Toronto – OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas is joining Unifor in calling for a boycott of Mexican-made General Motors products, standing in solidarity with Ontario workers who will lose their jobs under GM’s senseless plan to close its Oshawa plant at the end of the year.
“GM’s greed will throw thousands of Ontario employees out of work and hurt our economy,” said Thomas. “They’re shipping good Ontario jobs to Mexico in the name of bigger profits and we can’t let them get away with it. We tried to talk, now it’s time to act. GM is giving us no choice. We have to hit them where it hurts – their bottom line.”
Canada’s share of auto production jobs has declined significantly over the past decade, but has spiked in Mexico, where companies like GM exploit cheap labour.
While a recent poll by Ekos Research and released by Unifor shows that 45 per cent of Canadians support an outright boycott of GM, both unions want to target only Mexican-made vehicles, said First Vice-President/Treasurer Eduardo (Eddy) Almeida.
Any automobile with a vehicle identification number (VIN) that begins with a “3” is made in Mexico, he noted.
“We need to support made-in-Canada products,” Almeida said. “This boycott will send a strong message to GM: we’re not going to let you send those jobs to Mexico without a fight. Just tell them: if the VIN starts with a 3, it’s not for me.”
For more information: Warren (Smokey) Thomas, 613-329-1931