TORONTO, Ontario—The Canadian auto workers union Unifor is calling for a boycott of Mexican-made
General Motors vehicles to protest the company’s plans to close its plant in Oshawa, Ontario this year. “We are asking you to stand up to ‘Greedy Motors,’” Unifor National President Jerry Dias said at a news conference Jan. 25 in Toronto. The union is urging people in both Canada and the U.S. not to buy trucks or SUVs made in Mexico, which can be identified because their vehicle identification numbers start with a 3. The Oshawa factory closing, one of five GM announced in November, will eliminate about 2,600 people’s jobs at the plant itself and more at parts suppliers that serve it. Dias said he believes the company wants to close its two remaining factories in Ontario and move their work to Mexico, where workers get paid an average of $2 an hour. GM has told Unifor it has no intention of keeping the Oshawa plant open, although the union says its 2016 contract guaranteed the plant would stay open until at least September 2020. The United Auto Workers has not joined the boycott, but Dias said the unions plan to talk in early February. Read more
