A warning to Unifor and its membership at Windsor Assembly Plant over an ongoing blockade outside the minivan plant.
Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, is threatening that it will not pay any of the employees if production at the minivan plant is impacted by the blockade.
In a release issued Monday morning, Stellantis says "We have advised Unifor leadership that if our Windsor Assembly Plant production is impacted by any unlawful blockade, employees will not be paid for the period of any shutdown caused by Unifor's deliberate actions. It is imperative that Unifor's actions cease immediately so that our Windsor employees, suppliers and operations are not negatively impacted."
Unifor launched the blockade on Jan. 5 over a dispute with MotiPark, the company that won the contract to drive vehicles that came off the assembly line and park them until they could be shipped to dealerships.
MotiPark won the contract over Auto Warehousing Company (AWC) Windsor, which previously handled the work.
Unifor wants 60 unionized AWC workers to be given jobs with MotiPark.
The release from the automaker says "Stellantis has a longstanding relationship with Unifor that is founded on mutual respect. However, the Unifor blockade at our Windsor Assembly Plant has unjustly impacted our Windsor operations and suppliers."
It goes on to say that "it is unfortunate Unifor is choosing to use this inappropriate tactic of blockading our property even though Stellantis is not involved in the dispute and knowing that its effect will soon result in our Windsor operations being shut down."