unifor vows to block any attempt to shift production by detroit 3 automakers
unifor local 200 president and national auto council ch...
3 minute read
unifor local 200 president john d'agnolo vows to block any transfer of auto equipment to the u.s.
dan janisse
/
windsor star
unifor local 200 president and national auto council chair john d’agnolo said the union will block any attempt by the detroit 3 automakers to try and move machinery or production from canadian plants to the u.s.
an exasperated d’agnolo was reacting to u.s. president donald trump’s decision to give the three american automakers a 30-day pause on tariffs on canadian and mexican products to allow the companies to start investing, moving (equipment) and production stateside.
“we’ll never allow them to take away any machinery,” d’agnolo said. “i’ll stand in the plant’s gates myself.
“these companies have contracts with us and the government needs to stand behind that. we’ve given these companies money.
“their problem is with donald trump and they need to address that. there’s no logic to what he’s doing.
“i never thought in my lifetime, would i see one man create a recession and try to destroy a country that’s been an ally.”
d’agnolo said there’s been no change in production at any of the detroit 3’s plants in ontario this week. he added the union has good relations with the detroit automakers and he doesn’t expect them to provoke a confrontation.
“they know if they break the contract, we have to do something,” d’agnolo said. “i believe the companies will fulfil the contracts and be supportive of canada.
advertisement
“(ford ceo) jim farley is doing what he can by letting (trump) know how he feels. he’d doing what he can to support canada.”
d’agnolo said he’s “dumbfounded and frustrated” with the uncertainty trump is creating in the automotive sector and his complete lack of understanding of the highly integrated industry.
he said even if the companies wanted to shift production and equipment, it’s not something you can do easily.
“a cnc machine in my plants (ford’s two windsor engine facilities), it takes years to make one. it’s not like an assembly line you can just move and we have hundreds of these machines.”
d’agnolo said the pause in tariffs is just kicking the can down the road and allows trump to keep everyone on edge for another month.
“i think what you’ll see in the next month is the parts facilities working overtime to build up inventory to use,” d’agnolo said. “there won’t be much movement (of production).
“if they were thinking at all of doing that, they would have begun doing stuff months ago. you just can’t pick up plants and move them across the border.”
he added it’s mind-boggling that trump tariffed the production of the detroit 3 before foreign automakers putting them in a pricing disadvantage in their own market.
advertisement
d’agnolo’s anger wasn’t just aimed at the trump administration, he was equally frustrated with united auto workers’ president shawn fain. he accused the american labour leader of conspiring with trump after the uaw released a statement supporting “aggressive tariff action to protect american manufacturing jobs.”
the uaw also confirmed it was actively engaged in discussions with the trump administration to end “the free-trade disaster.”
“we are willing to support the trump administration’s use of tariffs to stop plant closures and curb the power of corporations that pit u.s. workers against workers in other countries,” the uaw statement read.
“if trump is serious about bringing back good blue-collar jobs destroyed by nafta, the usmca, and the wto, he should go a step further and immediately seek to renegotiate our broken trade deals.
“we need to stop plant closures, bring back american jobs, and stop the global race to the bottom immediately. any tariff action must be followed with a renegotiation of the usmca, and a full review of the corporate trade regime that has devastated the american and global working class.”
d’agnolo said the statement was disappointing after unifor and the uaw had worked together during the last round of contract talks to secure major gains from the detroit 3.
advertisement
“the leader of the uaw has thrown canadian workers under the bus,” d’agnolo said.
“we thought we had a relationship with them. we’d worked together well in bargaining and supported them in getting their contract over the line.
“all we ever kept reading from (fain) was him ripping donald trump. to find him back dooring us like this is shameful.”
while the canadian auto industry might have gained a short reprieve, d’agnolo urged the federal and provincial governments not to be tempted by partially reduced tariffs and having industries pitted against each other.
“the canadian response should be to go after him,” d’agnolo said. “it’s got to impact them, make them feel the same pain we feel.”
dwaddell@postmedia.com
twitter.com/winstarwaddell
share story
