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TORONTO, April 7, 2015 /CNW/ - Unifor expressed disappointment and frustration that the federal government has sold its shares in General Motors.
Last week Unifor released a report indicating that GM has a massive economic impact on the entire country.
"It is remarkably short-sighted of the federal government to sell off its shares in GM at a time when there has been wide-spread agreement that securing GM's future in Canada is critical," said Unifor National President Jerry Dias.
With concern about GM's future in Canada, Unifor has been meeting with all stakeholders, including the provincial and federal governments to create a strategy to preserve GM's presence in Canada.
"The federal government is selling off its shares for short-term political gain, as it prepares its last budget before the next federal election. We need leaders with more vision, strategy and savvy than this," said Dias. "This was an unwise and unhelpful move by the federal government. That said, we remain confident that GM can have a strong future in Canada because just as GM is good for Canada, Canada is good for GM. But at some point very soon, the federal and provincial governments are going to have to take decisive action to secure the future of GM."
The union stressed that GM's Ontario facilities benefit from many economic and operational advantages that make future investments very appealing – including top quality and productivity results, relatively low labour costs and a coming demographic transition that will see many senior workers retire.
To see the full report regarding GM's economic impact in Canada, visit: unifor.org.
Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector, representing more than 305,000 workers, including 21,000 in the auto sector. It was formed Labour Day weekend 2013 when the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers unions merged.
SOURCE Unifor
