‘Disrespectful and disgusting’: Brampton autoworkers stunned after Stellantis robocall informs them of work shift to U.S.

Brampton auto workers have been rolling cars off the line at the assembly plant in Bramalea for close to 40 years. 

While the ownership has changed—from the American Motors Corporation, to Chrysler, to DaimlerChrysler to Stellantis, which took over in 2021— what hasn’t changed is the work men and women have performed, producing some of the most popular vehicles in North America. Their labour has generated billions of dollars in revenue for Stellantis.

Many now feel completely ignored. 

On Tuesday evening Stellantis informed thousands of its employees, through a robocall, that production was shifting out of Brampton—putting their jobs at risk. 

"The company told us (Tuesday), right before 5 p.m., before their media announcement about a $13 billion investment in the U.S. and our Jeep Compass going to Illinois,” Vito Beato, the president of Unifor Local 1285, which represents more than 3,000 workers at the Stellantis Brampton Assembly, told The Pointer. “Our members received a robocall from the plant manager…very impersonal, the first time that the company has communicated with our members (since February), so very disrespectful and disgusting behaviour by the company."

Since that call, Beato says his colleagues have been racked with fear and anxiety, unsure how they will support themselves and their families if they are out of work. 

"We had no time to process this," he said. "Over 3,000 members of the Brampton assembly plant, over 1,000 members in the parts supplier base, and over 10,000 members in the Brampton community…Don't know if we're going to have a job or not.”

The Netherlands-based car-making conglomerate, which includes Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and other global auto brands, announced in a press release Tuesday that it will invest $13 billion to expand production in the United States by 50 percent, with plans to launch five new vehicles and 19 new products over the next four years. The company claims this will create 5,000 new employment opportunities at plants in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.

The Pointer contacted the Stellantis communication team. Manufacturing has been paused at the assembly since 2023 as the company worked to retool the facility to build the next generation, electric Jeep Compass—which has now been moved to Illinois. Company officials have not responded. About 3,200 workers were employed when the overhaul to create platforms for electric vehicle production was first announced.

In a public statement Wednesday, Stellantis officials claimed, “Canada is very important to us. We have plans for Brampton and will share them upon further discussions with the Canadian government."

For more than half a decade the future of the Brampton Assembly has been uncertain: 

• March 2019: Fiat Chrysler eliminated a shift at the Windsor plant after its U.S. sales dropped 32 percent (February 2019 compared to February 2018), while Canadian sales dropped 55 percent compared to the same period, which affected 1,500 jobs in Windsor. Around that time, the company also announced the temporary closure of the Brampton Assembly plant that was producing the Dodge Charger and Challenger at its massive facility on Williams Parkway. 

• February 2020: Former prime minister Justin Trudeau visited the Brampton plant to reassure the affected workers of the federal government’s commitment to Brampton’s autosector.

• May 2021: With a new parent company after Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and PSA group merged to form Stellantis, more turmoil was feared, as reported by The Pointer.

• March 2022: Stellantis stayed silent on the plant’s future after production of the Charger and Challenger stopped. The city rallied to keep the plant open.

• November 2023: In a new agreement ratified between Unifor and Stellantis, the automaker committed to invest $3.6 billion for the transition of Canadian plants to electric vehicle production. 

• December 2024: The company sold 32 acres of land at the site located at 2000 Williams Parkway.

• February 2025: Stellantis Brampton announced a pause for eight weeks to retool for the electric production platforms, impacting more than 3,000 workers.

• July 2025: The company shared its financial results and revealed that during the first half of the year Stellantis saw a 14 percent drop in its revenue, while what was supposed to be an eight week closure in Brampton dragged into its sixth month.

Work on the retooling effort was paused in February following the introduction of 25 percent tariffs on Canadian-made cars by President Donald Trump. The initial eight-week work stoppage eventually extended to more than eight months, with no signal to Brampton workers of when they would return.

Fears of a permanent departure mounted last year when the company sold 32 acres of the Brampton property at 2000 Williams Parkway, claiming the move was to streamline its operations and monetize its real estate portfolio. 

Then, earlier this year, Doug Ostermann, Chief Financial Officer of Stellantis, revealed during a conference call with analysts that the company would need to “recalibrate its North American investments” after seeing revenue drop by 14 percent in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2024; the loss directly tied to trade related uncertainty.

In July, workers were given hope when a Stellantis press release noted Jeep Compass production was still slated to begin in the second half of 2025. 

This was followed by months of silence about Brampton’s future, triggering action from Unifor last weekend. A rally hosted outside the Brampton Assembly drew hundreds of workers, Unifor National President Lana Payne and Premier Doug Ford. 

Coverage of Brampton’s Uncertain Autosector Future

Will Fiat Chrysler’s Windsor shift closure and temporary Brampton shut-down lead to more bad news?

With a new owner Brampton’s Fiat Chrysler plant faces an uncertain future

Stellantis maintains silence around future in Brampton; City rallies for support

Unifor members vote to ratify new agreement with Stellantis, protecting Brampton auto workers during EV transition

Brampton Stellantis plant remains shuttered amid mounting fears of shift to US

Will Carney’s latest visit with Trump help end Stellantis shutdown of Brampton auto plant?

