Automotive News Canada - September 2022 - 6

6
* SEPTEMBER 2022
New Unifor boss Lana Payne
confronts change, challenge
The former secretarytreasurer
is prepping
for contract talks while
moving on from the
Jerry Dias inquiry
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
LANA PAYNE HAS TAKEN WHAT
she calls a " nonconventional path "
to leading Canada's largest private-sector
union.
The Deer Lake, Nfld., native, who
began her career in labour with
the Fish, Food and Allied Workers
union, defeated two other presidential
candidates at the Unifor constitutional
convention Aug. 10.
Payne, formerly Unifor secretary-treasurer,
will lead the union
out of a tumultuous period following
former President Jerry Dias' abrupt
departure in March amid allegations
of accepting a kickback from a supplier
of COVID-19 test kits.
Among other priorities, Payne
said the union has begun preparing
for next year's bargaining talks with
the Detroit Three.
As the first woman to lead the
union representing autoworkers
in Canada, Payne said her election
reflects " the changing world that
we're in. "
" We're certainly seeing women
taking on leadership roles everywhere.
And our workplaces are
changing, not just in the auto sector
but throughout the industrial sectors
in Canada, and I think it's about
time. "
Unifor represents about 315,000
workers across Canada, including
41,000 at auto assembly plants and
parts suppliers.
Payne, 57, recently discussed
her plans for Unifor with both
Automotive News Canada and sibling
publication Automotive News.
GIVEN THE SHIFTING AUTO SUPPLY
CHAINS, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR
ORGANIZING PLANTS AFFILIATED
WITH THE DETROIT THREE?
We are Canada's auto union. We
represent more than 40,000 workers
in the sector, whether it's in
assembly plants or auto parts.
We're well-positioned to be able to
represent working people in battery
plants and cathode
plants. We have
the expertise, and obviously
we would be in a
well-positioned place to
be able to attract workers
to our union from those facilities;
but also having conversations with
employers around making sure that
that happens, too, whether it's recognition
agreements or whatever the
case may be.
IS THE BID TO ORGANIZE NEW
PLANTS BENEFITING FROM THE
MOMENTUM ORGANIZED LABOUR
SEEMS TO HAVE THESE DAYS
IN THE ECONOMY?
For sure. We're seeing it across
many sectors that there is a new
interest in unions. Coming out of the
pandemic, I think we saw almost a
redefining of the importance of work
being done by front-line workers -
but all workers, really. Now we're in
a high-inflation moment. Workers
need unions to be able to bargain
with employers and make sure that
they're maintaining living standards.
That's true of the auto sector,
too, and we don't see this changing
anytime soon.
Payne: " We're certainly
seeing women taking
on leadership roles
everywhere. And
our workplaces are
changing, not just
in the auto sector
but throughout the
industrial sectors in
Canada, and I think it's
about time. " FILE PHOTO
IS UNIFOR WORKING TO UNIONIZE
EITHER TOYOTA OR HONDA
ASSEMBLY PLANTS IN CANADA?
We continue to have an interest
in those facilities, that's for sure.
We continue to leaflet and to talk
with workers, particularly in the
Toyota plant, and will continue to
do that. Organizing involves just
sticking with it, staying with it,
pushing the envelope as much as
you can [and] looking for windows
of opportunity, which we certainly
have now.
IS UNIFOR'S STRIKE AND DEFENCE
FUND HEALTHY?
[It] is pretty healthy. I think it's
about $145 million right now. ... We
had more disputes in 2021 in Unifor
than in any other year since our
founding in 2013, and that's continued
on into 2022, as this issue of
high inflation and workers trying
to maintain living standards are
spilling over in every single collective-bargaining
table that we have
at the moment. The disputes are
not necessarily long, but they are
sending a signal of the temperature
of the mood of workers.
THE UAW HAS HAD A DEVASTATING
CORRUPTION SCANDAL THAT IS
ONGOING. IS THE JERRY DIAS
INVESTIGATION AT UNIFOR OVER?
ARE THERE ANY OTHER PROBES
ONGOING?
The difference here is you consider
how our union handled this.
