It is possible when General Motors hosts an investor event a week from today, company officials and investors will be able to look out an office window and see protesters across the river.
Unifor plans to put more pressure on the automaker January 11 at a second rally scheduled to coincide with the investors' meeting at its Detroit headquarters. The first rally was on December 19.
It is hosting a rally at Dieppe Gardens that day to save GM Oshawa and demand continued production in Canada. The rally starts at 11 a.m.
Unifor national president Jerry Dias discusses the talks with GM on December 20, 2018. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.
A release from the union said the company will pitch its direction, including expanding production in Mexico just a month after announcing it will close four plants in the U.S. and its plant in Oshawa.
"Oshawa is GM's most flexible plant, capable of making cars, SUVs, and trucks. There is every reason for it to keep manufacturing [there] unless the company plans to disinvest from Canada," said Unifor National President, Jerry Dias. "GM's decision to leave Oshawa without product while ramping up manufacturing in Mexico is a slap in the face to all Canadians."
The union has been running ads in the media calling on Canadians to join their cause saying the closure in Oshawa is no way to thank Canada for the almost $11-billion bailout in 2009 after the global financial meltdown.
Unifor is calling on the federal and provincial governments to press GM to reverse its decision. It notes Mexico did not contribute to the bailout.
Along with Dias, the president of Unifor 222 and plant chair of the Oshawa plant are expected to speak.