“Canadian auto jobs are being sacrificed on the Trump altar,” Payne said following the Stellantis announcement Tuesday. “We need the federal government to use Canada’s leverage now to fight for our auto jobs. Stellantis cannot be allowed to renege on its commitments to Canadian workers, and governments cannot stand by while our jobs are shifted to the United States."

Wednesday evening, following the calls from Payne and Beato for the federal and provincial governments to “take immediate action to protect Brampton and our entire auto industry”, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly wrote to Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa demanding the company “respect its obligations flowing from the billions of dollars of financial support extended to you over decades”. 

“Stellantis agreed with the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario to maintain its full Canadian footprint, including Brampton, in exchange for substantial financial support. Anything short of fulfilling that commitment will be considered as default under our agreement,” Joly’s letter warned, describing these commitments as “legally binding”. “The business decision to move the mandate of the Jeep Compass is unacceptable. It jeopardizes the future of Brampton and its unionized workforce. It is critical that you quickly identify new mandates for Brampton that ensure the facility remains central to your manufacturing footprint, and that contracts with Canadian suppliers be honoured.” 

Vito Beato, the president of Unifor Local 1285, called Stellantis's handling of the Brampton announcement “disrespectful and disgusting.”

(Unifor Local 1285)

In May 2022, the federal and provincial governments committed $513 million each to support the company’s Windsor and Brampton retooling projects. 

At a media conference in Kenora on Wednesday, Premier Ford reiterated that the provincial funding remains conditional on Stellantis following through on its commitment, as outlined in its 2023 collective agreement with Unifor. 

"I am not going to give them a penny because it was tied to making sure Windsor and Brampton keep going, and we haven't given them a penny for Brampton yet," the Premier said.

Ford also took aim at Trump, urging the federal government to impose a counter-tariff.

"My message to the Prime Minister when I meet him on Thursday is, if you can't get a deal, let's start hitting him back. Let's start hitting the US back hard," he said.

Prime Minister Mark Carney indicated Thursday that he is reluctant to take such action, citing ongoing negotiations with Trump. 

While Premier Ford vowed to take direct action against the U.S. and urged Ottawa to do the same, Carney, after meeting the Premier, struck a softer diplomatic tone during a Thursday presser in Toronto, saying Canada needs to pursue more constructive negotiations with the U.S. to support various sectors.

"Currently, we are engaged in intensive negotiations with the Americans on several sectors of the Canadian economy, including energy, aluminum, and steel," he said.

"While the steel sector spans across Canada, most of it is based in Ontario, and we aim to make progress in these negotiations."

Carney was asked if the 2023 agreement with Stellantis prevents the automaker from simply walking away. He said the contract includes binding conditions and Stellantis would face consequences if it does not follow through on the commitments for both plants.

"So there is exposure of the company if they were not to follow through with those commitments for Brampton, restarting Brampton, and the employment in Brampton related to their Windsor activities," he said.

"I reminded the global CEO of those undertakings and that partnership that's been there."

He expressed “disappointment” over the company’s decision to shift electric Jeep Compass production to the U.S. and said the global head of Stellantis told him the automaker is looking for a new model to fill the idled Brampton facility, which will take some time.

"I received assurances from the global CEO of two things: one, that they're looking at a different model being produced in Brampton," he told the reporters. "That decision would be taken in the context of the finalization of the USMCA, or to use the American term, CUSMA, or to use our term, negotiations; and as well, that support would be provided for workers. We're working with them. We're working with Unifor, working with the province, to ensure that those workers in Brampton have more than just the opportunity, and they do have the opportunity to move to the additional shift that is being put on at Stellantis's other facility (in Windsor)."

The possibility to transfer 1,500 workers from Brampton to the Windsor plant by adding a third shift, which Ford also referred to on Tuesday, was brought up with Beato. He expressed frustration, saying this is not the answer.  

"The answer to the Brampton assembly plant is the commitment that they made with the Compass or the vehicle assembly manufacturing, not transfers," he said. Beato said there is only one solution, to honour the contract that Stellantis signed, committing to electric vehicle production in Brampton.

In a letter written by Industry Minister Mélanie Joly to Antonio Filosa, CEO of Stellantis, she stressed that the government would protect the interests of Canadians.

"Stellantis has made important commitments to Canada and to its workforce. Canadians expect that Stellantis will respect and honour these commitments," she wrote.

"Anything short of this is unacceptable. Should Stellantis choose not to respect its obligations, we will act in the interests of all Canadians and hold the company to full account and exercise all options, including legal."

Beato, like Ford, wants Carney to be more aggressive.

"I see Carney's stance as absolutely soft," he said.

"I love Mélanie Joly's statement. That's strong and aggressive because we have to hold them to task here, to their commitments, to the plant, and Mr. Carney should be doing the same thing. And if there are discussions about Brampton, we should be involved in them."
 

 At a press conference in Kenora on Wednesday, Premier Doug Ford said no provincial funding has been given to Stellantis, and it will only flow if the company upholds its commitments to the Brampton plant.

(Government of Ontario)

According to Ford, in a conversation with a senior Stellantis official, he was informed nothing would happen with the Brampton Assembly for at least another year.

"I had a conversation with the president of Stellantis yesterday. He said, ‘well, we're going to postpone it for a year. We're going to find a new model,'" Ford said. “I don't understand. They're investing $13 billion in the U.S.. We're an auto manufacturing powerhouse here."

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