Unifor Union Demands GMC Sierra Production in Canada
The Canadian union Unifor has begun negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with General Motors (GM) with the aim of increasing vehicle production in Canada, specifically targeting the GMC Sierra for the Oshawa assembly plant.
This was revealed by the union’s leader, Lana Payne, during a press conference in which she explained that the U.S. automaker has available capacity at its Canadian plants that could be used to meet local demand.
“Canadians buy pickups in large numbers, including many Sierras,” Payne told the media.
Payne emphasized that “there is plenty of room to increase production, not only because of the capacity we have at our facilities, but also because of what Canadians buy. This will be part of our discussions with General Motors.”
The negotiations are taking place as U.S. tariffs complicate auto production in Canada and just weeks after the release of a report indicating that GM would stop producing light-duty pickup trucks at the Oshawa plant, in order to dedicate the manufacturing complex solely to the assembly of heavy-duty vehicles.
Currently, GM produces both light- and heavy-duty versions of the Chevrolet Silverado in Oshawa, but not the GMC Sierra, the current version of which is assembled only in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Silao, Guanajuato.
Although production of the fifth generation of light-duty pickup trucks is scheduled to begin next October, the company has not officially announced which plants will host this new program.
