Concern and optimism in Windsor as American autoworkers' strike escalates

The latest escalation of the American autoworkers’ strike is cause for concern for industry watchers in Windsor-Essex — but there is also a quiet sense of optimism a deal may be closer than it appears.

On Monday, the chairperson of Ford Motor Co., Bill Ford, called for a deal to be reached to end the month-long pickets targeting select operations of the Detroit Big Three automakers.

“They need to get a deal because the impact could be long and deep depending on how long these supply chains get strained,” said Jonathon Azzopardi, the president and CEO of Laval International based in Tecumseh.

The company is a member of the Canadian Association of Moldmakers (CAMM) and one of several in the region watching the developments across the border.

According to Azzopardi, several peer companies have already taken action to reduce staff hours, moving to a four-day workweek in some cases, and pushing employees to take vacation days early to offset the lack of work caused by the strike’s disruption.

“We’re seeing it for sure in the Tier 1s and it’s going to make its way down to our level in the Tier 2s and the Tier 3s,” said Azzopardi. “These are kind of harmless decisions they’re making, but they’re definitely pointing to some caution.”

Last week, about 8,700 members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union walked out at the largest and most profitable Ford plant in the world — the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville.

According to Brendan Sweeney, a managing director with the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing, there are upwards of $300 million in parts sent from Ontario to that one plant annually. 

“A lot of those originate from kind of deep southwestern Ontario,” said Sweeney. “From the Windsor area, parts south, Chatham. That plant going down will have a material impact.”

Ford said the strike at the Kentucky plant is harming tens of thousands of Americans who work for parts suppliers and Ford dealers.

And further escalation could spell more pain.

“If, for example, somewhere like Toledo goes down, you will see an escalating impact or effect on automotive parts manufacturing in Canada,” said Sweeney.

A key concern for Azzopardi is the fragile supply chain that links plants across southwestern Ontario to assembly operations in the U.S.

Azzopardi says parts inventory has dropped from a safety net of months’ worth of supply to weeks and in some cases – days.

“We already have a supply chain that’s already under a tremendous amount of stress. It never fully recovered from the [pandemic],” said Azzopardi. “We need to be seriously thinking about the decisions they’re going to make because we want to make sure those supply chains stay strong and healthy.”

CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM

There are about 34,000 UAW members on strike at several plants across the U.S. while Ford blames those strikes for furloughing nearly 2,500 workers.

Meantime, it appears positions are only becoming more entrenched as Shawn Fain, the UAW president, threatens further strikes to back contract demands while none of Ford, General Motors or Stellantis have met the wage and other improvements set out by the union.

Despite the public posturing, there is optimism among those watching the labour strife.

“I think they’re going to sort the strike out in the next couple of weeks,” said Sweeney.

For those companies that supply and rely upon the auto sector, it is a prediction many will hope can come true in short order.

“There’s been some talk that a few of these successes in the contract talks have maybe created some optimism,” said Azzopardi. “But, there’s definitely a lot of concern because we see a lot of the projects that we would typically be working on or projects that should be moving forward are on hold.”

But, how much damage has been done by the failure to secure a deal, as labour action moves into its second month?

“Will it come back up?” asks Sweeney. “The demand is still going to be there. Just because [the plant] went down, doesn’t mean people don’t want F-150s.”