VIDEO: Auto workers fight to save generational jobs at Brampton assembly plant

“Nothing is leaving this plant until we get back to work.”

That’s the message Unifor Local 1285 President Vito Beato gave to workers at the Brampton Stellantis auto plant, who have been left in limbo after the company says its moving production to the U.S.

“The company has violated our collective agreement, the company has violated the agreement with the provincial and federal governments, and our plant needs to be working,” Beato said at a rally of auto workers in Brampton last week.

Stellantis, which employs around 3,000 workers in Brampton, announced last month that it plans to move the upcoming production of the Jeep Compass from Brampton to the U.S., despite years of assurances that the vehicle would be built in Canada.

And while the company has said it has plans for the plan going forward, Vito says shifting Compass production down south “violated our collective agreement.”

“Our members deserve to be back in this plant. They ratified an agreement that allows them to be back in this plant – they should be back to work today,” he said.

Unifor Local 1285 has shared a video of the rally, calling on Stellantis to keep its promises and keep building in Canada.

Workers at the Brampton facility have been laid off since January 2024, when the plant started “retooling” to produce battery-electric and hybrid vehicles.

Beau Bisson started working for Stelantis in 2011 as a student before going full-time, and has been at the Brampton plant since 2018. He was part of the rally in Brampton last week and says his “entire family” works at the plant, and that workers “bargained in good faith” to “secure the future for our jobs and the jobs of the next generation coming into Chrysler.”

“They didn’t hold up their end of the deal at this point. And the vehicle we bargained for (the Compass program), they’re saying that’s going to Illinois. And I don’t think that’s right,” he said.

Beato called the company’s decision to move “devastating” for workers, who are not only concerned for their jobs, but also angry.

“The company has violated their trust, the company has violated the collective agreement, the company has violated the commitments to the provincial government, and that’s what we’re standing here for today,” Beato said.

“Because we’re not going to take it. We need this decision reversed, and we need the company to uphold their commitments to Brampton and the auto industry here in Ontario.”

Ottawa is launching a dispute resolution process against Stellantis over the company’s decision, and Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says she sent the company a letter initiating a formal, 30-day settlement process to “recover” taxpayer funds and “bring back production” to the Brampton facility.

Joly attended the Brampton rally last week and told workers that “the country is at an important moment right now.”

“And Canadians are watching you. They’re watching all of us, and we need to stand strong…and be united, and send a clear message to Stellantis. This plant is important, and the best auto workers in the world are the Canadian ones,” Joly said.

RELATED: Stellantis president grilled at House committee over decision move production to U.S.

The City of Brampton is also seeking “intervenor status” to join in any legal or regulatory hearings related to the Stellanits decision.

Unifor National President Lana Payne called efforts to keep Jeep production in Brampton “the fight of our lives.”

“This trade war has put tens of thousands of workers and their jobs at risk, and we only have one choice here – to stand up for Canadian workers, stand up for Canadian jobs, and fight back with everything we have.

Speaking to members of Parliament during a House of Commons industry and technology committee meeting last week, Stellantis president Jeff Hines said the company is looking at options to get laid-off workers back on the job.