‘This is an actual attack on our economy’: union leader at Brampton Stellantis plant says anxiety over shutdown mounting after Trump threats

Over its nearly 40 years of operations, Brampton’s auto assembly plant, currently run by car manufacturing conglomerate Stellantis, has weathered many crises and undergone several transitions. Through them all, approximately 3,000 employees have adapted and managed to stay on the job over the generations. 

Something feels different this time after Stellantis last month announced an eight-week pause to its ongoing transition at the Brampton Assembly, part of a $1.3 billion plan to enable the sprawling industrial operation to begin manufacturing the next generation Jeep Compass. Workers involved in the transition effort were given just 24-hours notice that the transformation would be stopping. 

"It was an abrupt decision,” Vito Beato, the president of Unifor Local 1285 that represents workers at the plant, told The Pointer. "In our discussions, we let them know that we needed more time, and we need income protection for our members and information on the Brampton Assembly plant sooner or later, and this decision can't be made so abruptly, and that it's not fair to our members.”

The move came days before the tariffs on auto imports threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump were meant to come into effect on March 4. The application of the 25 percent tariffs were then delayed for 30 days. The trade implications of these tariffs, along with clear indications from Trump that he will slow the ongoing transition to electric vehicles in favour of traditional gas-powered models, has many concerned Stellantis could be reconsidering its future in the EV marketplace.

"Unifor and Unifor Local 1285 are very concerned with these tariffs that the Trump administration is implementing or trying to implement," Beato told The Pointer. "We have a 30-day pause right now, which is not a good thing. This gives the company time to move stuff and make arrangements for these tariffs. So it's very concerning to us. This is an actual attack on our economy. It's an attack on our auto industry. And we will do whatever it takes to protect our industry."

Efforts to transition the Brampton Assembly to manufacture the next generation Jeep Compass have been paused for eight weeks.

(Stellantis) 

Stellantis did not respond to repeated requests for comment. In statements given to other media, officials with the company have said the pause was "to reassess its product strategy in North America to ensure it is offering customers a range of vehicles with flexible powertrain options to best meet their needs."

According to Beato, the company has stated the start of production for the Jeep Compass—planned for later this year—is still on track. He is doubtful. 

“When you look at this eight-week pause and you look at Stellantis removing all the skilled trades from the plant and leaving just a small number of people in there, a small number of our members, it's concerning to us,” he said. He also noted that if the real issue was to reassess powertrain options, that does not explain why other transition work inside the assembly could not continue in order to keep the retooling timeline somewhat on track. 

“We can still be doing work in other facilities of the plant, like the body shop, stamping, or paint shop, and have our skilled trades do a lot of that work if the pause is just on powertrain issues and decisions on powertrain where we can still be doing a lot of work, so we are concerned in that regard."

Beato’s doubts about the timeline are well-founded. As reported by Reuters, a Stellantis spokesperson confirmed that the start of production in Brampton has been pushed to the first quarter of 2026.

Unifor Local 1285 President Vito Beato says anxiety is running high among workers at the Brampton Assembly after a pause in the EV transition work by Stellantis.

(Muhammad Hamza/The Pointer)

In a press release on February 20, Unifor National President Lana Payne called the decision to stop retooling plans in Brampton from moving forward a “matter of grave concern.”

“The company has reassured the union that vehicle production plans are still in place for Brampton, although the timing of this announcement raises very serious concerns for Unifor members both in the plant doing the retooling work and those on layoff (since the previously manufactured Chrysler and Dodge models stopped production),” Payne stated. Production of the Chrysler and Dodge models ended in 2023. 

Adding further confusion about the pause for workers, Beato says the transition underway inside the plant, while a bit slower than previous changes, has been progressing well.

“I've been a member of that Brampton assembly plant, hired in 1992, and we've been through a few launches in that time; they were much quicker than this retool," he described. "We're not used to a 24-month retool, but we understand the EV transition that we're in is completely different than just changing a model type or an engine type like we did before."

He emphasized that anxiety is running high among workers, suppliers, and the broader community as the uncertainty at the Brampton Assembly plant impacts thousands of families.

"As a president of Local 1285, I hear my members. I'm in the same boat as them," he said. "I am a member of that plant. So we all have a vested interest in that Brampton assembly plant. The community is part of that Brampton assembly plant. Workers that are outside that Brampton assembly plant that feed that plant, the supplier base, 1,000 members of the supplier base that feed that plant, who are also part of the EV transition…it's affecting the families in the community, because we're all, you know, in undecided, uncharted territory.”

Despite the pause, Stellantis remains contractually obligated to the Jeep Compass production program under its 2023 collective agreement between Unifor and Stellantis, backed by the Canadian and Ontario governments, both of which committed $132 million to the transition effort. Once complete, the Brampton Assembly is expected to return to a full capacity, three-shift operation.

Email: [email protected]

At a time when vital public information is needed by everyone, The Pointer has taken down our paywall on all stories to ensure every resident of Brampton, Mississauga and Niagara has access to the facts. For those who are able, we encourage you to consider a subscription. This will help us report on important public interest issues the community needs to know about now more than ever. You can register for a 30-day free trial HERE. Thereafter, The Pointer will charge $10 a month and you can cancel any time right on the website. Thank you