Unifor blockade removed at Windsor Assembly Plant as union and Stellantis enter talks
A Unifor blockade at the Stellantis Windsor Assembly Plant is being removed following a dispute involving the union, the automaker and a contractor.
Former employees of Auto Warehousing Company (AWC), who were represented by Unifor, have returned to work, according Unifor Local 444 president Dave Cassidy, who shared the update in a video on Facebook.
"The former AWC workers of Local 444 are back on the job as FCA and us work over the next little bit to sort out the fine details around it," Cassidy said, using the former name of the auto company that officially became Stellantis this week.
In an email, Stellantis spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin confirmed that former AWC workers are back on the job while Stellantis and Unifor continue to have "discussions."
She added that regular production continues at the Windsor Assembly Plant.
Cassidy didn't elaborate further, but said he was very happy with the result.
Unifor Local 444 set up a blockade at one entrance to the plant earlier this month.
The union wanted workers from AWC to keep their jobs even though the contract for the service they provide was won by a different company, Motipark.
The workers in question were responsible for driving the newly built minivans away from the factory ahead of shipment.
The Motipark workers are represented by the Teamsters union, but Unifor has argued it should have had succession rights.
Unifor has filed an application under the Ontario Labour Relations Act.
On Monday, the automaker called on the union to call off the blockade. It said that if the factory had to shut down, workers would not be paid for the downtime.
"It is unfortunate Unifor is choosing to use this inappropriate tactic of blockading our property, even though Stellantis is not involved in the dispute, and knowing that its effect will soon result in our Windsor operations being shut down," Gosselin said in a news release.