We had a complaint, we hired an
outside investigator - a specialist
in these kinds of things - to
give us a report. We brought it to
our national executive board, and
we took a decision, what most people
would say [was] a hard decision
but what we felt was necessary. We
need to be transparent and accountable
to our members, and that's
exactly what we've done. I think
my election is a reflection that our
members appreciated the way that
we handled that. And we're not
done. We have an internal task
force that we're setting up with an
independent chair. That task force
will look at all of our protocols and
policies and procedures.
IS UNIFOR STILL PLANNING
A HEARING INTO DIAS' CONDUCT?
It'll have to be at a national executive
board meeting, and we'll deal
with that with everything else that
we've got on our plate with the
board. ... That'll be a process we go
through over the coming weeks.
NEXT YEAR, BOTH UNIFOR AND THE
UAW WILL BE NEGOTIATING WITH THE
DETROIT THREE. IS THIS A RISKY
STRATEGY?
Every advantage has a risk to it. ...
It means we have to up our game....
It means that we have to have ongoing
dialogue with the UAW. As a
union, we have way more in common
with the workers of the United
States than we do with [the employers
of our members]. So it's important
that we keep the communications
open with our sisters and
brothers with the UAW, and that'll
be our plan going forward. - ANC
- With files from Jamie Butters of
sibling publication Automotive News
TRENDING
STORIES
automotivenews.ca
ONGOING WEB COVERAGE
AUTO SHOW SEASON
The North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Sept. 14-25,
kicked off an auto show season that's as normal as possible after
cancellations in previous years because of COVID-19. However
only five major automakers were scheduled to display this year. Is
it a sign of things to come?
U.S. INFLATION REDUCTION ACT
Now that U.S. President Joe Biden has signed the act into law,
Canada's mining and auto industries could land additional investment
to meet new U.S. electric vehicle content requirements.
MINIVAN PLANT WON'T DOWNSHIFT
STELLANTIS WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD THE
Cassidy
FILE PHOTO
Chrysler and Dodge minivans on two shifts at the
Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario until at least
the end of June 2023. In October 2021, Stellantis
said it would eliminate the second shift in early
spring of 2022, but it has since extended the life
of the shift three times. " We've been continuing
to fight and argue over that second-shift issue, "
Unifor Local 444 President Dave Cassidy said.
MIDRANGE EQUINOX EV THE FIRST TO ARRIVE
THE ELECTRIC VERSION OF THE CHEVROLET EQUINOX
will start at $35,000 plus shipping
and have a claimed
400-kilometre driving range.
Higher-priced trims will offer
up to 480 kilometres, Super
Cruise hands-free driving technology
and a 17.7-inch touch
screen. Chevrolet will begin
selling midlevel versions - the 2LT, 2RS, 3LT and 3RS -
next fall before adding the base $35,000 LT1.
PHOTO: GM CANADA
CAN AN XC60 BE MUSIC TO YOUR EARS?
A CANADIAN YOUTUBER HAS BEEN HIRED BY VOLVO
USA to help sell the XC60 crossover to a younger demographic.
Andrew Huang, a
musician and content
creator from Toronto,
has produced a
video that blends
vehicle sounds -
clicking seat belts,
blinking headlights,
slamming doors and
swiveling mirrors -
into a techno track.
PHOTO: VOLVO
NEW RX: A PRESCRIPTION FOR MORE SALES
AS THE FIFTH-GENERATION LEXUS RX ARRIVES, BRAND
executives are targeting a 20-per-cent increase in Canadian
sales next year. The RX,
assembled at the Toyota
Motor Manufacturing
Canada (TMMC) plant
in Cambridge, Ont., generated
25,907 sales in
2021, making Canada its
fourth-largest global market.
" The reliability of the product sets it apart. It's a bulletproof
product since day one, " said Martin Gilbert, director of the Lexus
Division at Toyota Canada Inc.
PHOTO: LEXUS
TROPHY EDITION DEFENDER LIMITED TO 250
LAND ROVER'S DEFENDER LINEUP CONTINUES TO GROW
with the addition of the 2023 Trophy Edition, a one-year-only limited-production
model. Just 250 vehicles will be available in North
America. The Trophy Edition is based on the Defender 90 and is
outfitted for off-road competition. It's powered by a 395-horsepower
turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder engine. In Canada, pricing
starts at $115,400 plus shipping. - ANC
FOR FULL TEXT FOR THESE STORIES AND MORE
automotivenews.ca
http://www.automotivenews.ca http://www.automotivenews.ca
Automotive News Canada - September 2022

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