In a Facebook Live announcement Tuesday morning, Unifor's 17,000 members at the Detroit Big 3 found out their union will target Ford first in contract talks.
Dressed in a Black Lives Matter t-shirt, National President Jerry Dias announced the target in Toronto.
Preliminary talks between Unifor, General Motors, Ford, and Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles started last month in Toronto.
The announcement signifies Unifor believes it can reach an agreement with Ford, which will serve as a pattern for talks with the other two automakers.
The union is looking for job security for its members, and new product commitments for the plants they work in, but that is not all.
"We understand that the global preoccupation is with ending racial discrimination in all of its forms," said Dias. "And, that's why -- we will spend a lot of time talking to them about our workplaces. We understand ending racial discrimination is not just on the backs of governments or individuals, but it also has to be the priority of corporations and the global labour movement."
March 21 is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Dias said his team will be talking with employers about workplace actions.
Despite the role the auto industry plays in the health of the overall Canadian economy, Dias said there have been only sporadic investments over the past 15 years. He told supporters Canada is falling behind.
"Back in 1999, Canada was number four in the world in manufacturing vehicles. We built over three million. In 2019, we built 1.9 million, and this year we will be building much less," he said. "We went from number four in the world to number 12."
He called again for a national auto strategy with a specific focus on electric vehicles.
"What is of dire concern to us is that to date over $300 billion has been announced in global electric vehicle technology production announcements," he argued. "So far, not one penny has been committed here in Canada."
Already, Unifor has a strong strike mandate from its members. At the end of August, unionized workers at Fiat-Chrysler gave their bargaining team a strike mandate of 98.4 per cent. At Ford, it was 96.4 per cent, and 95.3 per cent at General Motors.
The strike deadline is set for midnight September 21, and if there is no agreement by then, the workers will walk off the job to support their bargaining team.
