Unifor urges government to prevent sale of Stellantis' Brampton, Ont., plant - BNN Bloomberg

The union representing Canadian workers at Stellantis is urging the federal government to intervene as the automaker looks to sell its idled Brampton, Ont., assembly plant to Canadian armoured ⁠vehicle maker Roshel. In a letter to Industry Minister Mélanie Joly on Wednesday, Unifor national president Lana Payne warned that if Stellantis is successful in selling the facility, the company will have “abandoned” vehicle production at the plant. That would leave more than 2,000 employees out of work and affect suppliers employing thousands nearby, she said. “There is no comparable economic replacement for this work. Canada’s economy will be worse-off as a result,” Payne wrote. “It is incumbent on the federal government to do everything possible to prevent this outcome.” Latest updates on company news here Last Friday, Stellantis said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Roshel on a potential sale of the Brampton facility. The future of the plant has been a central issue in collective bargaining negotiations between Unifor and Stellantis, which kicked off earlier this month. The Stellantis vehicle assembly plant is shown in Brampton, Ont., on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette But the union said Friday, which it had set as its internal deadline to reach a new tentative deal, that the two sides were at an impasse. The current collective agreement is set to expire Sept. 20 at 11:59 p.m. Workers at the Brampton plant were laid off when the company halted operations there in 2023. Last month, the union said it received notice that Stellantis was considering the closure and sale of the plant. The facility had been slated to be retooled for Jeep production, a process that began early in 2024, before the company paused the plan in early 2025. It later announced it was moving production of the Jeep Compass to the U.S., in what the union has called a violation of its current collective agreement, leaving the plant idled indefinitely. In her letter to the federal minister, Payne pointed out that when Stellantis relocated Jeep Compass production, it publicly committed to plans for the Brampton plant that would be subject to discussions with the Canadian government. Latest economic news on BNNBloomberg.ca She asked Joly to clarify what role Ottawa might’ve played in discussions around the site’s potential sale, and whether the MOU could have breached conditions of the commitment the automaker made to the…