Stellantis workers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of authorizing a strike as a bitter contract dispute with the automaker continues, with the future of the company’s shuttered Brampton Assembly Plant emerging as a major sticking point.
Unifor announced Monday (Oct. 19) that 97.3 per cent of members who voted supported giving the union’s bargaining committee a strike mandate.
The vote followed two days of balloting on Oct. 17 and 18, as negotiations between the union and Stellantis remained at an impasse.
“This is an overwhelming mandate to support their bargaining committee,” Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a statement, adding that members are united in their determination to reach a fair agreement that protects jobs for Canadian autoworkers.
The result does not mean a strike will automatically happen. It gives the union authority to call one if necessary, although further steps must be completed before workers can legally walk off the job.
For Brampton, the dispute comes as more than 2,200 workers at the Assembly Plant remain on layoff, with the facility’s future uncertain nearly three years after production stopped.
The plant has been idle since December 2023, when it shut down for retooling intended to prepare it for production of the Jeep Compass. Stellantis subsequently paused the retooling work and announced in October 2025 that future production of the Compass would move to the United States.
The company is now pursuing a potential sale of the Brampton facility to Roshel, a Canadian manufacturer of armoured vehicles. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding for a possible transaction, but the proposal has become a major point of contention in contract negotiations.
Unifor opposes the proposed sale and wants Stellantis to honour its commitments to Canadian auto workers. The union has argued that the plant should remain part of Canada’s automotive manufacturing industry and has raised concerns about the effect a permanent closure would have on workers and the wider supply chain.
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Stellantis, meanwhile, has said changing market and trade conditions have undermined the original business case for the Brampton plant. The company has maintained that a potential sale could support future operations at the site.
The dispute has also complicated negotiations over a new collective agreement covering more than 9,000 Stellantis workers in Canada.
Unifor says Stellantis has made a broader economic settlement for workers at its other Canadian operations conditional on reaching an agreement to close and sell the Brampton plant. The union has rejected that condition.
The previous collective agreement expired on Sept. 20, and the parties remain in conciliation. The terms and conditions of the existing agreement remain in effect while the bargaining process continues.
The strike vote is therefore a show of support for the union’s bargaining position, rather than an immediate change in the status of the Brampton facility.
A strike could put additional pressure on Stellantis to resolve the dispute, but it would not, by itself, determine whether the Brampton plant is sold or whether automotive production returns.
Unifor Stellantis Master Bargaining Committee Chairperson James Stewart said the union believes an agreement is possible if the company honours its commitments to workers.
“Strike action is always a last resort,” Stewart said, while making clear the union would not accept a settlement that weakens Stellantis’ presence in Canada’s auto industry.
The proposed sale has also drawn attention from the federal government because of previous public support for Stellantis’ Canadian operations and commitments connected to investment in the Brampton plant.
Unifor has called on Ottawa to address the company’s proposed sale and protect Canadian automotive manufacturing jobs.
For the laid-off workers in Brampton, the outcome of negotiations could have significant consequences. A deal that resolves the dispute over the plant could help clarify its future, while a breakdown in negotiations could lead to further confrontation between the union and automaker.
For now, the plant remains idle, and the strike vote has not changed that status. The next major development will be whether Stellantis and Unifor can return to negotiations and reach an agreement that addresses the future of the Brampton facility and the wider Canadian workforce.
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