With ratified deals reached with three out of the Feeder Four plants in Windsor, Unifor Local 444 is turning to Dakkota Integrated Systems.
On Thursday, Unifor announced Avancez member had voted 90 per cent in favour of a new three year deal.
The negotiations with Dakkota will be a little different, as union president Dave Cassidy told AM800 News that they'll be simultaneously bargaining for a collective agreement and a closure agreement.
Earlier this month, Cassidy revealed that Dakkota had lost their supply contract for the Windsor Assembly Plant to CPK Interior Products.
He says Dakkota put the union on notice this week that they have no future product, and in subsequent meetings with Chrysler, Cassidy said they have to absorb those workers.
"Stellantis has given the work to CPK, CPK is going to be doing the future work. Either CPK or Stellantis is going to make sure these workers have a home, and we're going to make sure that every single one of the 138 workers at Dakkota is going to have a home. Dakkota has an obligation to these workers for severance."
Cassidy stated they will not walk away from the bargaining table without a closure agreement for severance for all the union workers.
"They think that they're going to play this out, the commercial contract is done and they're not going to have an obligation because people are going to quit. They are going to make sure that every single person there is paid the severance that they're due. I don't care how it's going to happen, we have a lot of strategies that we're figuring out, and figuring out with the workers. But they're going to bargain a collective agreement, and they're also going to bargain a closure agreement."
In terms of bargaining specifically, he says Dakkota will have to accept the pattern agreement they've agreed to with the other companies for the monetary part.
"Because their commercial contract goes until August, and the LB (Dodge Challenger) will be launching on June 17. So there's that gap between June and August, and if people are going over to CPK, we still have the Dakkota plant that we have to run. So we're going to be doing both, we're going to be bargaining the collective agreement and a closure agreement."
Cassidy met with the affected workers on Wednesday, and says their spirits were up because they believe in the union and believe that the union will land them in their next spot.
- with files from AM800's Rob Hindi