'Fight back': Hundreds turn out to Unifor rally at Nemak plant

Local politicians, Unifor leaders and an audience of roughly 200 current and former employees descended upon Nemak's west Windsor auto parts assembly plant Thursday to protest the company's decision to shutter the facility in 2020.

Among those gathered were Nemak plant chair Mike Jobin, Unifor Local 200 president John D'Agnolo, the union's national president Jerry Dias, NDP MPP Taras Natyshak from Essex, and federal NDP candidates Brian Masse from Windsor West and Tracey Ramsey from Essex.

Speakers led the crowds in chants of "Nemak, fight back," reiterating the union's position that protests won't cease until Nemak abides by the terms of a previously drawn commitment promising work until at least 2022. 

Union members called on both the federal and provincial government to take action to support employees.

Dias said he spoke with Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, as well as the prime minister's office, adding he's scheduled to speak with Innovation and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains later Thursday. 

"There is no question the federal government is talking to us and understands the seriousness of the issue," Dias said. 

In response to questions from reporters, Dias said "there's no question this is a major issue" in Windsor-Essex during the upcoming federal election. 

"Jobs are always an important issue," he said. "As a matter of fact, the economy is always the number one bread-and-butter issue … because this is about standard of living, it's about our communities, it's about our families, it's about our children, it's about how we treat our elders."

"So there is no question this is going to be a part of the next election."

'Their position is inflexible,' says Nemak plant manager

Nemak's west Windsor plant manager Brad Bourtros said Thursday that dialogue between his company and Unifor "has been open."

"However, in our conversation, we determined at this point that their position is inflexible to say the least," he said. 

When Nemak announced the 2020 closure of its west Windsor in July, the company said the decision was a result of the "early phase-out of an export program with a customer in China."

Bourtros explained Nemak's "operations are unsustainable."

"We're not talking about profitability here, we're talking about actual operations," he said. "Our position is we would be right around 10 per cent utilization in the plant."

Bourtros added if the company continued operations beyond 2020, "we're looking at anywhere from six to eight months of layoffs for all of our employees."

As such, the plant would only be staffed "anywhere from four to six months per year," Bourtros said. 

... We would be right around 10 per cent utilization in the plant.- Brad Bourtros, Nemak west Windsor operations manager

He said Unifor has "not shown any interest" in Nemak's attempts to negotiate transition packages for employees.

"Even with all of the transparency, even with the plans that we've laid out with for them ... the response has been now the illegal strike and the seizure of assets," he said. 

Bourtros also apologized to current employees, saying the company wishes "nothing but for them to come back to work and for us to try and make the best of the next year."

Court orders and decisions

Thursday's rally came in the wake of a turbulent two weeks for relations between Unifor and Nemak.

Unifor and Nemak employees began a strike in protest of the plant's upcoming shuttering on Labour Day. 

A few days later on Sept. 4, the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) ordered Unifor leaders to cease the strike outside the west Windsor plant.

On Sept. 5, Windsor judge Terrance Patterson upheld the OLRB's original decision — once again ordering Unifor leaders to cease the strike. 

Union leaders refused to abide by the OLRB order, leading to a contempt hearing before Patterson this Tuesday, during which Nemak lawyer David Sundin requested Unifor receive fines of $25,000 for each day the strike continues, as well as an additional fine of $2,000 levied against Unifor leaders for every day the strikes carry on.

Patterson adjourned Tuesday's hearings without a decision, saying he would rather both parties resolve the conflict on their own. 

Unifor and Nemak will be back in court on Friday. Nemak's Brad Bourtros said he would be in Windsor for Friday's court proceedings.

'High-level meetings'

Unifor and Nemak confirmed yesterday that leaders from both groups held 'high-level meetings' on Wednesday to discuss a possible resolution to the conflict.

D'Agnolo once again said Unifor wants Nemak to uphold its 2022 promise.

Nemak later issued two statements Wednesday. The first confirmed the meetings held between Unifor and Nemak, adding that the company "remains open to continue discussions to find a mutually agreeable compromise."

In its second statement Wednesday, Nemak provided a collection of "key facts" regarding the ongoing dispute with Unifor. 

"At this time, we will continue to proceed with legal processes to re-open our plant and the legal proceedings for Unifor's grievance," Nemak said. "We believe ending this unlawful strike is in the best interest of all parties involved."