Stellantis workers vote overwhelmingly in favour of strike mandate

Stellantis workers across Canada have delivered their union a strong strike mandate as talks have stalled between its bargaining committee and the company.

Unifor said Monday that 97.3 per cent of members who participated in a vote over the weekend are in favour of authorizing a strike if needed.

“Unifor members at Stellantis understand how difficult negotiations with the company have been and gave an overwhelming mandate to support their bargaining committee,” said Lana Payne, president of Unifor National, in a statement.

“Our members are united in their determination to reach a fair agreement with Stellantis that protects jobs for Canadian autoworkers,” she said.

Unifor, which represents more than 9,000 Stellantis workers, said over the weekend that a potential strike action remains a last resort and it hopes to still reach a deal.

But bargaining is at an impasse with the automaker after the company announced it planned to sell its Brampton assembly plan to Roshel, a defence contractor.

More than 2,000 workers were laid off from the plant when it stopped operations in 2023. Stellantis has argued that keeping the plant no longer made sense for its business, but that selling could support future workers.

While striking is a last resort, Unifor said “we will not back down and accept a deal that weakens Stellantis’ footprint within Canada’s auto industry due to broken commitments.”