Unifor Canada President Jerry Dias. Jan 8, 2019. (Photo courtesy of Unifor Canada)Unifor Canada President Jerry Dias. Jan 8, 2019. (Photo courtesy of Unifor Canada)
Windsor

Unifor calls for a boycott of GM vehicles made in Mexico

Unifor is intensifying its battle to keep the General Motors plant in Oshawa open with a call to boycott all GM vehicles made in Mexico.

National President Jerry Dias told reporters in Toronto, Canadians and Americans will begin to see ads on television, on billboards, and in newspapers soon to remember "if the VIN starts with three, it's not for me."

"We will be asking consumers when you go into a GM dealership to write right in the agreement that if the vehicle VIN number starts with a three, that you will not be taking delivery of this vehicle," he said.

Photo of the sit-down protest at GM Oshawa courtesy of Unifor. Photo of the sit-down protest at GM Oshawa courtesy of Unifor.

Dias admitted he was initially reluctant to boycott GM because the union has members at other plants in southwestern Ontario, but not anymore.

"We hired a polling group," said Dias. "They told us that 45 per cent of Canadians would absolutely support an outright boycott. Another 26 per cent said they would strongly consider boycotting GM products."

The boycott is only for vehicles made in Mexico, and does not include those made in the U.S. or Canada.

Dias is confident the boycott will not hurt workers in Canada.

"The Canadian suppliers that supply to Mexican plants are located in Mexico. Very few parts, if any actually go from Canada to Mexico," he reassured reporters.

GM makes about 20,000 vehicles in Canada every year, Dias said, compared to the 300,000 sold here. He is confident Canadians can send the company a strong message that they will not support a corporation that accepted a bailout from Canadian governments in 2009 and then relocated operations abroad.

Related story: GM stands firm on Oshawa plant closure

Dias also said he believes GM is planning to pull all of its operations out of Canada, and said he does not believe the company when it says otherwise.

"General Motors has consistently lied to us," he asserted. "In 2008 negotiations, we signed an agreement. Within weeks they announced the closure of the truck plant. Didn't even tell us, and these are decisions that are made so far in advance. In 2012, we raised it at the bargaining table; there's all kinds of noise about our Camaro going to the Lansing plant in the United States, and they said 'no, no, no, no. We've heard those rumours as well.' And then months later, they moved our Camaro."

Unifor is asking the company to keep the Oshawa plant open until at least September 2020. Dias said between now and then, he is confident the union and GM can find a solution to keep the plant open permanently.

Related story: Oshawa's GM plant closure to have lasting impact on Canada's economy: Unifor study

He also has a warning for General Motors, which has so far refused to budge on its announcement it will close the plant in Oshawa. Dias told reporters he is considering a strike if the company does not live up to its promise that it will not close the plant for the life of the current collective agreement.

Dias said he has met with the prime minister about the Oshawa plant closure and the Prime Minister's Office for exploratory talks to find out what the federal government can do to encourage GM to reconsider. It is also trying to facilitate a meeting between Dias and GM CEO Mary Barra.

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