Unifor National President Jerry Dias is expected to hold a second media conference in Detroit Tuesday.
Dias met with the reporters late Monday afternoon at the North American International Auto Show and shared some details about his face-to-face meeting with Premier Doug Ford regarding the upcoming closure of the General Motors plant in Oshawa.
"The Premier listened and we understood when we shared him the language that we signed with General Motors that said there will be no closures during the life of the agreement," says Dias. "The Premier understood the history of our relationship with General Motors and I was quite pleased when he said he would roll up his sleeves in his meetings that he was to have with General Motors, he would be very aggressive and having them change their position."
Dias also had a conversation with federal minister Navdeep Bains. He says it appears the union has allies with both levels of government and will fight to keep the plant open.
"It's clear Canadians are punishing GM as a result of the decision to close the Oshawa plant but also Canadians are deeply concerned about the role of our government, what our governments have said and what our governments are not saying," he says.
The union is looking forward working with the federal and provincial governments, he added.
"This is a good step forward as we build allies with both levels of government to let GM know that not only are their employees in Canada and Canadians are going to fight this terrible decision but it's clear now that the provincial and federal government are going to up their role as we continue to fight to keep these jobs in Oshawa," says Dias.
The news conference is expected to take place at 1:45pm — a location has yet to be determined.