Unions say local workers being sidelined in building of NextStar battery plant in Windsor, company denies this

Canada's Building Trades Unions (CBTU) has accused NextStar Energy and LG of what it calls their continued use of international workers for work that union members are ready and able to perform. 

The unions sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau requesting his "personal intervention" with executives at NextStar Energy and LG.

"Tell Stellantis and LG to cease and desist their use of sub-contractors who are employing international workers to displace Canadian workers on tasks which can be performed by local workers," reads the letter.

"Instruct your Ministers to halt the flow of new international workers to the EV Battery Plant in Windsor. Require the companies to sign new agreements with labour conditionality on tax incentives. End this intolerable situation for Canadian workers."

CBTU is an amalgamation of 12 skilled trades unions.

In a statement to CBC News, NextStar Energy said there is an "inaccurate and negative portrayal" of non-Canadian resident workers who are needed to temporarily support the industrialization of the battery plant prior to its launch. 

"At present, there are 1,975 workers on site who are readying the plant for launch. All of those workers are Canadian except for 72," the statement reads.

"These workers are hired temporarily by the suppliers  to install proprietary equipment and are a requirement of warranty obligations.  It is important to note that none of these workers factor into the 2,500 projected new NextStar Energy jobs this plant will create once complete — those permanent jobs will be filled by Canadians."

Minister Mary Ng, who is responsible for international trade and economic development, met with LG Energy Solutions leadership  — one of the companies partnering on the NextStar plant — in South Korea this week, her press secretary said in an emailed statement Friday. 

"During the meeting, Minister Ng raised the issue of using foreign workers for jobs at their NextStar plant, a joint venture with Stellantis, in Windsor, Ont.," reads part of the statement.

"LG [Energy Solutions] reiterated its commitment to ensuring the plant's 2,500 full-time jobs are filled with Canadian workers."

Meanwhile, Trudeau made brief comments on the issue Thursday while announcing a deal that includes the construction of Honda's first electric vehicle assembly plant and a new stand-alone EV battery plant at Honda's facility in Alliston, Ont.

WATCH |'Historic' Honda EV investment will boost economy for generations, says Trudeau

'Historic' Honda EV investment will boost economy for generations, says Trudeau

7 months ago

Duration 3:05

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised Honda's $15-billion EV investment as an example of 'Canada building the kinds of solutions the world needs' before taking aim at his rivals, and suggested the announcement would not have happened under a Conservative government.

The prime minister quoted similar numbers to those in the NextStar Energy statement.

He said Honda's already working very closely with the CBTU to make sure that the construction of the new facilities is done in the right way "and is always putting the emphasis on Canadian workers, because that's why we're here today."

In a statement, Conservative shadow ministers Rick Perkins and Kyle Seeback said their party would ensure "any taxpayer-funded jobs are given Canadians, not foreign replacement workers."

"We have seen before where Justin Trudeau announces massive subsidies that are supposed to create Canadian jobs, only to see him turn around and let those jobs be filled by foreign replacement workers and then lie about it. We can't trust that his latest announcement of $5 billion in Canadian taxpayer money to another large multinational corporation will be any different."

On Friday, the party said it would bring a motion to the government operations committee Monday on tax dollars being used to hire foreign workers. 

Windsor—Tecumseh Member of Parliament Irek Kusmierczyk said the federal government has been very clear about its expectations.

"We've made it very clear to the CEO of NextStar — to Stellantis and also to LG that we fully expect us to maximize our local skilled workers at every opportunity wherever possible," Kusmierczyk told CBC News.

NextStar Energy is a partnership between Stellantis and the South Korean company LG Energy Solution. The plant will create more than 2,500 new Canadian jobs, with annual production capacity of 49.5 gigawatt hours.

Meanwhile, once the Honda assembly plant is fully operational in 2028, it will produce up to 240,000 vehicles per year and create more than 1,000 "well-paying manufacturing jobs," statements from Honda and the federal government said.