October 01, 2017 - 10:40 AM
INGERSOLL, Ont. - The Unifor bargaining team representing striking workers at the GM CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ont., has dismissed the company's latest contract offer as "fluff."
The comment came from Jerry Dias, Unifor's president, who says he's trying to protect Canadian auto jobs that may be moving to plants in Mexico.
The strike began when members of Unifor walked out on Sept. 17 as negotiators worked to have General Motors designate the plant as the lead producer of the Equinox sport utility vehicle, which is also produced at two plants in Mexico.
GM's latest contract offer came on Saturday morning, but Dias says the offer isn't good enough because it still allows the company to shift its resources away from the Ingersoll plant.
Dias said that production at Ingersoll has slowed from 400,000 vehicles to 190,000 before the strike was launched.
He said the union will not back any deals unless they're confident that more jobs won't be shifted to Mexican plants.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2017