power to choose which products they buy,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “We will do everything we can to show people how to tell GM they will not purchase vehicles made in Mexico from a company that is putting thousands of Canadians out of work.”
The ad is also expected to run during the Academy Awards, the Grammy Awards and during commercial breaks on NHL hockey games.
GM hit back with the threat of a lawsuit, calling the commercial misleading and inaccurate, according to the Windsor Star.
In a recent news release, the carmaker also said: “While GM respects Unifor’s rights to protest, we cannot condone purposely misleading the Canadian public.” GM lawyers lodged a formal demand for the union to “cease any and all publication” of the ad.
The carmaker also says that its Canadian division repaid its 2009 loans in full, which was provided to GM during their period of bankruptcy. GM also said it already fulfilled all the terms of its agreements with the government years ago. “Since 2009, GM Canada has contributed over $100 billion to the Canadian economy including $8 billion invested into worker pensions,” said GM.
The company is currently investing in worker training to help those employees that will lose their jobs move into another career — whether it’s within the GM retail space or not.
Approximately 2,900 employees are anticipated to lose their jobs when the Oshawa assembly plant officially closes, along with “thousands more” in auto parts and services, according to Unifor.
