Unifor local 1285 President Vito Beato addressed the members in a Facebook video<\/a> directly, confirming the union has paused bargaining after an impasse with Stellantis. He reminded members that Unifor first opposed a potential sale back in August, when the company notified the union it was considering closing and selling the plant to a third party, a position Stellantis has maintained at the bargaining table, in its attempt to save about 3,000 unionized jobs in Brampton.\u00a0<\/p>\n He reassured members that the messy situation is not their fault, saying the plant\u2019s workforce is caught in the middle of a \u201ccompletely unnecessary trade war with the U.S.\u201d Beato said the bargaining team is constantly thinking about the members and their families as thousands directly tied to the Brampton facility fear their livelihood is in jeopardy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI’m thinking about every single member that has been affected by this decision, but especially those members who are in the middle of their careers, their family lives with small kids, mortgages, bills to pay, kids to feed, all of you who were promised a future that the company has reneged on,\u201d the local union leader said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNo third party should be getting involved in any of our bargaining, and especially in discussions about the future of our assembly plant,\u201d he said, regarding the overture by Roshel, reminding members that Unifor is still their bargaining agent.\u00a0<\/p>\n Beato also said that Local 1285 is already looking at income protection options for members who have been off the job since last year, when Stellantis announced a retooling of the plant to build the Jeep Compass, before those plans were cancelled when the giant auto manufacturer, under tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump, decided to shift the Compass production south of the border.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although details regarding the MOU between Stellantis and Roshel are sparse, both companies claim they are committed to signing an agreement. Many questions remain unanswered: what happens with the current round of negotiations between UNIFOR and Stellantis; would an acquisition create jobs for the Brampton workers; and would Unifor agree to work with Roshel, a company that is non-unionized?\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n President of Unifor Local 1285 Vito Beato in a Facebook video repeated the position that a U.S. tariff war, not anything the union has done, led to the current dire situation in Brampton. <\/p>\n (Alexis Wright\/The Pointer)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Roshel responded to The Pointer with a statement addressing local jobs. Naresh Raghubeer, the company\u2019s co-founder and managing partner, said Roshel wants to build a, \u201cCanadian Centre of Excellence for Defence Manufacturing\u201d in Brampton on top of its existing automotive work, and is ready to issue laid-off Unifor workers letters of commitment for first consideration. Some workers, the statement said, could be back on the job as early as this year, through the federal government\u2019s Light Utility Vehicles procurement program and other opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A key question is whether union members might be compelled to switch to a non-unionized work situation, to avoid unemployment. <\/p>\n (Alexis Wright\/The Pointer)\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Raghubeer said the company hopes to wrap up talks with Stellantis and follow through on a plan to bring more than 2,000 jobs back to the site, along with new domestic capabilities, including the production of ballistic steel.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stellantis spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin confirmed in a statement to The Pointer that the company has \u201centered into a memorandum of understanding with Roshel\u201d and that after weighing \u201ca number of potential opportunities\u201d Stellantis landed on Roshel, which offered a strong path to restoring sustainable operations at the Brampton facility, preserving its role in Canada\u2019s advanced manufacturing sector.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gosselin did not comment further on the ongoing collective bargaining process with Unifor.<\/p>\n In its September 11 statement announcing updates on bargaining<\/a>, Unifor spokesperson Kathleen O\u2019Keefe said the company\u2019s proposal to close and sell the Brampton plant has hindered negotiations, and warned a sale would threaten members\u2019 wages, pensions and benefits.\u00a0<\/p>\n The union said there will be no tentative settlement without a suitable resolution for Local 1285 members, and noted Stellantis has also not confirmed plans for the Windsor Assembly Plant and Etobicoke Casting Plant.\u00a0<\/p>\n In October 2025, thousands of Brampton Stellantis workers learned through a robocall<\/a> from the plant manager that production of the next-generation Jeep Compass was being moved from Brampton to Illinois. The announcement came just before Stellantis publicly announced a $13-billion U.S. investment intended to increase American production. Beato described the communication as \u201cvery impersonal\u2026disrespectful and disgusting\u201d. It was the first communication workers had received from the company since February of last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Workers<\/a> said the decision left thousands of Brampton families facing serious financial uncertainty. Beato said the Stellantis\u2019 messaging about transfers and unspecified \u201cbig plans\u201d for Brampton risked becoming a distraction from the loss of the Jeep Compass build out.\u00a0<\/p>\n In January, The Pointer reported on Ottawa\u2019s new agreement with China on EV imports<\/a> and the added uncertainty it created for the laid-off Brampton workers as the federal government under Prime Minister Mark Carney began efforts to decouple much of the country\u2019s economic engineering from the U.S. Carney\u2019s government signed a deal with China to renew imports and start bringing in 49,000 EVs to Canada which will gradually increase. This was after the Stellantis plant in Windsor added more than 1,000 workers<\/a> to a third shift while the Brampton assembly remained idle.<\/p>\n In August, Stellantis reported that it was \u201cseriously considering\u201d selling the idled Brampton Assembly Plant <\/a>before talks with Unifor began prior to the September 20 expiry of the contract. A tentative deadline was set for September 11, as both sides sat at the negotiating table, while trade talks between Ottawa and Washington to renew the free trade agreement collapsed<\/a>. More tariffs on Canadian-made automobiles bound for the U.S. now loom.\u00a0<\/p>\n No deal was reached between Stellantis and Unifor as talks stalled amid a gloomy forecast for the future of a Canadian-American automobile sector.\u00a0<\/p>\n For now, it seems the future of thousands of Brampton workers and their families is also bleak.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Email: [email\u00a0protected]<\/a><\/p>\n At a time when vital public information is needed by everyone, The Pointer has taken down our paywall on all stories\u00a0to ensure every resident of Brampton, Mississauga and Niagara has access to the facts. For those who are able, we encourage you to consider a subscription. This will help us report on important public interest issues the community needs to know about now more than ever. You can register for a 30-day free trial\u00a0HERE<\/a>. Thereafter, The Pointer will charge $10 a month and you can cancel any time right on the website. Thank you<\/p>\n
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