Automotive News Canada - July 2022 - 3

* JULY 2022
3
SECOND FRONT
Util Canada in Vaughan was one of several Ontario
supplier plants where workers went on strike for
higher wages to partly make up for the impact of
inflation. PHOTO: UNIFOR.
'This plant will supply
materials for a million
electric vehicles a year'
Like prices, workers'
wage desires also rise
Recent strikes were a reaction
to increased costs for food,
fuel and other necessities,
says union leader
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
HIGH INFLATION WAS A FACTOR IN
a handful of strikes in Ontario's auto parts sector
this spring and could prompt further contract
disputes across the
industry. Unifor, which represents
thousands of workers
at Canadian suppliers, also
said more plants are likely to
unionize as employees seek
higher wages to offset increases
in living expenses.
Recent strikes at THK
Rhythm Automotive in
Tillsonburg, Pilkington Glass
in Whitby and Util Canada in
Vaughan were a reaction to
rising costs for food, fuel and
other necessities, said Shane
Wark, who leads the automotive
file at the union as assistant
to the national president.
" [With high inflation], workers
are, in my mind, rightfully
demanding higher wages,
Wark: Both
union and
nonunion
workers are
going to
" demand
more in terms
of wages,
and that may
lead to more
disputes. "
FILE PHOTO
and their expectations have gone up as a result, "
Wark said.
Compared with May 2021, consumer prices
were up 7.7 per cent. It's the largest year-overyear
increase since 1983, according to Statistics
Canada.
As long as inflation stays high, Wark said,
both union and nonunion workers are going to
" demand more in terms of wages, and that may
lead to more disputes. "
CAN'T KEEP UP WITH COSTS
So far, Wark said, Unifor negotiators have
typically come away from the bargaining table
with deals that please union members. But
securing concessions from employers that match
worker expectations has not been easy, he said.
" It's really tough trying to meet the inflation
target with the wage demands, but we're doing
the best we can. "
In some instances, Wark said, union leadership
has taken workers out on strike to get a
fairer deal. In other instances, members have
turned down initial agreements, leaving the
union to initiate a strike to try to improve the
next settlement.
Employers recognize that " they're going to
have to offer higher wages than they otherwise
would in a low-inflation environment, " Wark
said, but suppliers remain " very resistant " to
raising pay.
In this environment, he said, collective bargaining
pays dividends for workers. " I don't see
many nonunion auto parts companies just handing
over large wage increases, " Wark said.
Although Unifor has about 120 bargaining
units in the auto parts sector, unionized workSEE
VOLPE PAGE 36
TRANS-CANADA NEWS 5,000 KILOMETRES OF STORIES
The hydrogen fuel cell system
integrated into a Ram 2500
chassis on display in May.
PHOTO: BALLARD POWER SYSTEMS
Linamar, Ballard unveil fuel
cell-powered pickup chassis
BALLARD POWER SYSTEMS
of Vancouver and parts supplier
Linamar have begun testing a hydrogen
fuel cell-powered pickup chassis
as part of a joint effort to bring
light-duty hydrogen vehicles to market.
The two companies showed off
the concept pickup platform, built
atop a Ram 2500 chassis, at the
Advanced Clean Transportation
Expo in Anaheim, Calif., in May.
The Canadian companies, which
partnered on fuel cells last year, said
testing on the new platform will continue
through 2023.
Linamar is developing the
concept under its sub-brand,
eLIN, to provide comparable
capabilities and payloads to
Class 1 and 2 diesel vehicles.
CEO Linda Hasenfratz said the
early progress on commercializing
fuel cells for smaller vehicles
has been " transformative. "
" This demonstration concept
will make the evolution
from battery-electric vehicles
to fuel cell electric vehicles
seamless and drive real change
in terms of environmental sustainability. "
- Steve Mertl
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
BELGIAN MATERIALStechnology
company Umicore committed
July 13 to spending about $1.5
billion to build an integrated manufacturing
plant for cathode and
precursor battery materials near
Kingston, Ont.
The investment will add another
link to Canada's electric vehicle
battery supply chain and catapult
Eastern Ontario into a sector long
dominated by automotive nerve centres
in the southwestern part of the
province and nearby U.S. states.
On hand for the announcement
at Queen's University in Kingston,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said
the Umicore investment is " another
major step forward " in making
Canada a global leader in EV production.
" This
plant will supply materials
for a million electric vehicles a year.
Canada is not just going to be a global
player in EVs, with this and other
announcements that we've made, we
demonstrate that we get to be global
leaders in electric vehicles, " he said
at a press conference.
The plant in nearby Loyalist
Township will cover two of the key
steps required to prepare metals for
use in lithium-ion battery cells. It will
blend inputs such as lithium, nickel,
cobalt and manganese into precursor
cathode active materials (PCAM),
before converting the precursor to
battery-ready cathode active materials
(CAM).
THE FIRST OF ITS KIND
The company claims the planned
facility is the first of its kind in North
America to combine the PCAM and
CAM processes on an industrial
scale. Umicore has also committed to
03
07.22
$1.5B battery
materials plant
planned for Ontario
Vic Fedeli, Ontario's minister of
economic development: " When you
think of that whole supply chain
from critical minerals right through
to the finished vehicle coming off an
assembly line, this is like dropping
the final piece of the puzzle right in. "
PHOTO: ONTARIO MINISTRY OF
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,
JOB CREATION AND TRADE
running the sprawling plant solely
on renewable energy. Details on how
it will draw solely renewable power
from Ontario's predominantly clean
electricity grid were not immediately
available.
Construction at the 350-acre
(140-hectare) site in Loyalist - located
on the Highway 401 corridor west
of Kingston and roughly midway
between Toronto and Montreal -
is scheduled to start next year. The
plant is expected to create 1,000 jobs
during construction and " several
hundred " once it reaches operations.
Once ramped up to full capacity,
the plant will be capable of producing
CAM for up to one million EV batteries
per year.
CAM is used for a battery's positive
electrode, which typically
accounts for about half of an EV battery
cell's cost. A cathode is combined
with a negative anode, separator
and electrolyte to form a complete
battery cell. Cells are then grouped
into modules and packs, and a typical
EV battery consists of thousands of
individual cells.
Umicore CEO Mathias Miedreich
said putting down roots in Canada
SEE FEDS PAGE 36
Community focus marks
dealership's 100 years
THE AUCTION OF A
Cadillac Escalade, with proceeds
going to local hospitals,
is among several events
Toronto-area dealership
Ontario Motor Sales is hosting
to mark its upcoming centennial.
The
Chevrolet-Cadillac
dealership began in 1923
when J.N. Wilson bought
an Oshawa-based cutter and
sleigh business and began selling
cars. Four generations
and nearly a century later, the
Wilson family still guides the
dealership.
Employees were hosted in
Ontario Motor Sales
staff tour the Canadian
Automotive Museum in
Oshawa, which sits on
the dealership's original
grounds.
PHOTO: ONTARIO MOTOR SALES
May at a reception and tour
of the Canadian Automotive
Museum, which occupies
the site of the original cutSEE
TRANS-CANADA PAGE 35
Automotive News Canada - July 2022

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