Integram seating workers on strike

Workers at Integram are on strike.

In a video posted to social media just after midnight on Wednesday, Unifor Local 444 President Dave Cassidy said they were trying to get a deal but came to an impasse.

Cassidy instructed workers to show up for their shift on the picket line.

Integram seating plant workers on the picket line after voting 99 per cent in favour of strike action in Lakeshore, Ont. on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

In October, the roughly 900 workers at the seating plant in Lakeshore voted 99 per cent in favour of strike action.

At the time, Cassidy said wages, pensions and benefits were the top three issues going into talks.

CTV News reached out to Stellantis to see if there was any concern and in a statement was told, "Stellantis is monitoring the status of negotiations between a supplier in Windsor and Unifor. At this time, there is no impact on production at the Windsor Assembly Plant."

“They’ve been bargaining for the last number of days consistently. We got to the deadline last night and we were still far apart on a lot of the financial issues,” Unifor Local 444 secretary treasurer James Stewart said.

“I think our members’ expectations are high,” Stewart explained. “We've been through a tough period, an inflationary period. We went through a number of years where the company has been resistant on recognizing what workers bring to the table, they make a lot of profit on the backs of the labor.”

He continued, “Everyone knows the financial crisis 2008-2009 and for a long time, we've been giving up things and now it's our time to make some of these things back.”

Integram seating plant workers on the picket line after voting 99 per cent in favour of strike action in Lakeshore, Ont. on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

Stewart told CTV News there’s belief the strike could impact operations at other plants by the end of this week.

“There will be an impact eventually, there’s, I think some of the plants have some stock in the plants but that will run low. If we don't get back to the table if we don't find a way to resolve our impasse, it will affect plants,” he said.

“It's the financial piece. It's all the things related to how they're compensated. There's some workplace issues obviously still not resolved. But it's always when it comes to this, it's the finances.”