‘This is an attack on autoworkers’: Automotive sector rallying to battle Trump tariffs

Despite a new 27-day reprieve from U.S. tariffs, 150 union leaders met for an emergency meeting in London Thursday. CTV’s Sean Irvine reports.

The automotive sector is rallying together to battle the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Despite a 27-day reprieve announced Thursday afternoon, union leaders, including the head of Unifor, met for an emergency meeting at a London hotel the very same day.

The meeting took place as a last-minute exemption kept cars and car parts moving - for now.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” said transport driver Harry MacNeil. “Nobody knows. So, we just have to wait and see I guess.”

The meeting in London had 150 union leaders, including some from Ford and Stellantis plants in Ontario, alongside GM CAMI in Ingersoll putting their heads together.

“There’s a lot of anxiety, a lot of phone calls, and a lot of stress on young families,” said Unifor CAMI Plant Chairperson Mike Van Boekel. “Especially when you’re trying to raise kids and everything else and you’re not sure if your paycheque is going to keep rolling or not. So, it’s a difficult time right now.”

It’s the same story for workers at plants throughout the province. After the closed-door meeting, Unifor National President Lana Payne expressed solidarity with Canadian workers.

“We’re all in this together now,” she asserted. “This is an attack on autoworkers and all workers across this country.”

Payne has pledged to mobilize her members should any automotive plant or supplier attempt to move equipment to the United States over tariffs, “Our union will be fighting back against any attempt to appease Trump by taking jobs out of Canada and shipping them to the United States. That will not happen!”

The impracticality of relocating manufacturing jobs to the U.S. was a sticking point for Van Boekel, “We have a good industry here, and we can’t just piecemeal it plant by plant back to the U.S. or back to Mexico even.”

An insistence on relocating manufacturing to the United States has been core to many messages coming out of the White House concerning the auto sector.

“The president has been clear he is coming for our jobs,” said Payne.

In the face of the threat to their livelihoods, Canadian autoworkers seem to be backing the sentiment ‘bring it on,’ with many hunkering down for the long haul, and ready to fight for their jobs north of the border.