Stellantis repeats commitment to reopening Brampton plant, then lays off 20 staff

The shuttered Stellantis auto assembly in Brampton has been hit with waves of bad news for more than a year, impacting one of the largest employers in the city and thousands of families who rely, directly and indirectly, on the productivity of the giant plant.

According to Vito Beato, president of Unifor Local 1285, which represents about 3,000 workers who have built cars in Brampton for decades, a recent meeting with Trevor Longley, president of Stellantis Canada, on February 12 was positive. Longley is currently working with a team to ensure production resumes in Brampton with a yet-to-be determined model of cars that will roll off the line. 

“He even went as far in the meeting as saying ‘if we were going to close Brampton we would have closed it already’,” Beato said in an update posted to the local union’s Facebook page. “We will take the positivity, but it’s just words, is what they were, he’s saying all the right things, (but) we need some meat and potatoes, we need some results.” 

Members of Unifor’s local in Brampton, who have been sidelined from work at the Stellantis plant for more than a year, meet to discuss their uncertain future.

(Unifor Local 1285)

Beato says the union still wants Stellantis to reverse its decision to move production of the next generation Jeep Compass out of Brampton to a plant in the United States. Unifor wants to see that reversal done before September, when bargaining for a new contract begins. 

“That’s our goal, that’s our objective,” Beato said in the video post.

On March 6, Stellantis announced its latest bad news for the local facility that stretches along Williams Parkway: approximately 20 non-unionized, salaried employees at the idled Brampton plant will be laid off for the next 55 weeks. The employees, who are not part of Unifor, will join their unionized counterparts who have been off work since last February when Stellantis announced it would be pausing its retooling effort in Brampton, where electric, hybrid and traditional Jeep Compass vehicles were supposed to be built, before that entire plan was shifted south of the border under tariff threats by the White House. 

While addressing union members, Beato said the president of Stellantis indicated the company could potentially take advantage of “some pieces” of the Mark Carney federal government’s new auto strategy in order to get Brampton operational again. 

Beato explained the union is seeking more details about Ottawa’s new policy and how it could benefit the Brampton plant. Lana Payne, Unifor’s national president, and Angela DeCaro, a research director at Unifor, will be part of the Auto Task Force the federal Liberals announced and will explore options alongside company officials and the federal government.

The Liberals announced the new auto group on January 26, in partnership with the Ontario government. It aims to protect Canadian auto sector jobs and will look at the future of car manufacturing, investments, employment and electrification. 

“We are not going to let them off the hook," Beato said during a town hall hosted by Unifor Local 1285 on February 19, He was joined by hundreds of union members pushing for Stellantis to reverse its decision and resume operations at the shuttered Brampton plant.

Stellantis Brampton Assembly Plant Chairperson Ardis Snow also attended the town hall and addressed the impact the shutdown has had on Brampton workers and their families.

“This has been the absolute toughest time we've ever gone through in Brampton. Our members are struggling, and we know that our members want and deserve to get back to work.”

Stellantis Brampton Assembly Plant Chairperson Ardis Snow spoke at the town hall organized by Unifor Local 1285 in February.

(Unifor)

The facility employed more than 3,000 workers before the company announced it would shut down operations temporarily in February 2025, for what was supposed to be two months, in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. 

Stellantis officials told impacted workers the “operational pause” would last only eight weeks. This stretched to eight months, until October, when the company announced plans to shift its investment in the new Jeep Compass from Brampton to Illinois, moving the retooling effort south of the border; news that sent shockwaves through the entire Canadian auto sector.

The workers at the Brampton facility, who were informed by the company through a robocall, called the announcement "disrespectful and disgusting.” Since then, the union has led efforts to pressure Stellantis to uphold its commitments under a federal funding agreement, and resume operations.

In October, Unifor held a "Protect Canadian Jobs” rally outside the idled facility, demanding a concrete timeline from the automaker to decide on a new product strategy for the plant.

Members of Unifor Local 1285 gathered outside the Stellantis Brampton Assembly Plant in October, demanding answers from the automaker as the facility remained closed eight months after retooling was paused.

(Unifor Local 1285)

Laid-off Stellantis employees who spoke with The Pointer during the rally shared how the upheaval has left them financially strained, some on the brink of losing their homes.

Some were close to retirement and accused the company of not being transparent with workers.

Beato, while addressing the union members in a Facebook post last month, informed them about the upcoming follow-up meeting with senior Stellantis executives in charge of product allocation, with a focus on what the automaker claimed are “big plans” for Brampton.

On February 25, the City of Brampton unanimously passed a motion to designate the land where the Stellantis facility is located at 2000 Williams Parkway, only for automotive assembly production and related auto manufacturing.

The largely symbolic move by Council was welcomed by Unifor officials.

“Our members in Brampton have demanded that all levels of government take action to protect the future of their plant and their jobs, and we are pleased to see this concrete action by the city,” Payne said. "Permanently designating Canada’s existing auto footprint for vehicle manufacturing only is smart industrial policy.”

“Brampton’s autoworkers built this city for generations. By protecting this land, we’re protecting Canada’s industrial capacity and ensuring that Brampton will always build cars now and in the future,” Beato said. 

The lack of clarity around statements by the company officials regarding its future in Brampton is not surprising for impacted workers who previously accused Stellantis executives of engaging in “double talk" when it added a third shift at the Windsor plant and announced plans to transfer Brampton workers to that facility in November.

“They are talking about these transfers to Windsor. They’re talking about protecting our members and big plans for Brampton. I believe it’s all a smoke show,” Beato warned at the time.

“They are talking out of both sides of their mouths."

Stellantis announced in December the transfer of 240 Brampton employees to the Windsor Assembly Plant, where they are assigned to new roles. The company said the remaining Brampton hourly employees still at home would receive 70 percent of their salary and health benefits.

Beato called the decision nothing more than a distraction that will do nothing to protect Brampton workers.

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