As contract talks between Unifor and the Detroit Three automakers kicked off Thursday, auto retirees rallied outside the offices of Stellantis' Canadian headquarters in downtown Windsor.
The group says they feel like they've been forgotten about and they haven't seen an increase in their pensions since 2008/2009.
Gary Parent, Retiree and former executive of Local 444 says inflation is hitting retirees extremely hard.
"And with no increases in their pension, it absolutely is making them unfortunately having to use our services like food banks."
He says he thinks the company has no choice but to listen to retirees during this round of bargaining.
"How do they give an argument in regards to the whole question of $12 to $15 billion dollars [profit]. I'll use Stellantis as an example, for the first six months of this year. I mean you just can't do that and say that you can't afford to pay back and give a piece of that to the workers, especially because I'm retired, to the retirees."
He says this rally and campaign and is in support of current members as well.
"During the 2008/2009 [bargaining], there was some concession bargaining obviously that took place. There's three pension plans as an example in Stellantis, and it's time that we pay attention to how do we bring those pension plans in line as one, and that's a defined benefit plan."
Talks are expected to stretch into September, with the existing contracts set to expire Sept. 18.
-With files from AM800's Rob Hindi & The Canadian Press