Union says no deal with Stellantis unless company commits to Brampton assembly plant’s future

“Unless we have answers for the Brampton assembly plant there won’t be a deal.”

That’s the message Unifor Local 1285 President Vito Beato is sending to U.S.-based automaker Stellantis ahead of collective bargaining negotiations.

“So we put them on notice, we let them know that and that is our position,” Beato said in a video update to members last month.

The union has been in a back-and-forth with Stellantis, which employs around 3,000 workers at its Brampton assembly plant, after the company announced in October that the production of the Jeep Compass was being shifted away from Canada to the U.S., despite years of assurances that the Jeeps would be built in Brampton.

Unifor’s collective bargaining agreement with Stellantis expires in September, and Beato says reps have already met with the company to make their position clear – get Brampton back to work.

He says Stellantis has complained about Canada’s auto sector remission tariff framework, which provides relief from the 25 per cent counter-tariffs on US-made vehicles. But Beato says committing the Brampton plant to a new production plan would get those tariffs removed.

“Just give us answers for Brampton and then you can sell cars in Canada without any tariffs. It’s pretty simple,” Beato said.

The union, which represents some 19,000 Canadian autoworkers, is also currently in negotiations with the Ford Motor Company with a deadline for a deal set for Friday. If no agreement is reached, the union plans to shop the deal to the Chrysler Corporation and General Motors.

Unifor represents around 5,000 workers at Ford, and has been at the bargaining table with the company since June.

As far as what Unifor Local 1285 members want to see from negotiations are “to have a deal done with Ford, set the pattern, and focus on job security for the Brampton plant.”

He says members will continue to push, keep dialogue open with Stellantis and that “something’s going to give between now and then as far as the Brampton assembly plant.”

Beato said he wants to see commitments that will get members back to work in Brampton before 2029.

Earlier this year, the union reportedly rejected a proposal to build Leapmotor Chinese EV kit cars in Brampton that would have put just a few hundred Stellantis workers back on the job and leave thousands of others without work. Leapmotor announced on Monday it has entered the Mexico market as a partner with Stellantis.

The Stellantis plant property was gifted from the city to Chrysler back in the ‘80s before transitioning to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and eventually Stellantis. But a motion passed by Brampton City Council means the property can only be used for auto sector jobs – a move that could “make sure those jobs come back to our city,” Mayor Patrick Brown has said.

The motion passed with the unanimous support of council, and Beato said the move could help “make sure we get back to building cars in Brampton.”