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“We walked out of Detroit Three bargaining with $1.6 billion in investment,” Dias said in an address to the Automotive News Congress at the show. “It’s a symbol that the climate has changed in the industry.”
Other speakers at the congress included the Canadian heads of the Detroit Three automakers, General Motors, Ford and Fiat-Chrysler. Dias said the focus on investments in the 2016 contract talks solidified the future of the industry in Canada for years to come.
“A company that doesn’t invest is a company that isn’t sticking around,” he said.
Also vital, he said, is a new federal government that recognizes the importance of the auto industry in providing good jobs and strong communities. That didn’t exist under the Harper government, but the Trudeau government has shown a commitment to investing in the industry, he said.
“There has to be a collaboration between labour, business and government,” he said.
While Dias disagrees with U.S. President Donald Trump on almost everything he says, he does agree that NAFTA has been a bad deal for working people, and needs to be renegotiated.
“We have a real opportunity to renegotiate NAFTA,” he said. “I believe in trade, but the trade deals we have are hurting workers”
