The impact of the COVID-19 mandate protest at the Ambassador Bridge is already being felt by auto manufacturers.
John D'Agnolo is the president of Unifor Local 200 in Windsor and the union's national Auto Council Chair.
Speaking to CTV News, D'Agnolo says the halt on parts coming across the border has led to auto production being scaled back across the province including plants in Windsor, Oakville and Brampton.
He says a resolution to the demonstration needs to be found sooner than later.
"You've got close to 1,200 parts in an engine. So you can imagine the amount of parts that are going back and forth. The impact is immediate. So what we have to do right now is get a resolution and get this solved as quickly as possible so we can get people back to work."
D'Agnolo says most auto makers aren't sitting on a stockpile of parts.
"Instead of holding stock, they build it and then they ship it right away. There's not a whole lot of flexibility. Sometimes you might have a few days, sometimes you might have a week worth of parts, but sometimes you only have a couple days."
He has this message for the protestors.
"We've been part of a lot of different protests as Unifor members, but what we don't like to see is workers out of work. It's creating a lot of hardship when you think about the community and the jobs and the impact it has, as a whole, within these communities."
It's estimated $100-million in auto parts cross the Ambassador Bridge each day with many shipments timed to arrive just as manufacturers need them.
Protestors remain on Huron Church Rd. near the bridge and have said they're not leaving until COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions are lifted.
— with files from CTV News