City of Toronto siding with labour union: bans GM vehicles from Mexico
After about 100 years of vehicle manufacturing in Oshawa Ontario, General Motors has decided to close its award-winning plant and move any future production to its U.S. and Mexican plants.
The Canadian labour union, Unifor, which has been fighting the decision on behalf of some 2,600 hourly paid workers has a new ally in the form of Canada’s biggest city, Toronto. Union president Jerry Dias says every job at the plant near Toronto is tied to seven others in the city and wider surrounding area.
Oshawa has depended heavily on GM as a major employer for almost 100 years. The plant was also vital to the Allied war effort contributing tens of thousands of armoured vehicles and a variety of trucks like this 1944 Chevrolet 60cwt CMP restored by M Montgomery
Councillors in the city of Toronto are proposing that the city ban the purchase of GM vehicles made in Mexico.
Noting that GM is enjoying record profits and is expanding production in Mexico while closing the Oshawa plant, Councillor Mike Layton proposed last week that the city “evaluate and change its purchasing practices unless General Motors maintains production in Oshawa and at its other Canadian facilities”.
The City of Toronto fleet consists of a variety of some 5,500 vehicles, 372 of which are GM products of which 26 were made in Mexico. The city has 86 GM vehicles on order, but none of the those are made in Mexico. The city is expecting to purchase some 300 more public works vehicles this year to replace older ones.
Chevrolet SUV of the Toronto Police., City councillors hope other municipalities join in a boycott of Mexican-made GM vehicles to send a message about the plant closure in Canada, (wiki commons)
City vehicle purchases are made by public tender, and noting that the motion will not have a major effect, Layton and fellow Councillor Jim Karygiannis along with Toronto Mayor John Tory say the city’s purchasing power is “worth something” and may cause GM and other carmakers to “think twice” about such decisions.
Karygiannis also said he hopes other municipalities join in the boycott so that GM and other manufacturers get a clear message of displeasure from various levels of government and Canadians.
The motion called, “Reviewing vehicle purchasing practices in solidarity with Oshawa”, was debated by Toronto council on Wednesday and adopted without amendments.
Additional information-sources
- BlogTO: Feb 26/19: Toronto considers boycott of GM vehicles
- Radio 1010: L Meyer: Feb 22/19: Ban on Mexican vehicles, but none on the way
- Global News: M Bingley: Feb 22/19: Council may ban GM vehicles (+video)
- Star: S Mojtehedzadeh: Feb 21/19:Toronto seeks boycott of Mexican GM vehicles
- CTV:video report: Nov 26/18: fewer people buy sedans, GM products
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