The National President of Unifor and the President of Unifor Local 444 are thrilled to see that the NextStar Energy electric vehicle battery plant will remain in Windsor.
Stellantis and LG Energy Solution released a statement on Wednesday afternoon with the news that an agreement has been reached between the two companies and both the federal and provincial government.
Both Lana Payne, National President of Unifor, and Dave Cassidy, the President of Unifor Local 444, expressed how happy they are that a deal has been reached, both stating that this deal will have a generational impact.
The two companies had previously stopped construction on the plant earlier this year, as more government money was sought to match what the United States would offer under its new Inflation Reduction Act.
Cassidy says so many people have been working hard to keep this plant in Windsor.
Details on the deal have yet to be released, and how much the new deal is worth is still unknown, however Payne says that the federal government will pay for two-thirds, and the provincial government will pay one-third, and the deal will be large.
The exact breakdown of the deal and how much it's worth are still unknown.
Cassidy says this plant will have a generational impact.
"This is Team Canada. This is really something for years to come. I mean, this is for our kids, and our grandkids, that is going to reap the benefits from this NextStar plant."
He says construction will start back up immediately.
"Construction is cyclical anyway, so I mean the contractors are there, the contractors are ready to go. It's nothing they're not used to, shutting a job site down, starting it up, they're ready for cladding on that building. I can't wait to see it happen."
Payne says this deal will be worth billions of dollars over a substantial period of time.
"Very, very big deal. Which is why it took so long to get here, you're in a situation where you're dealing with two levels of government, a global corporation, many lawyers looking through documents daily. This is a massive negotiation that took place."
Effective immediately, all construction at the NextStar Energy battery plant in Windsor will resume with production operations planned to launch in 2024.
NextStar Energy is one of eight battery plants that LG Energy has secured in North America in response to its growing EV market.
Windsor Mayor, Drew Dilkens, says this is a transformational investment for the future of the City of Windsor.