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The current contract is set to expire on September 20, giving both sides less than three weeks to reach a new deal. Discussions are set to begin tomorrow in Toronto, and while wages, pensions, benefits, and job security will all be part of the discussion, the main focus is being put on the future of the Brampton Assembly Plant in Ontario.
Brampton Assembly Plant during L-Series Production. (Stellantis).
Brampton Still Has No Product
In this articleâ–ľ
Brampton Still Has No Product
Windsor Is A Very Different Story
Unifor Comes To Stellantis Last
A Plant With A Long Chrysler History
Brampton Assembly has been sitting idle since December 2023, after production of the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Dodge Challenger wrapped up.
At the time, there was already another product waiting in the wings. Stellantis planned to retool the plant to build the next-generation Jeep® Compass. That program was supposed to give Brampton a future and eventually bring thousands of employees back to work. Workers were expected to begin returning sometime in Q3 2026.
Then the plan changed.
Stellantis stopped the retooling work in February 2025 as the company went back over its North American product plans. A few months later, it became clear that Brampton had lost the Compass. Stellantis confirmed that the next-generation model would be built at Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois instead as part of a larger round of U.S. investment.
That left Brampton in a difficult spot.
Around 2,200 Unifor members had been waiting for the plant to reopen, and the Compass was supposed to be the program that put them back on the job. With that vehicle now going to Illinois, there is still no confirmed replacement for Brampton and no firm date for when vehicle production could restart.
That is a big reason why the plant is expected to be such an important part of these contract talks.
Unifor wants to know what Stellantis plans to do with the Brampton site. This is not a small or outdated facility. The assembly plant covers nearly 3 million square feet, has an adjoining stamping operation, and already has an experienced workforce waiting to come back.
There is also concern over what could happen if Stellantis decides Brampton no longer fits into its long-term manufacturing plans. Unifor has publicly questioned whether the property could eventually be sold to a buyer outside the auto industry.
Stellantis has said other products are still being considered for Brampton, but that is about as far as the company has gone publicly. There is no announced vehicle program, no restart date, and no clear answer yet for the workers who have been waiting since the end of 2023.
Windsor Assembly Plant in Windsor, Ontario. (Stellantis).
Windsor Is A Very Different Story
Unifor represents more than 8,000 Stellantis workers in Canada, so these talks go well beyond Brampton.
Windsor Assembly Plant remains a key part of Stellantis’ Canadian operations, building Chrysler’s minivans along with the eighth-generation Dodge Charger.
Stellantis also operates the Etobicoke Casting Plant near Toronto, which supplies parts used across several of the company’s vehicle programs.
The difference between those operations and Brampton is hard to miss.
Windsor has new products coming down the line. Brampton has a large factory, thousands of workers, and no confirmed vehicle to build.
Stellantis Canada Headquarters in Windsor, Ontario. (Stellantis).
Unifor Comes To Stellantis Last
Unifor enters the Stellantis negotiations after reaching agreements with Ford and General Motors (GM).
The union follows a pattern-bargaining strategy, establishing a deal with one automaker before taking much of that framework to the others. Ford came first this time, followed by GM.
That means much of the groundwork involving wages and other economic issues has already been established.
Brampton is where things get more complicated.
There is no simple contract language that can immediately put an assembly plant back into production. Assigning another vehicle to Brampton would require a product decision, investment, tooling, and a long-term business case from Stellantis.
At the same time, Unifor is unlikely to treat the future of 2,200 members as a side issue.
Brampton Assembly Plant in Brampton, Ontario. (Stellantis)
A Plant With A Long Chrysler History
Brampton has played a role in Chrysler’s Canadian manufacturing operations for decades.
Now it sits quiet.
That is why the next few weeks matter.
The September 20 contract deadline will put pressure on both sides to reach an agreement, but the bigger story may be whether Unifor can get a meaningful commitment from Stellantis concerning Brampton’s future.
Wages and benefits can be negotiated across a table.
Finding a future for an idle assembly plant is a much tougher problem.
Robert S. Miller