Ontario is also the only North American jurisdiction able to boast five manufacturers — Stellantis , Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Honda — at assembly plants in Windsor, Ingersoll, Woodstock, Cambridge, Oakville, Brampton, Oshawa and Alliston.
Fedeli, who will make another trip to Germany in two weeks for more meetings with Volkswagen as it builds a supplier base, says the EV battery plant will create significant spinoff work because of the complicated mix of components required, such as cathodes, anode separators, copper foil and lithium hydroxide.
“We have made it really clear from the beginning that we’re prepared to invest money in saving the auto industry. It was on a downward spiral headed over the border to the States.”At Unifor, which also represents Toronto Star workers, DiCaro says Fedeli was not exaggerating the perils before EV developments started to break Ontario’s way, in particular with news of the $5-billion Windsor battery plant just over a year ago.
Unifor is counting on the EV battery and related plants becoming a “landing spot” for autoworkers who lose their jobs as gasoline-powered cars are phased out, along with the internal combustion engines and transmissions that go in them.